I recently heard a news item that reported that more and more states are considering a ban on smart phones in schools, and it got me thinking. Back in my school days before bus rides were provided for everyone, if you lived in town you either walked or got a ride from someone. Once you got to school you were cut off from the outside world unless there was a family emergency. Back then neither students nor parents saw a need to be in instant contact with one another during school hours.

By the way, I don’t begrudge bus rides for all students because it’s probably safer, but many have noted that my generation was in better physical condition than today’s bus riding smart phone toting students.

Telephones have changed radically in my lifetime. Alexander Graham Bell may have invented the telephone, but it was Leo Baekeland who in 1907 invented Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic that made mid-20th century telephones virtually indestructible. It was thermosetting, meaning that it could be molded when heated but wouldn’t soften or melt when reheated.

Bakelite is known for its durability, electrical non-conductivity, and heat resistance, leading to its widespread use in various applications besides telephones from electrical equipment to auto distributor caps.

However, like Henry Ford’s Model T’s it only came in black. In our house with four boys running around our Bakelite Western Electric model 302 would sometimes crash to the floor but it never quit working.

For many years, probably beginning in the early 1930 my grandparents telephone was the Western Electric Model 102. It was made of Bakelite, with the ringer in a wall mounted box. It was rugged enough that you could have wacked an intruder over the head with it and then called the police for help on it.

Phones like these were often installed on party lines or lines with several households on the same circuit. A change over to private lines had begun in the the 1930s but World War II shortages curtailed that until the late 1940s. In my own experience when we moved in the early 1970s during a telephone strike, we had to make do with a party line for several months and to be honest it was a true pain when you had to wait for an unknown voice to get off the line.

Beginning in 1960 Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene better known as ABD plastic became available. ABD plastic was durable, scratch resistant, and was available in a wide variety of colors to match home decor or someone’s favorite color.

We first began hearing about cell phones in the early 1980. I remember seeing my first cell phone at a Buffalo Bisons game in about 1989 and I remember that it seemed nearly as big as those World War Two walkie talkie. The first cell phone in our house was one my wife acquired around 1996. It was small enough to be held in one hand comfortably and was an analog device transmitting a conversation with an old fashioned radio signal.

In the current century, my wife and I both acquired digital phones in 2001 that were just phones with no texting. Of course, now we both have smart phones with texting and all the bells and whistles or as they are called now, apps.

This might be the time for a few words on texting. It is perhaps an age thing, but I don’t like texting. If I want to send a message to someone I much prefer speaking to them directly over the phone or emailing them because that way I am able to fully express my message without resorting to abbreviations or emojis which I have never once used nor will ever use. Further with regard to texting my family knows that because I check my texts very irregularly they only text my wife who will pass any pertinent information to me

We ended our landline service several years ago. I find mobile phones are very handy for those times I lose my wife at Walmart or Tops. I no longer have to wander aimlessly trying to find her but can just call her to find out where she is, which for some reason is usually just behind me.

As of 2023 only 27% of American households had landlines. Furthermore only 2% of homes had a landline but no cell phone. According to the AARP Many of those with landlines are older folks like myself, who likely live in the northeast, are less likely to smoke and seldom binge drink. I’m not sure how the AARP got that information, perhaps someone texted it to them.

Apparently, landlines are becoming more expensive and that as companies switch to fiber optic cable they don’t support copper wire landlines so that it often takes months to repair a landline connection. Probably the most telling reminder of the digital revolution is the complete disappearance of phonebooths and payphones from the landscape.

Finally, landlines are being rapidly phased out with most telecom companies aiming to complete the shutdown by 2027. What a change. We’ve finally bested Dick Tracy and his wristwatch radio.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com