I don't mean to play one-upmanship here but I remember the telephone in my grandmother's house. It was a large wooden box that hung on the wall. The receiver was trumpet shaped and attached to cord that was not coiled. The mouthpiece was attached to the wooden box and could be tilted up or down for tall or short people. On the right side of the wooden box was a crank handle. You would put the receiver to your ear and crank the handle a time or two to get the operator's attention. When she answered (the operator was always a she) you would speak into the mouthpiece on the wooden box and say something like, "hi Thelma, I need to talk to Bill." Then she would ring Bill's number and connect you to him. BTW, my grandmother's phone # was only 3 digits.