Making a rotary call on candlestick phone Feb 6 2013 by Emil Tron published on 2013-02-07T06:06:35Z This is how placing a call sounded way back when when you dialed. Thankfully days of party lines when different parties used the same line, are a thing of forgotten past. When these early rotary telephones were initially in vogue back in the Teens and twenties, a person had to hold the receiver to their ear. The operator would ask, "Number, please?" Then you'd speak into the mouthpiece and give them the number and they'd connect you. Another interesting piece of antique telephoning history; area codes weren't invented yet, either. Therefore, the number you requested might have been said something to the effect of "555", for example. Genre Telephone Call