ronm - 9/1/2014 07:19 That's how the first phone system pretty much worked on the mountain where I grew up. it was a combination of cedar posts, fence wire, & hand-crank phones. I still have the old phone that was in my grandma's house, we had to go over to her house to make a call...the old guy that was maintenance man used barbed wire or whatever was handy to do repairs. About the late 50's they put in a "new" system, it was all real phone wire & aspen poles tied to good cedar posts...worked a lot better, but it was still party lines. Our nearest neighbor lady was the worst gossip in the country, you knew she was on the line listening any time she heard it ring...she knew everybody's business, & wasn't shy about discussing it. About 1966 or 67, Mountain Bell put in a whole new system, underground lines & actual dial phones...that was a big jump ahead for the community. It was one of the last "DIY" projects Ma Bell did, the local guys furnished labor & dozers to rip the trench, the phone co. had the wire plow & operator, plus a supervisor. they had a brand-new JD 450 crawler on the cable plow, First one I ever saw...the supervisor taught my Dad & an old neighbor to wire up the terminal boxes...