Terms Which Have Disappeared

[skydog757]

My daughters don't know what a telephone pole is.

I'm sure that they have no concept of what a party line is either.

 

[Seraph1227]

"You send me"...have always liked that term

 

[HudsonHawk]

My daughters don't know what a telephone pole is.

Do they not have phone service where you live?

 

[sheeplady]

Do they not have phone service where you live?

Maybe underground lines? Where we are moving the telephone lines are underground. I know out west most of the lines are underground.

 

[tonyb]

I'm fairly confident that many of what we called "telephone poles" back when I was a youngster were actually put in by the local electrical utility primarily to carry their power lines. These days, the much more commonly heard name for 'em (in these parts, anyway) is "utility pole," which is more in keeping with what they actually do. Power, phone (for those still using their old phone-company landline), cable, all on the same pole.
I'm guessing that "telephone pole" dates from a time when phone lines were perhaps more common than electrification, especially in rural areas. They were called telephone poles because that's what they were. And the name stuck, for at least a few decades, much in the way we still "dial" telephone numbers. (Wonder how long that will remain in common usage.)

 

[Stearmen]

Tickety-boo!

 

[Shangas]

Those big poles with cables on top? I've always called them power-lines or telephone lines. Some people I've even heard call them 'telegraph poles', although I reckon that's rather outdated these days...?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Maybe underground lines? Where we are moving the telephone lines are underground. I know out west most of the lines are underground.

In newer residential areas, sure, but there must be overhead lines *somewhere*...mustn't there?

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm fairly confident that many of what we called "telephone poles" back when I was a youngster were actually put in by the local electrical utility primarily to carry their power lines. These days, the much more commonly heard name for 'em (in these parts, anyway) is "utility pole," which is more in keeping with what they actually do. Power, phone (for those still using their old phone-company landline), cable, all on the same pole.
I'm guessing that "telephone pole" dates from a time when phone lines were perhaps more common than electrification, especially in rural areas. They were called telephone poles because that's what they were. And the name stuck, for at least a few decades, much in the way we still "dial" telephone numbers. (Wonder how long that will remain in common usage.)

The "telephone poles" I remember were just that, telephone poles. They stretched for miles and miles through rural areas between towns. There was no power on them as power was run on the really big high-voltage lines. I still see telephone poles all over the place, just not in town, as you say, everything is on one pole. I still hear them called "telephone poles" pretty much exclusively though.

Interesting point about "dialing" a phone. I still say that, but to be honest, haven't really noticed or payed any attention to how others refer to it. I'll have to make a point to listen for that. I suspect the word "dial" will soon be gone.

 

[sheeplady]

In newer residential areas, sure, but there must be overhead lines *somewhere*...mustn't there?

Well, where we're moving the lines were put underground in the 1950s... and it is very rural for NYS. Not North Dakota rural, but rural. We were actually surprised when we saw the telephone line was buried on the deed.

But other parts of the country all the lines are buried.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Telephone lines have been moving underground since the turn of the century.

The first image is a New York street in 1890, the second was taken in 1910. The idea of moving wires underground was quickly understood to be the only practical way to manage them as demand for telephone service increased. This started in metropolitan areas, but the idea spread rapidly into smaller communities. It's still more common in small towns on the East Coast than in the West, but nearly all urban areas have underground lines.

 

[Fading Fast]

Ticker tape parade - how many people remember ticker tape or the parades up Broadway in lower Manhattan named for when the brokerage firms along the route would throw their used ticker tape out the window to celebrate the person being honored? I worked on Wall Street as a kid in the 1980s and it, to this day, is one of the neatest things I ever saw. It felt as if it was snowing paper - some ticket tape, but a lot of brokerage paper (quote sheets, computer paper, etc.) - a true blizzard of paper. If you ever get to lower Manhattan, all along the route (on lower Broadway) there are plaques in the sidewalks commemorating each parade. It is a neat trip back in time / through history.

 

[HudsonHawk]

It's still more common in small towns on the East Coast than in the West, but nearly all urban areas have underground lines.

I'm looking out my 31st floor office window and overhead lines are everywhere. They're carrying all utilites (electric, phone, cable, what have you) now, of course, but they're definitely above ground. I guess we're behind the curve. Of course, there's no zoning in this city either, so we do tend to go our own way on certain things.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

We have them coming through the access ways throughout my neighboorhood here in midIndiana. Hot line..telephone and cable. Most places are underground in this city and the newer additions..but many still have utility poles as well.
HD

 

[GHT]

We have them coming through the access ways throughout my neighboorhood here in midIndiana. Hot line..telephone and cable. Most places are underground in this city and the newer additions..but many still have utility poles as well.
HD

I've never heard of, or used the term, utility poles. But logically, that's what they are. The first poles that went up in the UK were called: Telegraph Poles. The telegraph might be long defunct, but the name persists in the terminology of those poles. Whether they are used to carry electricity or phone lines.
Or perhaps it's just me being stuck in the past. The gas we use in our homes is a natural gas that comes from The North Sea and elsewhere. Prior to it's discovery, we used the gas that's found in coal. After extraction, the coal looked like a scrunched up breeze block, it had the name: "Coke." The coke was sold to foundries and electricity producers, it burned very well. The company that did the gas extraction was called:
"The Gaslight & Coke Company." A name my mother-in-law used right up to her death a few years ago. The Gaslight & Coke Company ceased with nationalisation in 1948. I tell you that story to demonstrate how old names stick in your head.
I must make a mental note that next time I'm Stateside, to call the poles, utility poles.

 

[F. J.]

Telephone poles . . .

[...]
I must make a mental note that next time I'm Stateside, to call the poles, utility poles.

'Stateside' encompasses quite a large area, but here in the South, we call them telephone poles, and you might also occasionally hear them called telegraph poles.
They might carry more than just telephone and telegraph* wires now, but the original name for them still sticks.



*That's how AT&T got their name: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

 

[Zombie_61]

In newer residential areas, sure, but there must be overhead lines *somewhere*...mustn't there?

They're certainly evident and very visible in our neighborhood. And everyone I know (that I can think of at the moment, anyway) still calls them "telephone" poles regardless of the other utilities supported by them.

 

[Stearmen]

We call them telephone poles, even though our telephone lines are underground, and the poles carry power and cable TV lines. In the new parts of town, every thing is under ground.

 

[Stearmen]

Ticker tape parade - how many people remember ticker tape or the parades up Broadway in lower Manhattan named for when the brokerage firms along the route would throw their used ticker tape out the window to celebrate the person being honored? I worked on Wall Street as a kid in the 1980s and it, to this day, is one of the neatest things I ever saw. It felt as if it was snowing paper - some ticket tape, but a lot of brokerage paper (quote sheets, computer paper, etc.) - a true blizzard of paper. If you ever get to lower Manhattan, all along the route (on lower Broadway) there are plaques in the sidewalks commemorating each parade. It is a neat trip back in time / through history.

Here is the newer version of a ticker tape parade! [video=youtube;UZ9n1x9YjjY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ9n1x9YjjY[/video]

 

[fashion frank]

We still have them here in Rhode Island and as far as I can remember they were always called telephone poles.

What strikes me funny is that with the advent of the cell phone my own home phone rarely rings anymore everyone just calls your cell phone now a days and I understand that more and more homes dont have a "home phone" anymore and its only older people who still have a home phone even if they also have a cell phone.
Pretty soon you wont have to worry about telephone ploes ,only to carry juice to your home ,that will be about it .

All the Best ,Fashion Frank