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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2014 13:37:23 GMT -5
My maternal grandparents had a party line. The woman that they shared it with, listened in on most conversations. She also hogged the line quite a bit. You would have to wait and wait to be able to make a call. Isn't this scenario fodder for many comedic skits? I think Andy Griffith talked about it and the song Telephone is about the same thing. Now, for your viewing and educational pleasure Bell Telephone presents Along Party Lines. And remember, for those of you who think that viewing on Youtube is wrong, please make a sizable donation to the now deceased Ma Bell, cause gosh knows she never made enough off of us.
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Post by coriscapnskip on Apr 7, 2014 19:59:21 GMT -5
^^^^ The old party line. Anybody else remember those? We had one at my grandma's farm. You couldn't make a call if the neighbors were talking!
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Post by Kathy Lee on Apr 12, 2014 4:35:21 GMT -5
Even today as an adult watching the show, I think the family was doing quite well. They had land, a home, a mill, livestock, cars. They were truly blessed, even by today's standards. I've noticed that Earl Hamner's real childhood home is quite nice too. Not as large as the Walton home, but still very nice. I have only seen pictures, but did his family have a farm also? From the pictures I've seen, it looks like the home sits quite close to the street, so I wasn't sure if they had land at one time. They did not own a farm. Even on the show, in the episode The Calf, Olivia talks about how the children are not farm children. The plot the real house sits on is fairly small. It is very narrow and long in the front and is wider in the back yard. Sort of like a pie slice. Also, not much privacy as a road runs right by the house. Across the street and down a little is the school. Also, you can't really see any mountains from the house. The house is about a good half hour from the Blue Ridge Mountains. But, from his bedroom window, Earl Hamner could see almost everything that happened in town. Good for some interesting stories!
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Post by Kathy Lee on Apr 12, 2014 4:42:06 GMT -5
I am almost sure that the Hamner house was a company house, originally owned by the nearby soapstone factory. I think I read somewhere that Earl Hamner Sr bought the house off the company when it closed down. I may be wrong about that though. The house reminds me of the houses in Cass, West Virginia, which was a company town for a logging company that closed down. The entire town is now a state park, and the houses have been renovated and are rented out to people visiting the park. We went there last year with 3 of our grandchildren, and one of my granddaughters even commented that the house we stayed in reminded her of The Waltons. Cass, West Virginia, company house:I have been to Kasse! We drove down a long, winding, switchback road for what seemed like forever to get to the town! It is a really nice place to visit. I loved the train, and the train ride, and the big company store. When you walk around town, on wooden sidewalks, it is like stepping back in time. You can have lunch in the company store. On that vacation we also went to Pennsylvania to see Falling Waters and Kentucky Nob (two houses built by a famous architect ). Amazing!
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Post by Kathy Lee on Apr 12, 2014 4:46:38 GMT -5
Oops! Spelled Cass wrong!
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Post by tonyas on Apr 12, 2014 12:46:11 GMT -5
Thanks Kathy and Brenda. I haven't read Earl Hamner's books, so were the books similar to the Walton's? In the show, it seemed like they lived a very rural lifestyle. Cutting down trees, raising chickens and livestock. There was a lot of land to romp around on. Yet after seeing pictures of the house, it was very different. So, was the show just an exaggeration of the books, or were the books somewhat fictional too? I do want to read his books some day.
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Post by eclectic on Apr 12, 2014 21:29:33 GMT -5
^^^^ The old party line. Anybody else remember those? When I was a kid in the 60s, my neighbors had a party line. I remember my friend and I would pick up their phone and listen to other people's conversations all the time. We didn't have a party line then at my house, though, as my parents paid more for a private line. I imagine private lines were available in the 40s, but I don't see the Waltons paying extra for one; they most certainly had a party line. But later on, when John had a phone in the mill, I wonder if it was an extension of the house phone, or did he have a separate line. I can see him paying extra to have a private line for the business.
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Post by carol on Apr 12, 2014 23:10:15 GMT -5
^^^^ The old party line. Anybody else remember those? When I was a kid in the 60s, my neighbors had a party line. I remember my friend and I would pick up their phone and listen to other people's conversations all the time. We didn't have a party line then at my house, though, as my parents paid more for a private line. I imagine private lines were available in the 40s, but I don't see the Waltons paying extra for one; they most certainly had a party line. But later on, when John had a phone in the mill, I wonder if it was an extension of the house phone, or did he have a separate line. I can see him paying extra to have a private line for the business. In The Anniversary when Olivia gave John the phone as a gift she had them put in the house and the mill at the same time because Jason went out there as John came home and called Erin to have her call the house.
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Post by Kathy Lee on Apr 13, 2014 21:31:47 GMT -5
I am almost sure that the Hamner house was a company house, originally owned by the nearby soapstone factory. I think I read somewhere that Earl Hamner Sr bought the house off the company when it closed down. I may be wrong about that though. The house reminds me of the houses in Cass, West Virginia, which was a company town for a logging company that closed down. The entire town is now a state park, and the houses have been renovated and are rented out to people visiting the park. We went there last year with 3 of our grandchildren, and one of my granddaughters even commented that the house we stayed in reminded her of The Waltons. Cass, West Virginia, company house:It was a company house that Earl Hamner's father bought. There are a couple of other company houses right next to the Hamner house. If you go to Google maps, you can see the other houses. Google street view is good also.
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Post by thewaltonyears on Apr 17, 2014 17:43:19 GMT -5
I have a question. Noticed this when reading IMDB plot summary on the Walton movie "The Walton Easter" released in 1997.
Here's my question: how could Olivia and John be celebrating there 40th wedding anniversary in 1969 when John-Boy was a baby when John was in WW1, which happened from 1914-18.
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Post by coriscapnskip on Apr 17, 2014 23:14:46 GMT -5
I have a question. Noticed this when reading IMDB plot summary on the Walton movie "The Walton Easter" released in 1997. Here's my question: how could Olivia and John be celebrating there 40th wedding anniversary in 1969 when John-Boy was a baby when John was in WW1, which happened from 1914-18. Time warp? Alternate universe? We all know the real, original John and Olivia Walton had all seven of their children by 1929!
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Post by carol on Apr 18, 2014 0:54:48 GMT -5
We've discovered the family's secret, the skeleton in the closet. John and Olivia didn't get married until after Elizabeth was born. They lived in sin all those years. You never saw Olivia's parents because they disowned her over this. They made up the story to the kids about them not approving of John because he wasn't religious to cover up the truth. This also explains why Grandma is sullen and cranky.
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Post by Kathy Lee on Apr 18, 2014 6:53:47 GMT -5
Thanks Kathy and Brenda. I haven't read Earl Hamner's books, so were the books similar to the Walton's? In the show, it seemed like they lived a very rural lifestyle. Cutting down trees, raising chickens and livestock. There was a lot of land to romp around on. Yet after seeing pictures of the house, it was very different. So, was the show just an exaggeration of the books, or were the books somewhat fictional too? I do want to read his books some day. I have about six books by Earl. He is a great writer and the books are fun to read. Some are novels and some are about his family. You can get them on Amazon or signed from the gift shop in Schuyler. From what I have read, Earl Hamner took real life and exaggerated it a bit. For example, the real Baldwin's did make whiskey but were not rich and they were mother and daughter! Also, the grandparents usually only lived with the Hamner's in the summer. Boy, was my mother ever disappointed to hear that! But, if you ever saw the house it makes sense. Two bedrooms upstairs, that's all. Then a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs. Not much room for a large family. They did live a rural life but not on a farm. Schuyler is still pretty rural today. The house across from the Hamner house has goats!
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Post by rickking on Sept 7, 2020 15:52:34 GMT -5
There were three anachronisms in the 1993 reunion movie, "A Wedding on Walton's Mountain."
1. Mary Ellen said something about not giving the kids "junk food." This was 1963, years before the term "junk food" was coined.
2. Someone mentioned Elizabeth having "jet lag." Another term that didn't exist in 1963.
3. Grandma was walking on a four-legged cane. I can forgive this one, because no one wanted Ellen Corby to fall. But in 1963, I don't think there were any four-legged canes!
But I still love The Waltons, and all its imperfections!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2020 17:05:08 GMT -5
There were three anachronisms in the 1993 reunion movie, "A Wedding on Walton's Mountain."
1. Mary Ellen said something about not giving the kids "junk food." This was 1963, years before the term "junk food" was coined.
2. Someone mentioned Elizabeth having "jet lag." Another term that didn't exist in 1963.
3. Grandma was walking on a four-legged cane. I can forgive this one, because no one wanted Ellen Corby to fall. But in 1963, I don't think there were any four-legged canes!
But I still love The Waltons, and all its imperfections!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_foodThe term junk food dates back at least to the early 1950s, although its coinage has been credited to Michael F. Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972. "The history of junk food is a largely American tale: It has been around for hundreds of years, in many parts of the world, but no one has done a better job inventing so many varieties of it, branding it, mass-producing it, making people rich off it and, of course, eating it." Cracker Jack, the candy-coated popcorn-and-peanuts confection, is credited as the first popular name brand junk food; it was created in Chicago, registered in 1896, and became the best-selling candy in the world 20 years later.
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