Green Phone (1972)

 

Once upon a time, you couldn’t own your own phone.  You had to rent your phone every month from the phone company.  That means it was illegal to take the phone apart and modify it.  Which is exactly what I did when I was 10.

It was a dial phone because we couldn’t afford a pushbutton phone (that cost more every month).  And I added a lot of features to it:

• The switch on the earpiece cut off the microphone. 
• The lower-left button would test the line load; if the green light (upper-left) glowed green, nobody else was on the phone and I could safely pick up the phone to make a call. 
• The lower right switch enabled a built-in speakerphone. 
• The upper right was a hold button. 
• On the left side was a key lock so my little brother couldn't use my phone in my absence. 
• On the right side toggle switch was a "ringer off". 
• And a hidden switch (where you would normally pick up the phone) put it into "monitor" mode (I could listen in without people hearing me – yeah, I was sneaky).

Please don't tell the phone police. :-)

Me about that age.