Today we have Facebook and Twitter and Youtube when you’re bored. Back in 1975, all we had was a telephone.
When I was 15 I built a telephone answering device. These were quite illegal at the time - it was to support a “dial-a-joke” (you dial a number and hear a prerecorded joke or a funny skit like the old radio days) that me and my friends ran in 1975, getting up to 200 calls a day. It controlled a tape recorder with a loop cassette; the machine was designed to detect silence in the outgoing tape and then hang up once the 6- or 12-minute skit was finished. Later it was expanded (the 2nd, smaller box) to control a 2nd tape recorder and take incoming messages as well.
The Joke Line was called "Runch II" (no meaning) and the skits were written by and starred me and my friends. It was a LOT of fun! One of my friends went on to become a writer for many Disney Channel kids’ shows. Here are some of those recordings:
The New Treasure Hunt (TV Show Parody)
Don Adams' Screen Test (TV Show Parady)
Albert Einstein and George Burns
Enjoy!
