Hall Stories

Many years ago, most people kept their telephones in the hall. Growing up in a telephone-free household, I pondered this, many a long hour. The only way to get a telephone account was to go to the one public company that offered them – far fewer people actually had one – and join a waiting list. At least one wisecrack has said that since public employees are considered of a lazy twist – note, I say considered – they didn’t want to move any further than the entrance to the house when putting in the telephone wiring. But I never bought any of it, having a theory of my own.
In most suburban houses, when few houses had central heating or decent seating, halls were chilly, comfortless places, devoid of privacy or intimacy – all the more reason to put the telephone there. For the majority of households, the making and/or taking of a call was such a momentous and/or expensive event, that the telephone had to be up front for all to see. The lack of seating combined with the presence of a winter mistral whistling through the eaves discouraged call maker/taker from talking too long, to the economic advantage of all parties.
Of course, it’s different now with teenagers paying for their own romantic follies through the medium of mobile accounts. It also means that they can conduct frowned-upon relationships in secret. There is downside to everything, it seems. Now, I ponder on whether the old or new way is the better – what do you think?