[ebarker]

When I was a kid I had to call my aunt in a town 54 miles away. I had to pick up the phone and "rotary dial' a zero, an OPERATOR answered and I'd say "I like 'such and so' and the OPERATOR would say 'Please Hold' - and she would get an operator in the next town to finish the other end of the connection.

Another day I was digging around in an old drawer and found an old ticket, to ride the steam train to the next town, 17 miles away, for 15 cents. The ticket had been redeemed so it wasn't like they lost the fare.

A few years ago I was rummaging around an antique shop in Minnesota and bought myself a B-Battery Voltage Meter. They had no clue what it was and why it was on the plains of Minnesota.

Back in the day - if you wanted to listen to the radio in the evening you needed an A battery, a B battery, a C battery to run the radio. If you want to learn more about the technology go research an early edition of "Elements of Radio" by Marcus and Marcus. To learn more about the culture listen to the references from Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion.