Linda Hebert Todd

Author - Westlake, Louisiana

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Ma Bell and Me

January 3, 2016 By Linda H. Todd Leave a Comment

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, so it’s been around quite a while. However, it didn’t make its way to those of us living outside the town limits of Westlake until much later. I assume there was telephone service in town, but I can’t be sure, and there’s no one around that I can ask. All I know is there was none when we moved there in the early 1940’s.

Linda Todd Hebert, Author - Westlake, LAI guess that’s another question a Gen-Xer would ask. “How in the world did you keep in touch?” Well, we just had to wait for a face-to-face. Or a letter. Or a note from the teacher.

I remember how excited the grown-ups in the house were when the poles started going up in the neighborhood. Even more excitement when the lines were connected. Then we had to sit down and get instructions.

Since we were so far out, there was no such thing as a private line. We shared a line with seven other households. That meant we couldn’t tie up the phone for long periods of time. And if you think everyone followed that rule, I have some beachfront property in Arizona to sell you.

The other thing we had to be aware of was the ring. Our phone rang with another on our party line. I think ours rang with the Franklins, our nearest neighbors. Our ring was one long one. Theirs was two short ones. So if we heard two short rings we weren’t supposed to pick up. And vice versa. I’m sure you know how well that went.

With eight families using the same line, everyone knew everyone else’s business. Sometimes there would be three or four people carrying on a conversation. However, if someone broke in with an emergency, whoever was using the phone got off immediately, but not before asking if there was anything they could do to help.

Did people fib about an emergency? Sure. Sometimes. But the good outweighed the bad, and we were glad to be connected with other folks.

The telephone has come a long way since 1876, and can be a blessing and a curse. Most of the time it’s an unwanted call asking for money or votes or some other annoying solicitation. But sometimes it’s a loved one’s voice on the other end—and that’s worth waiting all day for.

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About Linda

Linda Hebert ToddLinda has completed her novel—Wild Justice, a crime story with a revenge theme, and has started another one set in Labrador and Louisiana. She writes all her stories in longhand, bringing to life the beautiful bayous of south Louisiana. Read more...

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Linda Hebert Todd, Author, Westlake, LA - Mystery Novel
Mystery Novel

Wild Justice

By Linda Hebert Todd

Keeley Chesson, a crime reporter for a city newspaper, is orphaned at age fourteen, courtesy of a sheriff's deputy who killed her parents and got away with it. Now, fourteen years later, the deaths of her parents still a mystery and the deputy now her town's police chief, tragedy again rocks her…

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Short Stories

Sidonie and the Loup-Garou and Other Stories from the Bayou

By Linda Hebert Todd

The short fiction in this book introduces the reader to an interesting assortment of characters. The lead story—Sidonie and the Loup-Garou—features a high school girl who learns it is a good idea to heed the warnings of her Cajun grandparents. The final tale—The Ghost and Sadie Stackpoole– solves…

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