I'm 44 and I remember having a party line with the 3 families on my road. The nosy older lady across the street used to pick up the phone and listen or if it was summertime and she was outside and we weren't home and our phone rang, she would go in her house and answer it and take a message for us. As for the shifter on the column, my very first car was a 1975 Ford Maverick with a "3 on the tree" My friends were all in awe that I had such a thing!!!