Yesterday we saw Ohio Edison's suggestions for an appropriate gift for Mother's Day 1955. Let's fast forward ten years and see what another utility company – Lorain Telephone – was thinking along those lines.
Above is the Lorain Telephone Co. ad that ran in the Journal back on May 1, 1965.
As you can see, the telephone company was at a disadvantage gift-wise compared to Ohio Edison. It could only offer phones.
Now if this was 2025, a new iPhone would make a pretty nice gift. But an extension telephone as a gift in 1965? I'm not sure.
But the ad says otherwise. The little girl is presenting her mother with the phone (which appears to be encased in lucite) and Mom is so overjoyed that she needs to be supported by Dad.
In our house on Skyline Drive, the extension phone was down in the basement, next to the dryer. With six people in the house, Mom was always doing laundry. So it made sense to have a phone down there.
Since Mom and Dad were busy after dinner (reading the Journal), the extension phone was the one my brothers and I used when we were in high school if we wanted to call a girl, or plan some escapade with our friends. Unfortunately, Mom caught on pretty quick and would end up coming downstairs to throw a load of wash in and eavesdrop.
Back then, parents knew what their kids were doing all the time.
