THE OLD “PARTY LINE”
BY HARRIETTE MILLER

The old Party Telephone Line was the invention that changed rural living forever.

Telephones came into use in the year 1891.  When my parents married in 1907, there were only three telephones near them.

In the next two years, the telephone poles were strung with the wire for sending and receiving for four miles.

The party line had many rural people on it by 1910.  Nearly all farmers were now getting the benefit of telephones.  Yes, the world was ready for a new way of life.

Farmers worked out their telephone bill by repairing lines.  My father would say, “I need to work out my pole tax.”  I didn’t understand what that meant at my young age.

The word neighbor meant someone cared and would be there for you if you needed help – and I mean any kind of help.  Work, sickness in the family or times of sorrow.  The way the need was made by the Old Party Line.

We knew everyone’s ring on the ten party line.  Our own number was 57F13.  We called one long ring for central to connect us with another line that didn’t have the number 57F before it.  Our neighbors called us by cranking the wall telephone and ringing one long ring and three short rings and one long ring.

Another was three short rings and one long ring.

Another person’s was one long and four short rings.  Another was one long ring and two shorts and so on.

I wonder if I could memorize all the “numbers” now.

Eavesdropping became the way of entertainment.  It was very common to be talking with a friend on the Old Party Line and someone eavesdropping who may have missed a word or two put in and say, ” Who did you say had an accident?”  or “How is the sick at your house today?”  “Do you need us?”  “Are you needing groceries as we go to the store today?”  “We see a stray cow by our gate, do you know where she belongs?”

Many times we were just told news.

I remember when a neighbor on the Party Line told us that our that the teacher had told her, not us, our son needed glasses.  I got an appointment with an eye doctor immediately.  The examination revealed that our oldest son was nearly blind.  I thanked my neighbor for telling us — even on the Party Line.

One day when another Party Line user and I were talking “put in” and said, “Our neighbor, Frances Murphy and Jim Rooney are getting married.”

And there was another time I was very ill with tonsilltis when our very close neighbor on the Party Line arrived at our house with a great long pencil that had cotton on one end and said, “I have come to paint your tonsils with Iodine, you need to get rid of that infection.”

I hadn’t even told her I needed help but she had been eavesdropping and took action.

She really knew how to paint my tonsils as I nearly choked to death.  I also got well quickly.

Can you imagine owning a large business and having it on a Party Line?  Well, we did.  We raised and sold several thousand turkeys and marketed tons upon tons of feed.

All of our neighbors were pulling for us as they knew it would be impossible to conduct business without the telephone.

We had a lot of fun at times about some of the conversations.  My husband wasn’t one to listen in or eavesdrop — but this particular day he needed to make a call about the business so he took down the receiver several times and heard two women on the Party Line telling the best way to wash their corsets.

He waited as long as he thought they needed to talk and said in a polite way, “If you ladies have finished washing your corsets, could I please use the line for business?”

No one was ever rude or get mad if you needed to use the line.

Leon, my husband, often teased those two neighbors in the years to come about learning the way to wash his corset.

They would pretend to be embarrassed, but I don’t think there was any embarrassment on the old Party Line.

We knew we had people listening to our conversations who really cared.

CHICKEN MILANESE
ON A BED OF PASTA

This recipe is superb.  Chicken Milanese is just a fancy name for Chicken Parmesan.                                                     Serves 4

We made it and served it as part of our rotation of grab-n-go dinners at Hippie Cowboy.  Customers raved about it and looked forward to its rotation in the monthly scheduled offerings.

It’s not hard – just takes a tiny bit of time – as most stellar food does. 

Serve on top of a handful of boiled and oiled (per package instructions)  thin spaghetti pasta with a warm/hot side of a favorite marinara sauce + fresh bread ( think baguette) + small butter lettuce salad ( fresh butter lettuce leaves + thinly sliced red onions + small chunks of ripe Roma tomatoes drizzled with a favorite vinaigrette dressing).

HERE’S  HOW WE MAKE IT
INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts – sliced diagonally in half – making them cutlets
• 1 1/2 cups seasoned, dried bread crumbs (either homemade or store bought – my go-to for store bought is Progresso)
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 TBSP minced, fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 TBSP freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• Olive oil for frying
• 1 small box of thin spaghetti cooked to package instructions, drained and tossed/coated with olive oil
• Favorite jarred marinara sauce or homemade, heated until pretty hot in a small saucepan
• Fresh, sliced lemon wedges
• Additional freshly grated Parmesan cheese

GET THE ASSEMBLY LINE GOING

WITH A MEAT MALLET OR A ROLLING PIN, POUND CHICKEN CUTLETS BETWEEN 2 SHEETS OF PLASTIC WRAP TO ABOUT 1/8″ – as in thin

SEASON CUTLETS WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND PRESS THE SALT AND PEPPER IN WITH YOUR FINGERS AND PLACE ON A BAKING SHEET

IN A SMALL BOWL

COMBINE SEASONED BREAD CRUMBS, FRESHLY GRATED PARMESAN, PARSLEY, SALT AND PEPPER

SPREAD THIS DRY MIXTURE ON A DINNER PLATE OR IN A PIE TIN

SPREAD THE 1/2 CUP OF FLOUR (a little more if needed) ON A SEPARATE DINNER PLATE OR PIE TIN

BREAK EGGS IN A SHALLOW BOWL AND BEAT LIGHTLY

NOW

DIP CUTLETS IN THE FLOUR, COATING BOTH SIDES AND SHAKING OFF EXCESS

THEN

DIP IN THE BEATEN EGGS, LETTING ANY EXCESS DRIP BACK IN THE BOWL

FINALLY

PLACE CUTLETS, ONE BY ONE, IN THE SEASONED BREAD CRUMB MIXTURE – PRESSING THE CRUMB MIXTURE FIRMLY IN PLACE WITH YOUR HAND(S)

EITHER COVER THE CUTLETS AND REFRIGERATE UNTIL READY TO FRY OR GET READY TO FRY

HERE’S HOW WE FRY THE CUTLETS COATED IN MAGIC SEASONED CRUMBS

HEAT A LARGE SKILLET (think cast iron if you have one) UNTIL VERY HOT.  CAREFULLY ADD ENOUGH OLIVE OIL TO SKILLET TO A DEPTH OF ABOUT 1/4″

WHEN THE OIL IS ALMOST SMOKING, ADD AS MANY CUTLETS AS THE SKILLET WILL HOLD COMFORTABLY; DO NOT CROWD THE SKILLET.  WATCH THE TEMP OF THE OIL + CUTLETS SO NEITHER GET TOO HOT.  ADJUST TEMP TO MEDIUM HIGH IF NEEDED

COOK UNTIL THE CUTLETS ARE GOLDEN ON THE BOTTOM – ABOUT 2 MINUTES

CAREFULLY TURN CUTLETS OVER WITH TONGS AND COOK ON 2ND SIDE ABOUT 30 SECONDS

REMOVE CUTLETS WITH TONGS AS THEY ARE DONE, ALLOWING ANY EXCESS OIL TO DRAIN BACK INTO THE SKILLET, AND TRANSFER TO A BAKING SHEET LINED WITH SEVERAL LAYERS OF PAPER TOWELS (draining purpose)

REPEAT WITH ANY REMAINING CUTLETS

READY TO SERVE

ON 4 DINNER PLATES GRAB A HANDFUL OF BOILED AND OILED THIN SPAGHETTI PASTA AND PLACE THE NOODLES IN A LITTLE “NEST” ON EACH PLATE

PLACE 2 THIN CUTLETS ON TOP OF PASTA

SPRINKLE ADDITIONAL FRESHLY GRATED PARMESAN ON TOP

SPOON HOT MARINARA ON SIDE OF EACH PLATE JUST BESIDE THE PASTA/CHICKEN PARMESAN IN A PRETTY LITTLE CIRCLE + LEMON WEDGE(S) TO SQUEEZE A LITTLE OVER ALL

GET THE BREAD AND SALAD READY – ON SEPARATE SALAD PLATES

SERVE.

ENJOY!

~ Hippie Cowboy recipe box