Party lines carried on well into the 70s, but the technology was deemed “a victim of progress” but the last party line was not phased out until 1991 in Woodbury, Connecticut. And, Illinois State University terminated its last party line in 1990.

When was the party line invented?

1837 The first known use of party line was in 1837.

What phones did they use in the 1950s?

The Western Electric model 500 telephone series was the standard domestic desk telephone set issued by the Bell System in North America from 1950 through the 1984 Bell System divestiture. Millions of model 500-series phones were produced and were present in most homes in North America.