Who remembers this fun from the 80s?

[texasgirl]

I'm a dinosaur!! I don't have a cell either. lol
I remember all the different answering machine voices and stuff. Lame now, but, at the time were so funny!!

[Andy M.]

Go to this site and type in 'Don't Hang Up' by the Orlons and give a listen. I'd like to use this for a greeting.

[Maverick2272]

I remember those, they were all the rage for awhile. They also had celebrity voices for awhile that you could get, I always wanted "Capt. Kirk" on mine.
Now I only have cell phones, no land line or answering machine.

[Barbara L]

We have a land-line and an answering machine (digital though, no tape). Personally, I hate calling someone else's house and hearing a prerecorded voice that is not the person I am calling. I have a minor phone phobia when it comes to calling people I don't know, and even if I am calling someone I know (unless it is close family or my best friend), I worry that I am calling too late or during supper, or some other bad time. I remember years ago calling my aunt and uncle. I had never called them before (they usually called, or my mom called them--I was home while my parents were visiting them out-of-state). Answering machines were really a fairly new thing at that time, and when I called, I got the voice of a stranger saying "We're unable to take your call..." I was very confused and hung up.

I don't give a lot of information on our message, but I do include our first names. We get A LOT of wrong numbers (for a local lawyer and for a beauty salon), and I also want to let our friends know they got the right number. I have heard a lot of cute messages that people put on theirs, but since there is no telling who might be calling, I keep it boring and basic. Ours just says, "You've reached James and Barbara. We can't come to the phone right now, so if you leave your name, number, and a message, we'll get back to you." Some people still leave messages for the lawyer or beauty salon!

I do one thing that is probably a little strange. I keep certain messages and won't ever delete them. I have also found that, so far, our phones seem to last just about the length of time it takes to fill up with the messages I save. Why do I save messages? Some of the messages from my daughter and grandkids are too cute to get rid of. I also am collecting voices. My mom and aunt are both gone now, but I have their voices on an old phone. I have at least one of most family members (all but some cousins and an aunt) and some close friends. I have my best friend singing Happy Birthday to me. I have James's voice on there, and mine is also on there. I have my grandson at about age 5 singing a song to me. When it looks like the phone is getting close to the end of its usefulness as a phone, I have my daughter and grandkids call and fill the rest of the answering machine space up.

Barbara

[middie]

Lmbo Lori and I were talking about this the other day at work. She actually had her message to the theme of The Munsters. It was great !

[babetoo]

my son has the most annoying answering machine recording i have ever heard.

makes me mad everytime i hear it.

basically some rube wants to give me a whipping if i don't leave a message. there are words (not that bad) that i can't say here. makes me not even care if i talk to them.

i don't own one. they can always call back.

babe

[ChefJune]

Originally Posted by Alix

Um...I have both. Does that make me a dinosaur???

me too. don't think so.....

too many calls on cell phones = brain tumors.... not my idea of a fun time

[DrThunder88]

My mom recorded the message on our machine, and I swear she sounds like a computer voice!

[AllenOK]

I remember once, back the in '80's, when a friend of mine told me that he had been trying all afternoon to call his other friends, and got nothing but answering machines. Finally, in desperation, he left this message:

"This is Melvin's Calling Machine. You have 30 seconds to return this call before your answering machine self-destructs."

Sure enough, a minute later, one of our other friends called him back.

[jkath]

I recently called a friend and got her answering machine. It was her silly husband doing his best impression of one of those game-show announcers from the 70s ("tell 'em what they've won, Bob!") I couldn't stop laughing.

Years ago my Dad's work phone (in our house) was one digit off from the local am radio station. It was the one most teens listened to, and we'd get calls pretty often for it. After too many wrong numbers, I remember hearing my Dad tell the caller, "You're the winner!! You've just won an all-expenses paid trip to........Hawaii!! Just come down to the station and get your prize!"
ha!

The other one we got some years ago - we got a person who called and asked for Steve. Then another person called for Steve. After about 5 calls within 20 minutes, we got a call: "Hi, this is Steve. Do I have any messages?"