I was born in 1942. The first phone that I ever used was identical to this Crosley except without the rotary dial. I would pick up the receiver and ask the operator, by speaking into the mouth piece, to connect me to a phone number. This Candlestick phone is a "blast from the past" but with call-waiting and redial. It requires no electricity so that when our electricity is out for awhile due to a rain storm for example or the cell phone's battery is dead, the Crosley still works because it's a land line. What a great conversation-piece!