how did people talk before the telephone?

Answer 1

They wrote letters, they lived in more concentrated areas, and families didn't live as far away from eachother because you were more likely to survive if you had others to lean on for help if there was a struggle.

If you lived in the middle of nowhere and you had to tell someone something in a hurry, your only hope was either the postal service or to travel and deliver the information in person.

Answer 2

Most of the time were too busy to do much talking. They didn't have the modern convienences that we do today...washers were still manual labor, there were no dryers, laundr had to be hung outside and there was no such thing as "permanent press" or no iron fabircs. There were days of the week designated for doing laundry, the ironing, scrubbing floors (no swiffer mops in those days and no vinyl flooring), wax had to be stripped off of the lineolium, the floor scrubbed clean and then wax reapplied. There was rug beating day when all of the rugs (no wall to wall carpeting) were taken out, hung on the laundry lines and beat to get the dust out of them, vacumn cleaners were bulky and cumbersome and only "rich" people had them. Furniture had to be waxed and polished, aresol all in ones like Pledge weren't invented yet and the "dusting" was an all day job. Then of course dinner had to be prepared every single night, no microwaves and very few stove top ranges with ovens. The men were usually out in the fields working, or in the mines, or working on the rails etc, and when they got home they would chop and split wood for the fireplace and the stove for the next day's dinner. Kids were expected to pitch in as well and "bath day" was usually Saturday because the next morning the entire family would pile into the buggy (only the rich could afford automobiles) and go to church which is where everyone got caught up on their talking after services Church was usually an all day event kids played, women gossiped and men grunted and groaned about prices and their work.

Answer 3

Letters, telegram, etc. A question I hear from my students a lot is "what did people do before cell phones/e-mail/aim." For that question, you can talk to the adults around you. We managed. It was harder to communicate w/out telephones, but people managed that also.

Answer 4

How long before? There were telegraphs, letters, person to person, smoke signals, hand signals, naval flag code, and other means of communicating. In some jungles, drums were used for talking. And don't forget shouting across the creek or valley.

Answer 5

LIfe was so different. emergency was done by telegram. People didn't know the difference. If they wanted to talk to family that lived far away, they wrote letters, that was big. You need to remember that before things are invented, people don't know the difference. think of something that has changed radically in your life,maybe the ipods, and what was it like before that for you.

Answer 6

people used memograms, a short letter, and the message was delivered! Check out the history of phones by using google on the web.

Answer 7

Letters.
Morse code.
Smoke Singals

Answer 8

They faced each other and spoke...Or they wrote personal letters......no one gets snail mailed letters anymore....Olden days. LOL
But then they used REAL communications...Looked, facing another and really talked...Then, there's the old telegraph services like in the ol' west days.

Answer 9

Usually in person. If far enough away, by letter writing. Take care.

Answer 10

DEAR
THE TELEGRAPH WIRE SERVICE AND BY PONY EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE OK THAT WAS HOW THE DONE IT FROM THE TIMES OF THE OLD WEST AND CIVIL WARD TIMES
TAKE CARE