a few years back, my son and i were watching The Third Man- (and just posting that, i am going to guess about half the board has never heard of the movie!- a thriller set in post war austria) and one of the characters makes a 'station to station call'-- which drew a puzzled blank from my son! i still remember when you had to schedule oversea's calls, (letters would be exchanged, to make sure the other party was home!) and even then we still opted for the cheaper station to station, rather than the more expensive person to person!

odd bits of technology hang on in movie scripts, or Curious George illustrations, and in cryptic puzzles!