October 11, 1983

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY! in 1983 the last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service. The 440 telephone customers of Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched to direct-dial service. At the same time, their request to have color added to their lives was granted by President Reagan. Homeowner Ralph Dergist was initially happy, as he’d only seen black and white and the greenish-gray shades of since 1940, but when he saw his wife for the first time in technicolor, he realized he’d been happily married to a black woman for 30 years. He immediately petitioned to have the new-fangled color removed and go back to good-old black and white and greenish-gray. His request was denied.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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