In American telephony the term "rotary" refers exclusively to multi-line phones now only seen in period film and TV.
They are marked by having multiple push buttons towards the front which must be selected (pushed down) to complete a connection.
The term "rotary" is linked to the fact that the INTERIOR switching for these phones used "ROTARY WIPERS" as the switching mechanism. (Later some used linear wipers which are vaguely related to the cheapo keyboards used by PCs even now. The critical circuits are printed on thin plastics/ dielectrics and the contact wipes across these thin films to make the connections.)
{ For cyber-security buffs, the Japanese PURPLE code machines were built up around rotary wipers. When the Americans attempted to replicate their scheme they ended up with a PURPLE machine that worked even faster than the Japanese original. }
What you're describing would be termed as "dial telephone" -- leading to terms such as "dial tone."
(This followed an older scheme wherein you didn't dial at all -- you rang the operator (PBX -- public exchange) and told her who you wanted to reach. She then worked her plug board to make the connection. (Yes, she had a dial, herself)
This scheme was made funny and famous by Lilly Tomlin on Laugh-In. With it, Lilly could listen in on every conversation at will -- the ultimate gossip.
The rotary switch constituted a mini version of a PBX -- with some able to handle 64 lines. (IIRC) This type can be seen in "The Apartment" (1961) on the desk of the big bosses's secretary. Like Tomlin, she ends up knowing everything that's going on in the big corporation -- for the exact same reason.
True rotary phones were rented at a premium, (Impossible to buy.) typically at commercial rates for two+ lines. (You'd get a Yellow pages minimal citation to go with your commercial lines, too. Space ads cost a bundle extra.)
If you were a private party and wanted two lines the phone company would merely provide an extra vanilla handset. You would not get the push-buttons, etc.
Rotarys took off because they permitted "call stacking" -- if line one was busy, the system would automatically shift a new caller to line two, and so on.
Not surprisingly, most businesses felt compelled to get at least two lines and a rotary set of phones to match.
By todays standards, those old phone rates were sky high.
Last edited by Tesla; 07/07/14 05:34 PM.
