 |
| CB operators had handles before Twitter. |
Yes, children. And this # used to be called the lb. sign, as in 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper.
Friday, May 8, 2015
EDiM 8 - something with a handle
Before Twitter, there was CB (Citizen's Band) Radio. Citizens band channels are shared by many users. Only one station may
transmit at a time; other stations must listen and wait for the shared
channel to be available. That's when you said, "Breaker, breaker!"
After the 1973 oil crisis the U.S. government imposed a nationwide 55 MPH speed limit, and fuel shortages and rationing were widespread. CB radio was used (especially by truckers) to locate service stations with better supplies of fuel, to notify other drivers of speed traps, and to organize blockades and convoys in a 1974 strike protesting the new speed limit and other trucking regulations. That's when people invented their own nicknames, or "handles". Betty Ford, the former First Lady of the United States, used the CB handle "First Mama"
Yes, children. And this # used to be called the lb. sign, as in 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper.
Yes, children. And this # used to be called the lb. sign, as in 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like your sketch of the trucker in action! I always think of the CB radios as I drive along the interstates crowded with trucks. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joan. The whole phenomenon of CB seems such a distant event. And gas rationing with lines down the street. !!!
Delete