Thursday, June 07, 2012

Hello Jenny


I can't imagine that too many people would be able to make the connection between the photo, which I took at Wheelers Maple Pancake House and Sugar Camp and my title, "Hello Jenny." You'd have had to be watching television back in the fifties in order to know, and even then you very well might not make the connection.

I am referring to a program called Lassie. Aside from the gorgeous and extremely intelligent collie, the show featured a boy named Jeff who lived on a farm with his mother and grandfather. Their link to the rest of their community was Jenny, who was the operator on the other end of the phone.  
Note: when Jeff got too old, they re-invented the show with another cast, including a boy called Timmy. To me, however, it was never the real "Lassie" show.
Actually, I forgot that the operator's name was Jenny and was thinking, Millie, but since everything about everything is on this interwebby thingie, a search yielded the correct name within seconds. It actually came up in the first two hits without me even having to open the sites although, of course, I did click.

The search also led me to an ancient Lassie episode on YouTube called Party Line, in which the telephone and the operator figure prominently. In fact the program ends with a birthday party for Jenny, who had been feeling neglected and unappreciated until then.
Note: the whole Party Line episode can be viewed in the three YouTube clips embedded below.
Jenny was played by Florence Lake. Her telephone operator role in Lassie was her biggest, but she also appeared on one episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Lou Grant's date (more on Wikipedia). You can also find more about the Lassie TV show on Wikipedia.

All that minutiae aside, how do you like the photo? :)








14 comments:

MARY G said...

Great lighting! I love that phone; my grandmother had one just like it and a seven member party line.
You know, I've never seen Lassie.

Bernie said...

I loved Lassie, I thought all families were like that and wanted to live on a farm....:-)Hugs

KGMom said...

Goodness--I didn't know there was a Lassie show before there was a Lassie show...
I am confused.

Seriously, since I was overseas at the time, I didn't see Lassie first or second time around.

Deprived, eh? It explains a lot about me.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Liked the photo booth photo and the reminiscing about the original Lassie show, which I know we watched in our home. But I didn't dried all much about the operator.

RVVagabond said...

I don't remember the Jeff version of the show, just the Timmy one. But we did have one of those phones hanging on the wall in the kitchen; for a while my father would buy old crank phones and convert them into radios to sell. The sepia tone of your photograph is perfect for that shot.

Pearl said...

beautiful pic.

I grew up with a phone like that. to play with, not to talk on for real tho. I grew up with Timmy, so to speak.

Lorna said...

I would have congratulated myself just to remember Lassie, let alone Jenny. The photo is a nice one---balanced and compelling as always.

Ruth said...

Very well composed picture.How communication has changed. I never saw the Lassie TV show. Will have to check our the YouTube videos.

Diana said...

Thanks for making me feel so old this morning A.C.!!
Besides that, the picture was very good. Are you sure you aren't a professional in disguise?
Love Di ♥

Jimmie Earl said...

Okay! I remember both Lassie shows. You are right, the "Timmy" one wasn't "real."
I also remember those phones. My grandparents had one just like it. My Grams was so short that they had a little wooden step for her to stand on to talk.
We had the party line setup in our neighborhood, complete with crank phones,(only these desk were type with the crank in the base) until I was in high school in the early 60's. Thanks for the trek down memory lane.

Donna said...

Love the shot! My Grandmother had one hanging in her kitchen! She also had the old black landline phone which was the one they used...
I remember Jeff...Timmy just never measured up to him.
I will definitely be watching these clips! Thanks Ac!
hughugs

Donna said...

Ps- Awwww...Loved these...Jenny had a wonderful birthday, indeed!

Hilary said...

I was aware that there was a Lassie show before the one with Jon Provost (I swear, I didn't have to look that up!) but to me, the one with Timmy was the real one.

Lovely photo, AC. I can almost hear Lassie barking.. Timmy's in the well again.

Jinksy said...

I love your technical jargon- especially the interwebby thingie. *smiles*