What was a party line? Did you have one?

When I was young, so was technology.  The telephone lines were limited to the number of connections or lines they could accomodate so several homes were put on one line or number.  There was an operator who took all the calls.  You would ring the phone in your home and it would connect to an operator.  You would tell her(usually) the phone number and the number of rings and she would connect you to your party.  If you wanted to call a number outside of your town, you would have to talk to a long distance operator.  If you wanted to call outside of the country, you would have to contact a long distance operator who would connect you to the overseas operator and that call would cost a weeks wages.  It is a little bit different now.  Pick up the phone and dial all over the world---cheaper and faster.   Walking down the street talking to your friend in Japan for pennies a minute. 
Another inconvenience was that the phones were attached to the wall and the receiver was attached to the phone.  The phone at my house was in the dining room so there was no privacy either especially in our family of younger brothers.  You, also, had to be careful of what you said because you never knew if the operator was listening.  You,also, didn't know if someone else on the party line was listening.  It was illegal to do that but it was done.  It would get boring in a small town for people without imagination.
When I was married and moved back to that small town, I had a party line again.  It could become most annoying when you really needed to make a call and someone on the line was having a gabathon and wouldn't relinquish the line.  Also, annoying when you would hear your ring and start walking to the phone only to hear another ring and know then the call wasn't for you.
Now. the phones are cordless so I can lose them and have the fun of trying to find one of them when I hear that still familiar ring.