Dial-A-Joke
Encyclopedia
Dial-A-Joke refers to a telephone
service that users can call to listen to previously recorded jokes.
Jokes are recorded on an automatic answering machine
. In the past, many jokes were recorded on cassette tape and then played
sequentially, each caller hearing the next joke on the tape. Modern touch tone phones allow callers to select different joke
types: knock-knock, joke of the day, professional humor, random, etc.
Dial-A-Joke operators will sometimes actually answer the phone, which is called taking a live call.
The co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak
actually met his first wife by taking a live call on his Dial-A-Joke
service. He started the service as a hobby in 1973, at which time it was the first Dial-A-Joke in the San Francisco Bay Area.
was created in 1971.
The Dial-A-Joke answering machine was located in the apartment of Mark Robbins and Ira Goldstein on Yarmouth Street in Encino, California. Jan Lucas was the voice of Dial-A-Joke. Mark Robbins built and maintained the Dial-A-Joke answering machine. Ira Goldstein and Ben Weinberg were responsible for content and production of the Dial-A-Joke tapes.
The four got a rubber stamp made that said “Dial-A-Joke ###-####” and stamped hundreds of business card sized pieces of paper and then passed them out in local malls.
Originally, they used a Codeaphone answering machine, but due to high call volume the machine failed. Mark Robbins designed a new machine centered around a Craig 8-track tape player. About 30 different jokes were recorded on a Möbius loop tape (8 track tape). There were two tracks recorded on the tape. The first track had the joke on it. The second track had a beep tone after each joke which turned off the machine. They also had a counter that tracked the total number of jokes given. When they retired the machine, it had over a million calls logged.
Running through the late 70's. A new recording every weekday.
booked a recording session in New York City's GT Harris Recording Studios on 55th Street and Broadway with stand-up comedian, Henny Youngman
. The project was initiated by NY Telephone VP Executive Glenn Appleyard to become New York City's ambitious Dial-A-Joke variant. The Engineer on the project was Floyd O'Neil, who remained with the project until divestiture of the baby bells. The original recordings, which later included such notables as Jay Leno
and David Letterman
, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution
in the late 1980s.
New York Telephone Company's Voice Automatic Answering System was built by a Georgia company called Audichron
. It was first put into service to provide automatic updating of Time and Weather for the New York Metropolitan Area and later adapted for this entertainment function. The system allowed for continuous playback of a complete one minute message. It was called a "barge-in" system in that an incoming caller could connect to the playing message at any point, hear it to the conclusion, and then the message would play one more time until it was played from beginning to end. The unique part of the system is that it was engineered to allow for thousands of simultaneous connections.
Dial-A-Joke run by Cassie Phoenix
-Located in Catskill, NY and Fairfax, VA
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service that users can call to listen to previously recorded jokes.
Jokes are recorded on an automatic answering machine
Answering machine
The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...
. In the past, many jokes were recorded on cassette tape and then played
sequentially, each caller hearing the next joke on the tape. Modern touch tone phones allow callers to select different joke
types: knock-knock, joke of the day, professional humor, random, etc.
Dial-A-Joke operators will sometimes actually answer the phone, which is called taking a live call.
The co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
actually met his first wife by taking a live call on his Dial-A-Joke
service. He started the service as a hobby in 1973, at which time it was the first Dial-A-Joke in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Original Dial-A-Joke by Mark Robbins, Ira Goldstein, Ben Weinberg and Jan Lucas
881-2345 Telephone Entertainment LineTelephone Entertainment Line
Telephone Entertainment Line refers to a telephone number or numbers with an announce only answering machine, maintained for the purpose of providing entertainment over the telephone. These were most popular in Southern California in the 1960s and 1970s...
was created in 1971.
The Dial-A-Joke answering machine was located in the apartment of Mark Robbins and Ira Goldstein on Yarmouth Street in Encino, California. Jan Lucas was the voice of Dial-A-Joke. Mark Robbins built and maintained the Dial-A-Joke answering machine. Ira Goldstein and Ben Weinberg were responsible for content and production of the Dial-A-Joke tapes.
The four got a rubber stamp made that said “Dial-A-Joke ###-####” and stamped hundreds of business card sized pieces of paper and then passed them out in local malls.
Originally, they used a Codeaphone answering machine, but due to high call volume the machine failed. Mark Robbins designed a new machine centered around a Craig 8-track tape player. About 30 different jokes were recorded on a Möbius loop tape (8 track tape). There were two tracks recorded on the tape. The first track had the joke on it. The second track had a beep tone after each joke which turned off the machine. They also had a counter that tracked the total number of jokes given. When they retired the machine, it had over a million calls logged.
Dial-A-Joke run by Mount Hood Chemicals
Located in Portland, Oregon: The makers of C-20 type laundry soap.Running through the late 70's. A new recording every weekday.
Dial-A-Joke developed by New York Telephone
In 1973, Y&R Advertising on behalf of the New York Telephone CompanyNew York Telephone
The New York Telephone Company was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.-Predecessor companies:...
booked a recording session in New York City's GT Harris Recording Studios on 55th Street and Broadway with stand-up comedian, Henny Youngman
Henny Youngman
Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire...
. The project was initiated by NY Telephone VP Executive Glenn Appleyard to become New York City's ambitious Dial-A-Joke variant. The Engineer on the project was Floyd O'Neil, who remained with the project until divestiture of the baby bells. The original recordings, which later included such notables as Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in the late 1980s.
New York Telephone Company's Voice Automatic Answering System was built by a Georgia company called Audichron
Audichron
Audichron was a talking clock, or a time announcer which was developed and produced by the Audichron Company, starting in the 1930s. There were several types of Audichron machines including the stand time piece , M12, temperature machine and the Comparator.-STM:STM stood for "Small Town Machine"....
. It was first put into service to provide automatic updating of Time and Weather for the New York Metropolitan Area and later adapted for this entertainment function. The system allowed for continuous playback of a complete one minute message. It was called a "barge-in" system in that an incoming caller could connect to the playing message at any point, hear it to the conclusion, and then the message would play one more time until it was played from beginning to end. The unique part of the system is that it was engineered to allow for thousands of simultaneous connections.
Dial-A-Joke run by James Wayman
Located in DesMoines Iowa, then Crescent City CaliforniaDial-A-Joke run by Cassie Phoenix
-Located in Catskill, NY and Fairfax, VA