A historic telephone service arrangement where multiple customers share a single physical local loop to the central office. Subscribers on the circuit could hear each other's conversations, and only one household could make or receive a call at a time. Distinctive ringing patterns were used to indicate which household was receiving an incoming call.
Heard on the job
The rural customers are still on a party line, so they get a two-ring cadence when it's for them.
Insider tip
Because of the lack of privacy and the inability to use the line concurrently, these were phased out in favor of dedicated private lines as central office capacity increased.