Before the standard, synthesized ring and busy tones heard today, those sounds were generated by large rotating machines and analog electronics. There was a wide array of different equipment used in different places, so that no two exchanges sounded exactly the same. <em><strong><a title="Click here to visit Elmer's Gallery of Vintage Telephone Sounds at ElmerCat.org" href="http://elmercat.org/gallery/">Click here to visit Elmer's Gallery of Vintage Telephone Sounds at ElmerCat.org</a></strong></em>

Phone Sound Gallery

Vintage Telephone Ringback and Busy Signal Tones (1950's - 1970's)

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Bayside, Queens, New York NYCQNYBA - Funky Ringback Tone 423-9982 (electromechanical analog sound)

Atlanta, Georgia - Step Reorder Tone "City Ring" Tone Plant (electromechanical analog sounds)

Atlanta, Georgia - Step Reorder Tone "Crossbar 5" Tone Plant (electromechanical analog sounds)

Amarillo, Texas AMRLTX02 - Dialtone and Ring to Intercept Operator

Auxvasse, Missouri AXVSMOXA - Ring and Intercept Tone

Elmer has always loved playing with the telephone!

Many of these sounds were originally made by analog, electromechanical equipment that no longer exists today.

Please visit http://ElmerCat.org for stories and more information.

Many of the tracks were made by sampling Evan Doorbell's precious library of vintage telephone sounds at PhoneTrips.com. Evan made extensive, analog recordings of the electromechanical sounds made by the telephone switching network in the 1970's. I recommend visiting PhoneTrips.com and listen to Evan's fascinating presentations in their entirety to learn more about what these now extinct sounds were all about.

Now, keep these vintage sounds alive!

Some tracks are intended as Mash-Up cell phone ringtones and alert-tones. You may download them directly from this site to use on your own devices.

Banish embarrassing ringtones like "Marimba" from your life, once and for all!

( If you require a tone in "iOS M4R" format, please go to ElmerCat.org/ringtones. )