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by Angostura 2437 days ago
Rotary dials didn't emit tones, but basically briefly disconnected the line. IN most countries it was 1 pulse for the digit 1, 2 pulses for 2 etc. up to 10, for zero

However Wikipedia notes:

> Exceptions to this are: Sweden (example dial), with one pulse for 0, two pulses for 1, and so on; and New Zealand with ten pulses for 0, nine pulses for 1, etc. Oslo, the capital city of Norway, used the New Zealand system, but the rest of the country did not.

If ever you were in a house which tried to prevent outgoing calls by using a lock on the dial, you could still make a call by tapping out the requisite digits on the hang-up buttons.

1 comments

This is the type of phone I grew up with https://collection.motat.org.nz/objects/111551 It seems more logical to me. Those from other countries seem backwards. Pulse count = 10 - digit.