1 ringy dingy: Hotline Cafe dials into Carbonear communications history
Carbonear's newest hotspot is in one of its oldest buildings, the historic telephone exchange building.
It took owner Pauline Yetman six weeks from the conception of the idea until opening day, to get the Hotline Cafe up and running.
History is what it's all about for Yetman, breathing new life in a structure that was built in 1929.
"I think that it's heartbreaking that historical buildings are basically left to fall down, and as far as I'm concerned that past has developed our future and we should be embracing that," she said.
"A lot of people actually got excited when I said that this is what I was doing. They actually started calling me and telling me that they had this or they had that and wanted to know if I wanted to borrow it or wanted to have it," Yetman said.
"Yesterday someone called and said and they had their grandmother's apron that was the same colour as my wall and she's been dead now 50 years, so I've got that on display."
The building was the site of the first long-distance call in Newfoundland and Labrador — from Carbonear to St. John's.
It was rebuilt, with poured concrete, after the original caused one of the biggest fires in Carbonear history.
"Everything basically started off with the telephone theme so the old telephones, telephone bell ads, that kind of thing and it evolved into wanting to make it something everybody would enjoy something that everybody knows and everybody knows the 50s," Yetman said.
One of the building's original switchboards is still on site, which has a lot of customers interested.
Younger customers are interested in the original 1947 black rotary dial phone on the "gossip bench."
"The kids are loving it. They have no idea what a receiver is so you have to explain that to them which is pretty funny, when they do pick it up they say it's broken because it's making a noise but that's the dial tone which they've never heard before."
Downtown Carbonear is bustling with many other businesses.
"We promote each other and we've got each other's back and we are trying to bring life down to an old historic town."
