Mine didn't even have a rotary, it was a ring down to an operator. Like Green Acres: you pick up the phone (closes the hook switch and creates a 50V loop back to central office) and a light and buzzer sounds in the operators board (usually a lady at her house) she camps on and asks what number you want, she dials it on her board, gets a response and then punches you in with a 1/4" jumper that looks like a guitar cable. When the parties hang up, the light goes off and she disconnects you. You see them at estate sales back east. The cranks generates the 90V AC current it takes to ring another line directly and Military field phones used the same principle. Guys in listening posts would tape the leads to their fingers so when they got a call, it would not ring the phone and give away their position...or to wake their sleeping asses up!
