Q.
Flash nostalgia is a curious thing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the mind is abuzz: “remember when we used to…”

Today’s random nostalgic nudge: the world of ‘Dial A.’  How many of us remember sneaking to the phone as kids to test out the much advertised Dial A services? Dial A Dietician, Dial A Song, Dial A Joke, Dial A Horoscope, even the far less interesting Dial The Time.

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City of Vancouver Archives. Jack Lindsay. ~1940-48

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Plunge after Alice into the Rabbit Hole, and what do we find: ‘Dial a Poem.’ What’s that?

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A.

The Dial A Poem idea isn’t new. In 1968, American poet John Giorno – inspired by the boundary pushing work of friends like Andy Warhol, Trisha Brown, and Robert Rauschenberg – created Dial A Poem.

In a 2012 interview, Giorno explained: “Dial-A-Poem  was unique in that it discovered the telephone as a venue of mass communication. On January 12, 1969, we received at quarter page review in The New York Times, which included the telephone number twice. We received millions of calls. The first day we gave off 250,000 busy signals at any one time, and the telephone company threatened to cut us off.”

The Dial A Poem movement spread. In 1985, for instance, poet Fortner Anderson – inspired by Giorno –  started Dial A Poem Montreal. Vancouver, Canada is stanza-ready with its own Dial-a-offering: ‘Poetry Phone.’

In this 2021 initiative launched by the DVBIA, any of us can call 1.833.POEMS. 4. U and choose which poem from which B.C. poet we want to listen to first. Press 1 for Rise, Press 2 for Ode to Chopsticks, Ode to the Potato, and Omelet, Press 3 for And The Dance Most Of all…

Does your city have a Press for Poem option? Happy Couplet Dialling!

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www.justcurious.ca

Header Art: Manuna Grabarnick