Eighty years ago, there was a war going on, and there were shortages of many things. And that included a new home telephone. You couldn’t get one right away–you had to wait weeks or months.

In this ad from Life Magazine, November 20, 1944, The Phone Company assures you that they feel your pain. But because of wartime shortages, there weren’t enough telephones or switchboards to go around, and everyone would just have to wait patiently.