Research - 1950

Communication:
1950:
No internet with online shopping and knowledge, no text messaging, no skype, how did they manage to talk to friends and family in the 1950's?

Letters.

Telephone - Was available, but very few people had it in 1950.
To make any call you had to go through the Operator at the local Exchange.
Most phone numbers were just 3 digits, so you'd pick up the phone, wait for the Operator to say "Good morning, number please" and reply with whatever, such as Tonbridge 387.

At first the phones were of Bakelite, very heavy but thankfully very loud, you'd not miss a call unless you lived in an enormous house.
These were replaced with Plastic phones, but one thing for years seem to remain common place - the cord which after time became coiled up. This led to the inevitable answering of the call and pulling the telephone of the table.

(Source)

1960:

Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) was introduced in the mid-1960s, allowing people to directly dial long-distance areas. This replaced the previous system whereby the phone user would dial the operator, who would then place the call.

1970:

Computers became available to people, but very expensive.

In the late 1970s, the rotary dial telephone was replaced with a keypad model, called the Touchfone 10, making dialling even quicker.

1980:

Answering machines became popular during the 1980s. Answering machines picked up unanswered phone calls and recorded a message from the caller.

1990:

Emails became a must in workplaces.

By the mid-1990s, computers had become an indispensable part of everyday life. Computers were standard in most workplaces, schools, libraries and universities and computer skills were considered essential in many occupations.

During the late 1990s, mobile phones transformed from being a rare, expensive form of communication to something that many people were reluctant to live without.