Crazy that seeing one of these in the wild surprises me now

Where I live they're still around and now free as a public service, convenient for kids running out of battery needing to call Mum, and the homeless touching base with family.

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

This actually makes my day, thanks for that.

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My first job out of college was working for a company that provided operators for private payphone owners. I wasn't an operator, but had to be trained on the system. We got some wild calls, especially from the prison phones.

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chirp4@reddit

One ring meant call me back!

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FakeAorta@reddit

I hear Boomers and Gen X constantly mocking Millenials and Gen Z for not knowing how we to get around without cell phones. But the old people forget that we had Payphones and paper maps everywhere when we were young to get around.

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

I still had to use a map book when running a route for Comcast back in like 2005. It's crazy how fast smartphones took over

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litterboxhero@reddit

Few years ago, my wife and I found one out in the wild, so I had her pose next to it for a photo.

I now show people that photo saying 'look at this ancient relic. Oh, and that's a payphone she is standing beside' :)

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

😭😂

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goatsnotvotes@reddit

We found one a few years ago when my youngest was still in high school at a random small town gas station. My husband and I did a “show and tell” of how this was how we had to contact our parents. We called Grandma (also in the parking lot on her cell phone 😆)

I’m pretty sure my kids (25 and 23 now) also thing my first “dog” was actually a stegosaurus 😆

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Redebo@reddit

Do you have proof that Fido wasn’t a stegosaurus?!?

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goatsnotvotes@reddit

Definitely not a stegosaurus…but she was a chihuahua so…probably a small raptor?

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BiggDAZ@reddit

I remember when they went from a dime to a quarter. I was a plumber who carried a pager. We had to keep track of the calls we made when we got paged. When it was a dime to call I didn't worry about it too much. But a quarter per call adds up real quick.

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spottymax@reddit

I was out and saw one of these with my daughter, who was around 13 at the time. I felt like the old man on the mountain telling her about a life before cell phones.

She was fine up until I told her about phone books. She could not wrap her head around the fact that everyone was given a book that not only told you someone's phone number, but also gave you their address. She didn't like that one bit.

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trUth_b0mbs@reddit

did you check for coins? lol.

I remember always doing that whenever I walked by one back in the day.

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LayerNo3634@reddit

I remember ALWAYS checking for quarters, and finding one quite often. I also remember there being 2-4 next to each other and racing my siblings/friends to check.

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trUth_b0mbs@reddit

what was the worst besides not finding money....finding someone's dried up nastyass gum in there!!

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Sad_Jellyfish4394@reddit

We have one in town. I think the phone is still there not sure if it works or not. Kinda miss the 0collect call. With im alive instead of a name

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dfugawi@reddit

Got a message on my beeper, went to one of those in the early ‘90s,

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Caustinot123@reddit

Yess, This.

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dfugawi@reddit

Seriously!

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Ok-Literature7782@reddit

I just don't understand how I could miss these paid in the ass blue boxes so much. Of course they afforded me much freedom in my childhood and teenage years. Mom just leave a bowl of dimes, and tell me to check in and tell her I was alive.

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dfugawi@reddit

Hey, it worked! I was able to call my wife and tell her that I was safe.

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--Uberwench--@reddit

Was it connected? Like was there a dial tone?

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

You know what, I'm really mad at myself for not checking. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I was walking to grab a drink while my fiance was at the walk in clinic for *falling down the stairs on Easter before church.

*This might be the most GenX scenario ever at this point?

It's by my little store, I'm going to go back and check today to redeem myself! I'll update if I can call my cell. 🤘🏻

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timbck2_67@reddit

"I've fallen and I can't get up!" - Life Alert commercial, from the childhood of every GenX'er

I hope your fiancé is ok.

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handsomeape95@reddit

Did you at least check the coin return slot to see if there was a quarter?

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

I did! No joy

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handsomeape95@reddit

Good! You may keep your GenX card.

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IndependentlyGreen@reddit

Didn't know they existed anymore. I wonder how much a phone call costs these days, or if the person will answer because they think it's a robocall.

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alligatorhalfman@reddit

They don't work anymore. I've been collecting them for about 15 years. It's a weird fetish. Don't judge me.

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timbck2_67@reddit

When I was in university (this was in the mid 80s) my neighbor had a full phone booth (the kind with the folding door that closed and a little seat in the corner) in his apartment, with working phone and all. I was envious, I'd love to have one of those!

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runningoutofwords@reddit

Yellowstone National Park still has some in service, because cell coverage is not everywhere in the Park

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undeniably_micki@reddit

yeah i saw one the other day & did a double take.

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guvbums@reddit

We still got them in Australia and they are all FREE :)

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Impossible_Girl_23@reddit

After having used them without a second thought for all those years, all I can think now is that I don't want to think about how filthy and germy they are. 🤣

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Vudublue@reddit

Time to make a 976 phone call!

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Impossible_Girl_23@reddit

976-1616 to get the time!!

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Rocketjen@reddit

My kids saw one by the beach on Maui when they were around 4 and 5 and were fascinated by it.

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Glitterbomb4274@reddit

But did you check for change?

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

Yes! No luck 😞

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squiddysquidsquid@reddit

As a design engineer, I can attest that some clients want to include payphones in their plans to accommodate poorer clients. This one is on the street, though.

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Dubs9448@reddit

Happy cake day!

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Sufficient_Focus4174@reddit

You don’t want to hang out in this area too long…

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interior_lulu@reddit

Why does this payphone look like it's for really short people?

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Purple-Drop7787@reddit

Because they were not tall friendly.

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Jmazoso@reddit

Somebody’s gonna have go get a shit load of dimes.

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marshallkrich@reddit

CALL COLLECT MOFO!!!!

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gun_grrrl@reddit

Hello, you have a collect call from "Movie-is-over-come-pick-me-up-at-the-mall." Do you accept the charges?

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Difficult_Advice_720@reddit

Narrator: They did not accept the charges ...

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dingolishious@reddit

Last week I saw two guys around an apparently intact payphone. Then I noticed they seemed to be doing a drug deal so I did my best to ignore the whole scene

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markov-271828@reddit

That was my telephone service in 1994 to mid-1995.

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Sitting_pipe@reddit

yea same here...

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slylabninja@reddit

I scratched up my Dad's hood on his 1988 Bonneville on one of these, pulled in too close.....

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icanhazkarma17@reddit

I had a 76 Bonneville LOL. What a boat. Those late 80s Bonnevilles were all plastic and complete pieces of shit if I recall correctly.

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slylabninja@reddit

Yeah, it had the 3800 V6 engine though that was super reliable and fast. I told him a lifted truck must have backed into me at the movie theater, maybe I should clear that up...

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

did you check it for quarters?

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

You know I did. Haha.

What I didn't do was check for dial tone, but I'm going back today to see if it actually still works. (I'm mad at myself😭)

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CommonBubba@reddit

I hope you washed your hands!

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

It is just a natural thing to do, even yeeeeaaaarrrrrrrs later.

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some_dude3645@reddit

Was there a water hose nearby lol

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Due_Palpitation2197@reddit

I remember mostly using these towards the end for 1-800-COLLECT calls “We addababy… eets a boy” hahaha

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Migamix@reddit

Quick, flip the handset. I have no idea why I felt obligated to do that, but I never missed one. Help me out here.

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badgey-pudds@reddit

I can only remember 2 numbers to dial ! the number for our old house growing up - and my own mobile number :(

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Dan-68@reddit

gif

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NoFollowing7781@reddit

Right...?? I was just up at lake Mead last weekend n' saw an actual phonebooth, and it was relatively clean, and in working order.... rare sight in this day n' age...

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DaddyOhMy@reddit

There's a row of them in the balcony lobby of Radio City Music Hall.

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Hot_Rock@reddit

That’s where you gotta call your plug from

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

😅😂

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gingerthetrailpup@reddit

More crazy is when they are clean and functional

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dtoddh@reddit

It's surprising nobody has stolen it, it'll resell for a few hundred dollars. Maybe more if you can get the booth part too.

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heelslover_1@reddit

It even appears to be functional

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These-Bar3221@reddit

Check the slot to see if a quarter dropped from the last use 33 years ago

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DoubleDownAgain54@reddit

What is it?

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grateful_john@reddit

They used to have a lot of payphones in Penn Station (NY) about 10 years ago when I was working in NYC. The only people who ever used them were homeless people who would pretend to talk on the phone so they didn't look like they were living in Penn Station when the cops would come through doing a sweep. They took them out at some point after I stopped commuting into New York every day, no idea what the homeless do to appear like they're not camping out now.

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FelinusFanaticus@reddit

Did you stick your finger in the slot to check for a quarter?

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_WillCAD_@reddit

My local airport still has several of them in the terminal and the parking garage.

Very rare sight.

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SalvatoreEggplant@reddit

We have a working one in Bridgeton, NJ. Large immigrant population. I imagine there are enough people using pre-paid phone cards and don't have their own phone to make it worth while to keep around.

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chopper5150@reddit

Damn, .50

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ugh_idfk@reddit

Saw one when we went to Alaska last summer. It was the first one I'd seen in years and was so excited I had to snap a pic to show the kids. 😂

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TK42Greg@reddit

They should put that in a museum for posterity ❤️

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Isabeer@reddit

"You'll never believe where I'm calling from!" is back. It started with car phones, then bag phones, then plane phones, then cell phones. The circle is complete.

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Easy_Key5944@reddit

https://www.popsci.com/technology/pay-phone-restoration-vermont/

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Bobby_Globule@reddit

There's a fun sub for these:

r/Payphone

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Middle-Chemical9220@reddit

They are always in the sketchiest neighborhoods too!

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Godlove6@reddit

Most importantly is did it still work?

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Father-of-zoomies@reddit

Ha.. "you have a collect call from...dad, my car broke down at school, can you come get me"

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bobsbananawater@reddit

Wehadababyitsaboy

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

You are my people. 🤘🏻

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Ok_Tanasi1796@reddit

When “reaching out & touching someone” meant this & not something nefarious now. Think of the quality of construction-able to withstand extreme temp shifts, & abuse 😜, & still work. That’s American made pride.

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Mers2000@reddit

Haha!! Me too!

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Turkzillas_gobble@reddit

I saw a bunch of them in Montreal recently. Even one actual booth.

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laughingpuppy20@reddit

As a geocacher, I have seen several of these.

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Physical-Start-2@reddit

Wasn’t it the coolest thing to be able to pull your car up alongside of it and talk while in your car? That’s when you thought life was good! 😂

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

Memory unlocked. Thank you, friend

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ForwardSlash813@reddit

Which movie set did you visit??

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trimix4work@reddit

Did you check it for change? I really hope you checked it for change

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LissyVee@reddit

I saw someone using one a few weeks ago, which kind of new my mind.

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handsomeape95@reddit

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shakey11717@reddit

There is still one operational in the Village Vanguard in NYC…my wife wanted a nostalgia shot.

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krissym99@reddit

I really like quirky museums and last week I went to the Telephone Museum in New Hampshire. They had phones throughout history including old pay phones, working phones and switchboards you could play with, etc. My teenage son picked up one of the phones and got confused by the dial tone.

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PathosEatsLogos@reddit

Saw a bunch of them at Disney recently

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Groovy_Chainsaw@reddit

There's a great gag in the original 1978 Superman movie when Clark Kent instinctively heads for a payphone to change into Superman. He does a double-take after realizing it's one of these phones and not a phone booth.

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robertwadehall@reddit

Relic of a past world.

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fallcreekprepper@reddit

I never run across one with a phone in it. I do see the empty stands still up in places once in a while, and I saw one a while back that still had a phone book in the little hanging cover thing.

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

This.

I get kind of sad seeing the husks

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93195@reddit

But does it still work? My guess is “no”.

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NashvilleTypewriter@reddit (OP)

I'm going to go by and check today. I can't believe I didn't the other day. 🤦🏻‍♂️

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Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit

Apparently there still a couple thousand working payphones across the U.S

Compared to several million in the 80s haha

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PBRStreetgang1979@reddit

I was a resident of Manhattan on September 11, 2001 and I remember how public pay phones (which had waned in importance for years before that point, and had largely disappeared from most places), suddenly became essential when the cellular network collapsed from over-use.

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