Those chrome plated payphones from Bell feel sort of iconic from an outside perspective due to American telly and films featuring them so routinely, along with those flimsy plexiglass booths with those awkward bi-folding doors that looked like they might seize up and trap inhabitants at any moment..

Reducing the unfortunate inside to a frantic mime - tapping at the plastic like they’re trying to escape a low budget aquarium while everyone else just walks past looking vaguely amused.

In the UK, BT Group basically let the old iconic red boxes rot by the 80s, going from charming to absolutely rank - more public urinal than public service, with that cloying whiff of stale cigarette smoke and piss hitting most in the face when they prized them open..

..before the heavy, weighted spring-loaded hinge door creaked shut and trapped you..dialing and wrestling coinage whilst holding your nose and trying to ignore the "for a good time call..." Or "xyz likes it up the... well" . Sharpie scrawls.

Good times.

The above would definitely make a cool kitsch ornament for a basement style recreational cave type set-up though..