When was the last time you made a call on a pay phone? I asked my children this question. Their answers? “Never have.” “Wouldn’t know how.” “I don’t even know what one is.”
As I recall, I last used a pay phone at an airport sometime in the mid-1990s. I needed to make a few calls, and cell phones were not yet commonplace. I remember having to wait in line so I could use the phone — and then having the pressure to hurry up as others were also in line behind me. I used an AT&T credit card that doubled as a calling card, so I didn’t have to insert coins in the phone. Believe it or not, that seemed high-tech at the time.
The actual telephone was invented in 1876, but when was the pay phone invented? According to www.time.com, one of the earliest commercial telephone exchanges was established in 1878 when Thomas Doolittle used a telegraph wire and put a telephone on each end in wooden booths that people could pay 15 cents to use.
How about the first phone booth? According to that same article, the first “telephone cabinet” was patented in 1883. It measured 4 feet by 5 feet and had a desk inside and wheels to move the whole thing.
When was the coin system implemented? In 1889, William Gray invented the first coin-operated public telephone. It was the first machine that collected the cost of the call without an attendant. These were on the honor system, using “post-pay.” Users would make the call, and when they were done, the operator would tell them what coins to deposit. The coins would hit a bell, creating a sound the operator could hear to determine if it was the correct amount. Pre-pay systems were developed near the turn of the century. According to Time, more than 25,000 pay phones could be found in New York City alone by 1913.
When did phone booths became common outdoors? Also according to Time, outdoor phone booths first appeared in the early 1900s and became commonplace in the 1950s when glass and aluminum replaced wood as the building material.
Want to own a pay phone? There are dozens for sale on Facebook marketplace right now ranging in price from $100 to $400. Of course, buying a pay phone is one thing; getting it to actually work is another. But if you are just looking for a wall decoration or a conversation piece, there are plenty to choose from.
Do you recall using pay phones? How long ago, and where? Shoot me a note and let me know.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com | 
