Are you old enough to remember telephone switchboard operators?

[TheHolleys87]

I remember in the 1950s in New Orleans having to ask the operator to make local calls from my great-aunt’s house, but I think we could dial from our home in the suburbs! We had a party line for a few years, too.

 

[artringwald]

It wasn't a booth, but I was surprised to find a payphone in Kauai in 2022.

 

[buzglyd]

It wasn't a booth, but I was surprised to find a payphone in Kauai in 2022.

I wonder if it still worked. I would have been tempted to try it.

 

[Brett]

I wonder if it still worked. I would have been tempted to try it.

Some old pay phones actually work -- like this one at Earl's Family Restaurant in Gallup, New Mexico last year

 

[TheHolleys87]

Some old pay phones actually work -- like this one at Earl's Family Restaurant in Gallup, New Mexico last year






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Makes me remember the days I always had a nickel in my loafers, just in case I needed to call my dad to pick me up from a date gone bad!

(I never needed one, BTW.)

 

[slip]

We still have a few working pay phones here on Molokai.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

If I remember my parents tales correctly, in the early days with crank telephones and no dial, all phones on a system were linked and were active. Each person had an assigned ring code - say two long + two short. To call someone, you would use the crank to ring the code you wanted to call. All the phones on the system would ring, and if the ring was your code you would know to pick up. If it wasn't your code, you were expected to ignore the call.

 

[DeniseM]

My brother still has the wood and black metal crank phone from my grandparent’s turn of the century ranch.


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[pedro47]

Some old pay phones actually work -- like this one at Earl's Family Restaurant in Gallup, New Mexico last year






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That telephone still takes American coins, credit cards and you can still Dial 00 for Operator Calls. LOL..

 

[Brett]

My brother still has the wood and black metal crank phone from my grandparent’s turn of the century ranch.


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And I still have my grandparents old crank wood telephone.
The crank generator puts out some shocking voltage !

 

[jeffox]

It's been awhile since I've seen a payphone. The last one I remember seeing a few years ago was near the restrooms in a Las Vegas casino, Harrah's I think. Even then it was an oddity, I'll have to look to see if it's still there next time I'm in town.

 

[stmartinfan]

If I remember my parents tales correctly, in the early days with crank telephones and no dial, all phones on a system were linked and were active. Each person had an assigned ring code - say two long + two short. To call someone, you would use the crank to ring the code you wanted to call. All the phones on the system would ring, and if the ring was your code you would know to pick up. If it wasn't your code, you were expected to ignore the

We had a phone that worked like this when I was a kid on a farm in the early ‘50s. Of course, everyone else on the line knew when you got a call, so you could assume somebody was likely listening in.

 

[Big Matt]

My grandfather worked for Bell Telephone. My grandparents phone number was CEdar 2 9497. My mom would always dial the operator to call collect and give the operator the number. She called collect because my grandfather didn't have to pay. One of my buddies used to have a party line, and the other family was ALWAYS on the phone.