Back when payphones existed did you regularly use them?

[kdonnel]

I ran across a still working pay phone last weekend and it got me thinking.

I don't think I have ever actually used a payphone.

I did have an on call pager I carried for a little while in the early 90's but was required to head to the office when it went off. No need to call before making the trip so if I was out when it went off, I just drove into work.

 

[soccerdad72]

Maybe a couple times when I was in high school (late 80's) and needed to get a hold of my parents.

 

[citruscurtis]

Phone usage was expensive... didn't even call my girlfriend in 1975... I only used the phone to contact parents to pick me up from university and that was collect calls

 

[Magical2017]

I went to high school in the 80s. When after school practice ended, you used a dime (yes, I said dime) to call for a ride home. Later it was a quarter.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I went to high school in the 80s. When after school practice ended, you used a dime (yes, I said dime) to call for a ride home. Later it was a quarter.

Yup, always carried an emergency dime/quarter, just in case (and I definitely used it a few times!)! I always smile hearing a song like Jim Croce's Operator - you can keep the dime.....!

 

[LoveDaisy]

My dorm room freshman year of college had one pay phone on each floor. My parents sent me to college with a bunch of rolls of quarters for laundry and making calls.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

Not regularly, but certainly more than once. As others posted, most often was calling for a ride home from a school event but I can remember once getting stuck in traffic and getting off the interstate at the next exit, finding a pay phone and calling people to tell them I’d be late.

I also remember a time when tickets for an event I wanted to see went on sale while I was driving so I pulled off and called the box office from a pay phone.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

Yes, every Saturday afternoon for several years in the late 80s/early 90s.

"Mom/Dad, come pick me up from the mall."

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I wouldn't say I used them all the time, but I used the one at the high school periodically if I needed a ride and it wasn't uncommon to use one if we were out and a ride home fell through.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

And how many of you saved the coin for the call by having a 2-ring signal at home for Mom/Dad to come pick us up? Coin, dial, ring twice, get the coin back.....! This silly thread is bringing back some memories!

 

[_19disnA]

Before the days of cell phones, I can recall using a pay phone on a few occasions. I still laugh now when out in public and see people who are constantly on their phones. Somehow we managed to get along just fine before the days of cell phones............LOL. Most of the time when I overhear someone on a phone in public they seem to be chit/chatting about nothing.

 

[bobbiwoz]

And how many of you saved the coin for the call by having a 2-ring signal at home for Mom/Dad to come pick us up? Coin, dial, ring twice, get the coin back.....! This silly thread is bringing back some memories!

This is familiar, to let someone know I arrived.

I remember checking the coin slots to see if any money was left! Sometimes there was.

 

[lanejudy]

We’d all use the pay phone to call for a ride home after sports practice in high school. I would use the same dime — put it in, dial the number, let it ring once and hang up. Got my dime back to use the next day. A single ring was the signal at home that someone needed to be picked up.

We also had pay phones on each floor in the college dorms. It was the only was to call someone or receive a call.

 

[BrianL]

I wouldn't say I used them a lot, but I certainly did use them as needed.

Funny story: A few years back, I was waiting for a friend at the restrooms out front of Epcot. Another guy was waiting there and we were looking over at th epayphones that still existed at the time - well past their useful time. I said to him, "It appears to be some sort of coin oprated telecommunications device." We both laughed. Future World, indeed!

 

[mom2rtk]

All the time. I was out of the office calling on clients a lot with my job in the late 80's/early 90's and was had to call in to check messages.

 

[BrianL]

We’d all use the pay phone to call for a ride home after sports practice in high school. I would use the same dime — put it in, dial the number, let it ring once and hang up. Got my dime back to use the next day. A single ring was the signal at home that someone needed to be picked up.

We also had pay phones on each floor in the college dorms. It was the only was to call someone or receive a call.

Yeah, I remember when answering machines became a thing. You'd need to hang up before the machine picked up to get your money back. Of course, it was a whole quarter by then, so you dang sure wanted it back!

 

[jimmymc]

We’d all use the pay phone to call for a ride home after sports practice in high school. I would use the same dime — put it in, dial the number, let it ring once and hang up. Got my dime back to use the next day. A single ring was the signal at home that someone needed to be picked up.

We also had pay phones on each floor in the college dorms. It was the only was to call someone or receive a call.

Did you ever do the collect call method?

"You have a collect call from mompickmeup, would you like to accept the charges?"

 

[Disneylover99]

I used them often. Especially if I was at the mall and I needed a ride home or we’d call friends to come and join us.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Yes, I used them a lot. If I needed a ride or to reach my Mom for whatever reason. This was the mid-80s when pay phones were still common. My mother always forbid us to put the phone receiver directly on our ears though, because they were "filthy and you might catch something,' so it was usually me holding the phone a couple of inches away from my head yelling "I'm ready to come home!" and her going, "What?!"

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Did you ever do the collect call method?

"You have a collect call from mompickmeup, would you like to accept the charges?"

We could have an entire thread on pay phone hacks!