how exciting to find a real working payphone
caused me to do a double take
the umbilical cord connecting to many a ride home
the joy of finding a quarter in the coin return.
—
“the telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.”
*mason cooley
—
*mason cooley, 1927-2002, was an american aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of the aphorisms Cooley developed was “The time I kill is killing me.”He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the college of staten island and an assistant professor of english at columbia university.
Whoa!
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Right!
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Wow!!! Brilliant it’s back memories.
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In an instant!
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Haven’t seen a phone booth in a long time!
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Rare for me as well
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You have me thinking. There was one at our corner store. I have to look to see if it’s still there!
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Check it out!
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As soon as it stops raining!
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I sat trying to remember the last time I used a payphone, and it came to me eventually. In West London, 1999. By then, they no longer took coins. You had to buy a pre-paid card, (BT Phonecard) and it counted down how much credit you had remaining on a screen.
Best wishes, Pete.
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So different
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What is that thing?
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Who knows?)
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I can’t remember the last one I’ve seen.
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I was really taken by surprise
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Here in Geelong, we seem to have an abundance of working pay telephones, in all the appropriates areas Beth …
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lucky!
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I recently saw such phones in a hotel in Madina, SA. I was wondering who would be using them to call home.
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this one is in front of a library. I’m guessing mostly kids wanting a ride home who don’t have a cell phone
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It’s good to know that some parents don’t give cell phones to young kids.
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Right
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👍🏼👏🏼
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They are antiques!!
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yes!
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Our past had some good things, Beth.
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It did!
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I still haven’t lost the joy of finding a quarter!
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Same!
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Wow…and I’ll confess. My very first thought was do I have a Clorox wipe on hand if I need to make an old-school call? 😜
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Ha!
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😉
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I’m guessing that most young Americans have never used a pay phone. It’s been years since I (who am not young) used one.
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Yes, I’m sure it takes some practice
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I used to be able to get a dial tone with a penny, timing the drop with popping the coin return. Came in very handy a few times. I remember when they were a dime.
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Yes, there certainly was a ‘finesse’ level of using the phone, especially helpful when you didn’t have the right coins
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Wow. A rare find indeed!! When I remember using a rotary pay phone in Chicago once….lol
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The best!
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wait, this is real? you took this photo recently? 😲
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Yes, 2 days ago. In front of a library.
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What a cool find! Did you make a call? Love Cooley’s quote!
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I did not, but I might the next time I’m there
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I hope so. That would be really fun!
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So many, many memories jump into my mind….. secretly sneaking to the train station, phoning from a booth at the bus ….
Haven’t seen a working booth in many years. In England, many had a red cabin in their garden! Was always slightly jealous 😅
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I was so excited about finding it!
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They’ve gathered up so many in our area, I am hard-pressed to recall where I even saw the last one!
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same here, and I was so shocked when I found it
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I, too, would be giddy to find a working payphone to photograph.
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it was such a joy! it is in good working order and sits out front of a local library near my school. I assume it’s for kids who don’t have cell phones (yay!) and need a ride home, or any other person with change on them.
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And if you got mad at the person on the other end of the line, slamming that heavy receiver down was an absolute thrill.
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pro tip and adrenaline rush
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I miss pay phones. 😢
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something about them is so comforting
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It really is a rare find now! I would do at least a double take, too. I wonder if it actually works?
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it looked like it was in working order
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So many memories of entering a phone booth with a pocketful of change…and then feeding the coin slot over and over.
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yes, so many stories brought to mind
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Glad those are still around.
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I remember standing in line to use the phone.
So far I’ve survived without a cell phone or whatever they are called.
Thanks for introducing me to mason cooley. Very cool! I like this one: “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”
Exchange computer for reading. 😉
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right! yes, he had some good quips
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Ahh remember those days I used the pay phone to call mom to come pick me up 😍
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yes!
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we have a pay phone in our street; they are still around 😉
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great
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That’s amazing. I works and it’s clean. Wow!
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yes!
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No way! The kids today don’t know what a corded wall phone is imagine if they saw this. 🤣
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it is in front of a library and works, so imagine it to be used by kids who don’t have cells, to call home for a pickup, so this is the rare phone that kids might actually use
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Was it made of wax?
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aha! that explains I! and I wondered by alexander graham bell was hanging around it. I figured he must be at least 50 by now
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Oh yeah, the guy who invented the graham cracker.
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and belle in beauty and the beast is named after him
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I miss proper phones!
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I was so excited to find it –
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