I'm an old broad of 59 and pay phones were the bomb. Yes, some in cities could be nasty, dirty and/or broken - but they were also a bastion of hope and connection.
I often used one while I was a theater design major at Boston University - lonely, over-worked and destitute - calling my folks in Northern California collect (as I didn't even have enough change to put into the pay phone).
If you were lucky enough to find one with doors that closed, they could be a refuge from the weather, the urban hustle and bustle, and just life . . . some of them even had phone books (another blast from the past).
"I miss the idea of going somewhere to make a phone call, making the call itself a destination of sorts." I'm actually writing about the Internet in this same way... I miss lots of things that used to be destinations, adventures. Now, everything is everywhere—literally—in your phone.
I always get a little buzz of nostalgia when I see the skeleton of a payphone out in the world, even though I didn't use them terribly often. There's one in a town nearby that's been repurposed into an art piece that plays bird songs: https://shorturl.at/nyzJ4 (you can even dial bird 411!)
Varying types of booth (the half- vs whole-booth) gave us a great little moment in Superman (1979) where Clark Kent, in search of a spot to quick change into Superman, looks at a half-booth in frustration.
I remember using a pay phone in St Thomas, this was 1987, and I popped a quarter in the phone, dialed my mom in California JUST BECAUSE I COULD! So surreal, I’m on a tiny island in the Caribbean and it cost me 25 cents to tell anyone I knew how pretty the water looks. Lately, I’ve started using unroll.me to help thin out my inbox and I do not hesitate to click on “unsubscribe” for any new, unsolicited messages that slip through. It’s a big help. I also make use of the Focus feature on my iPhone, no random texts waking me up in the middle of the night. Sorry, kids, your emergency will just have to wait!
My mom got rid of our landline phone number last week... she's paid for it without connecting a phone to it for a while. It's the number our family uses for all of our grocery/shopping reward programs for over 25 years... my sister and I wonder what happens to the next person who gets that phone number?!
Haha I can't believe the road to your school fell into the river.
At the risk of bothering you with yet more communication (!), I just wanted to let you know I wholeheartedly connected with this post. "I feel particularly inept at living in the current iteration of communication culture. I feel constantly overwhelmed by DMs, text messages, phone calls, and emails. I am at capacity with communication."
I used pay phones a lot on my trips to Japan between 1999 and 2015. You bought a cool card and used up the time on it. I knew exactly where these green phones were in the train stations so I could call my Japanese friends to come and get me.
Wow, do we ever have a different take on phones/payphones/texting etc. First, I should say I'm old and I grew up in the days when most families only had one phone--some had none--and that was a party line, aka 4 phones sharing a line. You had to listen for your code when it rang--ours was one short, one long--because god forbid you picked up when it was for someone else. If you wanted to call out, you had to pick up the phone and hope the line was free. You'd get yelled at if you picked up too often while a neighbor was on a call! No answering machines in those days. No thanks.
Nowadays, I love text messages and hate talking on the phone. To me, there's no immediacy with a text--I can answer when I want to. And if I want to share a tidbit of info with a friend or family. I can send it off and they can do the same. When my kid was having chemo, her brother would ping her a heart emoji from 3000 miles away. Can't do that with a phone call! Same with emails. I get a lot of them. I'm selective about which ones I read and how soon I reply (if a reply is needed) but it's up to me.
Don't even get me started on photos. I'm from the days of take pictures on your Brownie Hawkeye, wait till you've take 12, then take the roll of film out of the camera--in the shade, so you don't expose it!--take it to the drugstore and wait a week or so to find out if your photos came out. Oh, and pay a week's allowance to bail them out! No thanks.
I know a lot of young people are nostalgic for what they see as a simpler and better time. but as a survivor of that time, I'm here to say I'll take today's tech any day. YMMV.
I don't miss payphones but I do miss payphone booths! Especially at fancy hotels. The St. Francis in SF had great ones--I wonder if they're still there. How luxurious to sit down in one and close off the outside world. We could still use them as places to have a private cell phone conversation.
Have you read Stolen Focus? It's all about our addiction to social media and it's very well written.
61 here and trust me when I say…you’ve missed nothing. NYC pay phones were grungy, sticky, smelly and barely functional. People got pissy if you talked too long when they were waiting. Plus you needed a pocketful of change. I miss absolutely nothing… Nor do I miss the earlobe Ebola you’d inevitably catch..l😂
I'm old so I remember when there were no cellphones, or for that matter, beeperss (the precursor to cellphones) and can remember the panic if someone didn't show up to pick you up and wondering if you were at the right place and time that you agreed on. I had a friend leave me at the mall (another throwback 😆) and I had to walk 5 miles home. (No Ubers).
I worked at the Ahwahnee in the late 70s and my friend was a switchboard operator there. That was truly old school and might even have been the last true switchboard in the country. I would sit in for her so she could go to the ladies room sometimes. It was a a thrill a minute to make sure you pulled the correct plug out and plugged it in the right spot, especially when several lines lit up at the same time! For reference see Lilly Tomlin's telephone operator skit😁
I have only vague memories of my mom maybe using a payphone once, but this post reminded me of the musical The Band's Visit, which I adore. The music and story are both beautiful. One whole storyline revolves around this guy who won't leave the vicinity of the one pay phone in town, waiting for a call from his girlfriend. Everyone tells him to give up. In the very last moments of the show you see him pick up and answer a call. His song, Answer Me, is maybe the last song too.
I'm an old broad of 59 and pay phones were the bomb. Yes, some in cities could be nasty, dirty and/or broken - but they were also a bastion of hope and connection.
I often used one while I was a theater design major at Boston University - lonely, over-worked and destitute - calling my folks in Northern California collect (as I didn't even have enough change to put into the pay phone).
If you were lucky enough to find one with doors that closed, they could be a refuge from the weather, the urban hustle and bustle, and just life . . . some of them even had phone books (another blast from the past).
"I miss the idea of going somewhere to make a phone call, making the call itself a destination of sorts." I'm actually writing about the Internet in this same way... I miss lots of things that used to be destinations, adventures. Now, everything is everywhere—literally—in your phone.
It's a great reminder to cherish moments of solitude and reflection in a world saturated with digital noise.
I always get a little buzz of nostalgia when I see the skeleton of a payphone out in the world, even though I didn't use them terribly often. There's one in a town nearby that's been repurposed into an art piece that plays bird songs: https://shorturl.at/nyzJ4 (you can even dial bird 411!)
Varying types of booth (the half- vs whole-booth) gave us a great little moment in Superman (1979) where Clark Kent, in search of a spot to quick change into Superman, looks at a half-booth in frustration.
I remember using a pay phone in St Thomas, this was 1987, and I popped a quarter in the phone, dialed my mom in California JUST BECAUSE I COULD! So surreal, I’m on a tiny island in the Caribbean and it cost me 25 cents to tell anyone I knew how pretty the water looks. Lately, I’ve started using unroll.me to help thin out my inbox and I do not hesitate to click on “unsubscribe” for any new, unsolicited messages that slip through. It’s a big help. I also make use of the Focus feature on my iPhone, no random texts waking me up in the middle of the night. Sorry, kids, your emergency will just have to wait!
"Making plans that had to be solid"
My mom got rid of our landline phone number last week... she's paid for it without connecting a phone to it for a while. It's the number our family uses for all of our grocery/shopping reward programs for over 25 years... my sister and I wonder what happens to the next person who gets that phone number?!
Haha I can't believe the road to your school fell into the river.
At the risk of bothering you with yet more communication (!), I just wanted to let you know I wholeheartedly connected with this post. "I feel particularly inept at living in the current iteration of communication culture. I feel constantly overwhelmed by DMs, text messages, phone calls, and emails. I am at capacity with communication."
I used pay phones a lot on my trips to Japan between 1999 and 2015. You bought a cool card and used up the time on it. I knew exactly where these green phones were in the train stations so I could call my Japanese friends to come and get me.
Wow, do we ever have a different take on phones/payphones/texting etc. First, I should say I'm old and I grew up in the days when most families only had one phone--some had none--and that was a party line, aka 4 phones sharing a line. You had to listen for your code when it rang--ours was one short, one long--because god forbid you picked up when it was for someone else. If you wanted to call out, you had to pick up the phone and hope the line was free. You'd get yelled at if you picked up too often while a neighbor was on a call! No answering machines in those days. No thanks.
Nowadays, I love text messages and hate talking on the phone. To me, there's no immediacy with a text--I can answer when I want to. And if I want to share a tidbit of info with a friend or family. I can send it off and they can do the same. When my kid was having chemo, her brother would ping her a heart emoji from 3000 miles away. Can't do that with a phone call! Same with emails. I get a lot of them. I'm selective about which ones I read and how soon I reply (if a reply is needed) but it's up to me.
Don't even get me started on photos. I'm from the days of take pictures on your Brownie Hawkeye, wait till you've take 12, then take the roll of film out of the camera--in the shade, so you don't expose it!--take it to the drugstore and wait a week or so to find out if your photos came out. Oh, and pay a week's allowance to bail them out! No thanks.
I know a lot of young people are nostalgic for what they see as a simpler and better time. but as a survivor of that time, I'm here to say I'll take today's tech any day. YMMV.
I don't miss payphones but I do miss payphone booths! Especially at fancy hotels. The St. Francis in SF had great ones--I wonder if they're still there. How luxurious to sit down in one and close off the outside world. We could still use them as places to have a private cell phone conversation.
Have you read Stolen Focus? It's all about our addiction to social media and it's very well written.
I love how you romanticized a time with pay phones. I never got to experience them but can see the appeal through your words.
I also loved how you said you’re at capacity with communication. I wonder what my limit is.
61 here and trust me when I say…you’ve missed nothing. NYC pay phones were grungy, sticky, smelly and barely functional. People got pissy if you talked too long when they were waiting. Plus you needed a pocketful of change. I miss absolutely nothing… Nor do I miss the earlobe Ebola you’d inevitably catch..l😂
I'm old so I remember when there were no cellphones, or for that matter, beeperss (the precursor to cellphones) and can remember the panic if someone didn't show up to pick you up and wondering if you were at the right place and time that you agreed on. I had a friend leave me at the mall (another throwback 😆) and I had to walk 5 miles home. (No Ubers).
I worked at the Ahwahnee in the late 70s and my friend was a switchboard operator there. That was truly old school and might even have been the last true switchboard in the country. I would sit in for her so she could go to the ladies room sometimes. It was a a thrill a minute to make sure you pulled the correct plug out and plugged it in the right spot, especially when several lines lit up at the same time! For reference see Lilly Tomlin's telephone operator skit😁
I have only vague memories of my mom maybe using a payphone once, but this post reminded me of the musical The Band's Visit, which I adore. The music and story are both beautiful. One whole storyline revolves around this guy who won't leave the vicinity of the one pay phone in town, waiting for a call from his girlfriend. Everyone tells him to give up. In the very last moments of the show you see him pick up and answer a call. His song, Answer Me, is maybe the last song too.