User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:04:31 PM EST
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Not sure if anyone has mentioned this before in the thread, but the “pin drop” commercials were for Sprint, not AT&T. It was a reference to AT&T's 1800 service that allowed for receiving unlimited long distance calls.  AT&T "Pin Drop" |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:17:08 PM EST
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Eisenhower was President when I was born, so... And there were only 48 states. 
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:18:52 PM EST
[#3]
Used to have almost all of them for 2 counties memorized.
"stop here and check in at lunch, the one I'll use to call home today is at this place..." Still carry almost a rolls worth of quarters around out of habit. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:22:25 PM EST
[#4]
3-4x in my lifetime I think
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:24:40 PM EST
[#5]
Walmart at 45th and Georgia has a pay phone outside the east entrance. The Sam's clubs have one near the gas pumps for emergencies, 9-1-1 is a free call. In Amarillo.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:29:00 PM EST
[#6]
sad. my granddaughter asked me one day last year what that book was with all those yellow pages. I told her it was for finding businesses. I dont't think she understands it to this day.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:30:43 PM EST
[#7]
Quoted: A quarter ? I remember when it was a dime. Lol, me too. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:48:38 PM EST
[#8]
Being in the Merchant Marine for 40 years, and half that time before cell phones were common, we had a pay phone at the end of every doc so the crew could call home. But they still exist I saw one in the airport to see the other day. I'm not sure if they take coins anymore or just plastic, but it was there. They actually have them in Tahiti and I did use one not that long ago on vacation.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:51:11 PM EST
[#9]
Used one numerous times as a teen in the '70s. Used one or two of them at Bragg to call home in the '80s.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/27/2021 11:54:32 PM EST
[#10]
Pay phones
Long distance calling cards International calling cards ‘80s kid, expat parents, college on another planet (Berkeley). Only reason why I got a cell phone is because my parents were tired of hearing my roommate say that I wasn’t in. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:01:07 AM EST
[#11]
Pre-Covid there was a working pay phone at the Seattle commuter train platform. I saw several young adults posing next to it and taking selfies or having their pic taken by others.
It's an oddity at this point . Since covid , the handset was broken off and I'm not sure it's still there. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:11:16 AM EST
[#12]
Its Bob.
They had a baby. It's a boy. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:51:00 AM EST
[#13]
Probably way too late in the thread for this, but does anyone remember:
Pick up pay phone handset (no money needed for this) Dial 991- or 992- or 993-, etc. until you find the right one by trial and error, but I think it was usually 994- around here. Followed by the last 4 digits of the phone number from the label on the phone (Pre-10 digit dialing, of course) Hang up, pick up, and hang up again and the phone starts ringing. We used to pull this prank in the mall all the time. Do the number and hang-up sequence then duck around the corner before the first ring. It will continue to ring until someone picks it up. And someone always did! |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:54:27 AM EST
[#14]
Quoted: So I was just over at my SIL's house and was having fun giving some hell to my niece while she had friends over. She is 19 bless her heart and at one point she started to complain so I gave her a quarter and said "call someone who cares" The dumbfounded look on their faces turned into a whole family conversation about how things "use" to be. My niece and her friends thought we were lying about having to pay for long distance service back in the days of MCI and "pin drop" AT&T This got me thinking.. How many here are too young to remember what it was like to have to use a payphone. Or if some of you have even seen one before. I remember handing out 2 dimes, and then say call someone who cares. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:57:09 AM EST
[#15]
I remember them being around when I was a kid, but by the time I was old enough to be out alone and have to call home or something, cell phones were widespread enough. If your parents didn't have a cell phone that you could borrow when you went out, one of your friends probably did.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 1:00:42 AM EST
[#16]
When in the service I would get a role of quarters every payday so I could call home.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 1:00:43 AM EST
[#17]
Heck I remember when a payphone was 10 cents a call, and I'm not even that old.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 1:11:09 AM EST
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Lol, me too. Me also. First time I went to the pay phone at Goodfellow AFB and it was a quarter! OMG! 1975! |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 1:42:51 AM EST
[#19]
My “home phone” was a pay phone when I lived at Triunfo Park for a while in the 90s. My friends all knew the number.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 2:02:00 AM EST
[#20]
 10-10-220 commercial - 1999 I also remember getting used to dialing the area code 
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 2:20:19 AM EST
[#21]
Pay phone? Heck we had a party line when I was a kid. Had to listen to make sure it was free before you made a call.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:19:10 AM EST
[#22]
What sucked was when they started making a lot of the phones in the city dial-out only.
No one could call the number back, which sucked if you were running out of change. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:21:51 AM EST
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Cutoff is about 30 years old. Anyone under that has never used a payphone, and likely never seen a payphone outside a movie. If you want to see something kinda funny ask a person over 35 to pretend they're on the phone. Then ask a person under 30 to do the same. The older person will mime holding a handset and the younger will hold their hand flat to their ear as if they were holding a smartphone. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:25:31 AM EST
[#24]
I used to call back to the office from court on pay phones all the time in the 90s. Work gave me some kind of card that billed it to the office long distance telephone account. Life was more relaxing before cel phones and smart phones.
I used to have a pager also |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:31:10 AM EST
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 100% I'd still use them. It's a nice thing to just make a phone call and not have this incoming bluetooth call over car speaker thing going on. Also used the business directory. Before the Nav stuff in vehicles, and devices, just stop at any phone booth. It'd have the local maps, where you were (look at street name, find it on map), and the business directory was handy for calling for whatever you'd need to see if they had it in stock and when they closed (or opened... depending on how shitty your day was going). If there were payphones, I'd have a sat/phone/nav with minute/data cards and batteries... stowed somewhere just in case. Navigating just based on situational awareness and general geographical knowledge... supplemented by phone booth local info... made traveling a lot more interesting and fun. You know, you can still do those things, right? Phone has an off switch. You have to set Bluetooth up in your car. Which you did. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:33:18 AM EST
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I used to have a code to get my folks to come pick me up when i was a kid. 3 clicks was the gym Clicks? What are these clicks? |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:37:00 AM EST
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: when I was a kid it was not uncommon for my father to kick me out of the tow truck with change to run over to a payphone in the most diverse neighborhoods to call back to the shop and try to locate the stranded motorist. Usually they would turn up hiding in a store waiting for us as they were getting harassed by their broken down car. I've been called every name in the book and that was by the friendly's fortunately I speak jive. I miss payphones, a sign of more freedom. This is the weirdest mindset. Turn your cell off if you don't want to answer it. Presto! Instant payphone except you don't have to look for it and the receiver probably doesn't have Hep C on it. I never answer my phone if it's not my wife or I don't expect the call. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:37:03 AM EST
[#28]
Quoted: so I gave her a quarter and said "call someone who cares" |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:39:34 AM EST
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Used 'em lots of times. I'm also old enough to remember when mom and dad got all the kids together in one spot so we could make that weekly call to grandma ("Talk fast kids the mortgage is due next week!")  BWAaahahahahahah!!!! I hadn't heard that in 40 years. Now that you mention it I remember my Dad saying that. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:40:27 AM EST
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted: i use to even have an ATT calling card too I have one. Probably got it 30 years ago. Still has value. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:40:39 AM EST
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Bob Wehadababyitsaboy Still my favorite commercial to this day! |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:41:34 AM EST
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Eisenhower was President when I was born, so... BROTHER! |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:44:16 AM EST
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My parents would drop me off at the movie theater when I was in middle school. When the movie was over I would drop a dime in the lobby pay phone, call my house, let it ring twice and then hang up. Rotary dial, not the new fangeled touch-tone phones. That was the signal that I was ready to get picked up. We saved a lot of dimes that way. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:51:32 AM EST
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: In CA we used to call popcorn for the time. I've hear that before. How weird. My mother told me the number for the time was GR2-1212. She was old as fuck. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:52:14 AM EST
[#35]
I had an ATT Calling Card
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:56:03 AM EST
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My dad used to analyze the phone bills and charge my sister for her phone usage. Especially, the long distance charges. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: My niece and her friends thought we were lying about having to pay for long distance service back in the days of MCI and "pin drop" AT&T A lot of "educators" won't teach all that much past 1990 or so, claiming it's "too recent" and "everybody should know all about it anyways"  It's left a large but politically convenient gap in a number of subjects. Every housewife on my street growing up would just sit on the phone yakking all day, every day. They all lived in fear of the phone bill. Most seemed to spend the money calling their sisters who had moved out of local calling range, sometimes just a few miles away back in the day. Moral of the story, if you ever go back in time, marry a woman with no sisters. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:00:21 AM EST
[#37]
Yup...this millennial has many times.
Also, calling cards Also, waiting to call long distance after 8-9pm because it was free. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:00:45 AM EST
[#38]
You have a collect call from “pick me up”. Do you accept the charges?
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:02:39 AM EST
[#39]
Many times. Had to wait in long lines in basic/AIT to speak to future x wife and my family.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:05:20 AM EST
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Now that I think about it, we actually have one. It used to be hooked up in the kitchen. Now it's downstairs sitting with some other stuff we never found a place for after we moved. Similar to this https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/70340/Chrome-Pay-Phone_jpg-1921546.JPG Did every pay phone have a melted mark from a lighter on the plastic? |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:06:35 AM EST
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Probably way too late in the thread for this, but does anyone remember: Pick up pay phone handset (no money needed for this) Dial 991- or 992- or 993-, etc. until you find the right one by trial and error, but I think it was usually 994- around here. Followed by the last 4 digits of the phone number from the label on the phone (Pre-10 digit dialing, of course) Hang up, pick up, and hang up again and the phone starts ringing. We used to pull this prank in the mall all the time. Do the number and hang-up sequence then duck around the corner before the first ring. It will continue to ring until someone picks it up. And someone always did! 952 here. Worked on home phones too. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:07:09 AM EST
[#42]
All the time from 6th to 11th grade. I use to go out and skate/ride bikes all over town. Occasionally i would be tired as fuck and find a pay phone to call my parents to pick me up. In high school i would call my girlfriend (now wife) from pay phones all the time while out skating. My mom got a cell phone when i was in 11th grade and would let me borrow it when i went out skating so no more pay phones. I graduated high school in 2006.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:07:41 AM EST
[#43]
Shit I remember rotary dial pay phones.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:18:14 AM EST
[#44]
I left a huge Summer Jam concert at Comiskey Park 1978.
South Side of Chicago, I grew up not far from there. Heading back to suburbia in my 1974 Duster when it decides today is a good day to die. Four white teenagers stranded in an area where we stood out as not being locals. Couple of my passengers may have tasted the snozberries. I walked into a bar to find a pay phone. Right there on the wall just inside, I walk in and all heads turn. I swear it could have been a scene in a movie. Realize I have no change. Bartender broke a bill for me. It was all good, made my calls and got a tow truck and my passengers a ride. Best pay phone story I have. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:27:03 PM EST
[#45]
I remember when it was a dime. Matter of fact, as a first or second grader, I lost a dime in a pay phone and contacted the operator and they mailed me a check for $0.10. It was the very first check I ever received and My mom took me to the bank and I deposited it. It was exciting as a little kid
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:34:06 PM EST
[#46]
An old beatnik from San Francisco showed me how to use a brass washer and scotch tape to make phone calls from pay phones.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 12:36:01 PM EST
[#47]
I do. I remember that with service predating touch tone pay phones a person could dial out for free by tapping out the numbers on the hang up hook, tap tap, pause tap tap tap tap, pause tap tap = 242
Was hard to get a number in right, was easy to get some number to ring for free though. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 6:58:29 PM EST
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: i use to even have an ATT calling card too Same here. Even used it in Korean phone booths ay Camp Walker to make my weekly "Call home to Mama" when I was there in 90/91. Freaking Korea Telephone was damn expensive using those phones. I imagine using a phone booth in downtown Taegu would have been wallet scorchingly expensive. |
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:03:03 PM EST
[#49]
39 and yes. I think it was 35 cents a call when I got my first cell phone that played snake and had an antenna that has to be extended. I still remember my pager number and my first cell phone number. I don’t remember any of the cell phone numbers in between
|
|
|
|
Posted: 4/28/2021 7:03:42 PM EST
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Wow, where was that? It's been years since I've seen a functioning payphone. I know of several within 10 miles of my home that are still in service. Towns inside cellphone dead zones in the mountains and people needing to make calls make those pay phones a necessary public service. |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
