Pay phones - when did you last use one?

I remember as a kid always checking the coin return on a pay phone when I passed one. Quite often there'd be a dime in there. Remember, you'd have to put a dime in before you called and if no one answered, it would be returned. People would forget to scoop it out and some kid (me, for instance) would then be able to buy a comic book or a cherry coke or...….

Also, I had dimes in my penny loafers instead of pennies, so I could call if I needed to. One of the last things my mom would say to me before I went anywhere was, "Do you have a dime for the phone?"

And then there was always the dilemma of walking past a ringing pay phone.....do you ignore it? Do you answer it?
 

A long time ago... mid 1980's, and I remember it was a dime.

The one I used was in front of a bank.

As for finding a pay phone now, I'd be hard-pressed.

I honestly cannot recall the last time I came across a pay phone.
 
jujube said:
I remember as a kid always checking the coin return on a pay phone when I passed one. Quite often there'd be a dime in there. Remember, you'd have to put a dime in before you called and if no one answered, it would be returned. People would forget to scoop it out and some kid (me, for instance) would then be able to buy a comic book or a cherry coke or...….

Also, I had dimes in my penny loafers instead of pennies, so I could call if I needed to. One of the last things my mom would say to me before I went anywhere was, "Do you have a dime for the phone?"

And then there was always the dilemma of walking past a ringing pay phone.....do you ignore it? Do you answer it?
Click to expand...
There was a pay phone across from our office. We had the number and would call it when someone was standing around. They would answer and we would have a conversation and sometimes it was someone we knew.
 

I was just thinking that would be a good stunt for a game show.
Find a working payphone & call us on xxx-xxxx. First to complete the task wins the prize $$.
 
The last time I used a pay phone was during springtime 2008- more than a year before I obtained my first cell phone.
As often happened, the phones at the convenience store were out of order, so I walked downtown/back in lousy weather to find one that was working. I think the call cost fifty cents.

Somewhere along the line the other convenience store removed theirs, and I haven't seen a pay phone in many years.
 
applecruncher said:
When was the last time you used a pay phone?
How much did it cost?
Where was it located?
Today if you had to find a pay phone, could you?

I'll go first:

About 8 yrs ago. I was expecting a very important call (on my cell phone) and didn't want caller going to voice mail.
Pay phone cost was 50 cents.
Pay phone was in the exit area of a grocery store.
I don't know where there is a pay phone...probably in a hotel lobby. (I haven't seen a phone booth in ages.)
[/QUO
Click to expand...
applecruncher said:
When was the last time you used a pay phone?
How much did it cost?
Where was it located?
Today if you had to find a pay phone, could you?

I'll go first:

About 8 yrs ago. I was expecting a very important call (on my cell phone) and didn't want caller going to voice mail.
Pay phone cost was 50 cents.
Pay phone was in the exit area of a grocery store.
I don't know where there is a pay phone...probably in a hotel lobby. (I haven't seen a phone booth in ages.)
Click to expand...

Last used about two years ago, there are more than one would expect where I live, I see them rather frequently, many in the areas one would have seen them as a youth, no actual booths that I recall, just the phone on a pole with a weather /privacy barrier, Cost 50 cents I think. Lots of cell phones don't work in this area and lots of people don't have land lines, I think they are still here because of that.
 
Pay phones pretty much disappeared from our area at least 10 years ago. The last one I recall was at the casino...they had one in the main entrance, in an antique phone booth....they removed it about 10 years ago.
 
I think the main reason they were dropped is because they got damaged from people stealing the cash. They even cart away the parking meters now. People are desperate for money.

At one time I could get a card from the phone company and it could be used on the pay phones. No coins needed. That was quite handy in the days before cell phones.
 
2012 after Superstorm Sandy. There was a payphone across the street and 3 more a few blocks away. I didn't have a cell phone yet and my landline wasn't cooperating. Shortly after, the payphones were removed.
 
About 20 years ago, outside a small general store in the woods of the White Mountains, NH. My husband had a cell phone he used for work, it was large and clumsy and we couldn't call from NH to MA (about 250 miles) because the cell coverage was really bad. We were camping out, so no hotel phone.

We bought a prepaid calling card (remember those?) and then we had to put a quarter in the phone and dial a long string of numbers.
 
There is one about 10 k from here. I have seen cars / trucks parked there and someone is in the booth, we have a lot of dead areas here which makes using a cell a little dicy.
 
In Mendocino CA in 2006 (my profile pic is on the headlands there). At that time, the town didn't allow cell phone towers for fear of radiation emissions. I don't recall seeing one since then.
 

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