oh what a walk down memory lane. those booths represent another time, another reality and a time when we were able to be alone with ourselves naturally. loved reading this, Paul. thank you
May 6Liked by Tonya Morton, Paul Vlachos, Sue Cauhape
I loooooove these photos! I remember pay phones and phonebooks too. It's so strange that a huge segment of the population has never stepped into a phone booth, used a pay phone. I remember when it was a dime!
Relating madly to this stellar piece. So many overlaps of experience...my last phone booth interaction was during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. I saw a teenager struggling in the last remaining phone booth on 14th & 8th. She had no clue how to handle any part of the receiver or touch pad. I explained it to her & she shrugged sheepishly, whipped out her cellphone & started in on that.
Brings back some great campfires in the remote Mojave Desert. There was an old phone booth just sitting by itself in the desert. Used many years ago by a mining operation since abandoned. The thing that made it fun was the phone company never severed the line. Made famous because it was still a working phone that had been written up in print worldwide years ago. They also printed the phone number and we would take turns chatting with folks from all over the world who would call just to see if it was a real number. You could probably google Mojave Phone Booth.
I knew about that phone booth, but never used it, myself. That's a great memory, though. Thanks for sharing and thanks for reading. In the earlier days of cell phones, I was at one of those Eastern Mojave campgrounds and was shocked to see that I had the barest of a signal. Made a call and it felt like I was calling in from the moon.
Great piece. I also remember those phone booth lounges in hotels where you went to make a call and perhaps smoke a cigarette. They made for a lot of murder scenes in old films.
Those half-booths made it very difficult for Clark Kent to change his clothes, too.
Sue, Clark now has to use coffeeshop bathrooms.
Oh goodness! That could get dicey!
oh what a walk down memory lane. those booths represent another time, another reality and a time when we were able to be alone with ourselves naturally. loved reading this, Paul. thank you
Thank YOU, Tabby! We lost a lot when we lost the payphone, despite the clear convenience of cellphones.
I loooooove these photos! I remember pay phones and phonebooks too. It's so strange that a huge segment of the population has never stepped into a phone booth, used a pay phone. I remember when it was a dime!
Thank you, Nina! It might have been a better world when we walked around untethered to the networks...
Relating madly to this stellar piece. So many overlaps of experience...my last phone booth interaction was during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. I saw a teenager struggling in the last remaining phone booth on 14th & 8th. She had no clue how to handle any part of the receiver or touch pad. I explained it to her & she shrugged sheepishly, whipped out her cellphone & started in on that.
Thanks, El. That's a horrifying anecdote you describe.
Brings back some great campfires in the remote Mojave Desert. There was an old phone booth just sitting by itself in the desert. Used many years ago by a mining operation since abandoned. The thing that made it fun was the phone company never severed the line. Made famous because it was still a working phone that had been written up in print worldwide years ago. They also printed the phone number and we would take turns chatting with folks from all over the world who would call just to see if it was a real number. You could probably google Mojave Phone Booth.
I knew about that phone booth, but never used it, myself. That's a great memory, though. Thanks for sharing and thanks for reading. In the earlier days of cell phones, I was at one of those Eastern Mojave campgrounds and was shocked to see that I had the barest of a signal. Made a call and it felt like I was calling in from the moon.
Great piece. I also remember those phone booth lounges in hotels where you went to make a call and perhaps smoke a cigarette. They made for a lot of murder scenes in old films.
The room in Grand Central Station that was filled with phone books from all over the country.