Who's old enough that they used one of these things before? What is this thing?

[CuriousDalia]

Not me lol but it gave that retro look for a picture

[abc3643]

That's actually a rather recent payphone because it looks like it accepts credit and debit cards.

These are the ones I used.

I remember in the mid-1980s when a call went up from a dime (10 cents) to a quarter (25 cents) and there was a big stink about it. I was shocked that it went up to $0.50 or more but I never noticed as most people didn't either because we had cell phones and payphone usage declined.

This segment from a news channel is good.

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/features/13news-now-vault-payphones/291-7ab62b08-2dfc-4daa-a5d2-a578672c092e
13News Now Vault: Remembering the world of payphones
The payphone peaked in 1995 when they were scattered all over the country in the millions.

Author: Philip Townsend
Published: 6:24 PM EDT March 25, 2022
Updated: 6:44 PM EDT March 25, 2022

NORFOLK, Va. — Today, we’ve got the world at our fingertips: answers to any question you can think of, social media that connects us to everyone, and non-stop texting that keeps us communicating around the clock.
But the main function of our smartphones is something a lot of us don’t use that often: making calls.
Imagine telling someone that back in the 1980s and 1990s, when reaching someone usually required a commitment.

Back in 1994, payphones were a way of life. Many of you remember finding a gas station, pulling over, and getting out of your car, only to put change in a metal box to call your mom.
That was sometimes our only choice.
The payphone peaked in 1995 when they were scattered all over the country in the millions.
On average, payphone calls generally cost $0.05 into the 1950s and $0.10 until the mid-1980s. Rates standardized at $0.25 during the mid-1980s to early 1990s.
They were a big part of popular culture, too, featured in memorable scenes from some of the biggest television shows and movies.
That quickly changed when the cellular phone came around.
The number of payphones out on the streets would drop year after year, from 2.6 million in 1995 to only 100,000 of them by 2018.
They just stopped making sense.
But we should always appreciate the effort we put into making a call at a payphone.
Let it be a reminder of how easy it is today to give someone a call.

[abc3643]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veg0cHBspNY

[abc3643]

When you're in the mob, the payphone is your best friend. This was before "burner phones".

[Lliam]

The old ones had rotary dials, not push buttons. And it cost dime to make a call. There were even phone books attached.

I even remember phone booths.

[TrueConfection]

Where does Clark Kent change into Superman nowadays?

[Lliam]

@TrueConfection. What's funny is, phone booths were mostly glass, so I don't know how they gave him any privacy anyway. LOL

[TrueConfection]

😍😍😍

[TrueConfection]

The one in that picture looks a little more modern than what was available during the first 20 years of my life. All moms made sure their kids carried a dime in their pocket, just in case we needed one of those devices.

[Simslover92]

It's a payphone and yes I have used one before when I was a kid. Wow didn't feel so old until I saw this question lol. 😳

[Sofargone93]

I've used one many times and I'm just 30. Pay phones went hand in hand with beepers.. if you know what that is. You'd get call to your beeperb, it would show the number calling it.. then you'd go to a pay phone to call them back. It was cool for it's time. Now days people think pay phones are disgusting. And they are. Trillions of people's germs and your putting mouth right next to it.

[NathanDavis]

Mexico still has some public payphones here and there... but they are free, and used to call for emergency services...

and I think it was back in 2004 or something, that I used one to make an international call lmfao...

[Al_Musafir]

Missed by a couple of years. Although they weren't a trend around the time I was born but I still remember getting my hands on one or two of them when I was out with my grandfather once. Nice memories.

[Fireguy17]

that was a one of the biggest ways of communicating back in the day.
There wasn't any google web or cell phones, yet we somehow managed to survive just fine.
I don't know how but we did.

[abc3643]

We had the Yellow Pages and newspapers and libraries and maps.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Thats a payphone, its what everyone used to call people when not home before cellphones became a thing.

[IslaTheWitch]

The only way I could page my father when I was a kid :D

[EmmaMary]

They're certainly becoming more few and far between these days.

[PBandJ_Nerd]

I believe that is a pay phone. I've never used one before, but it takes cents.

[Bricealan]

Hard to believe that is the only option we had outside the home.

[RedInnocent68]

They only just took out the one down the street from my office a while ago. It was quite the attraction for drug dealers…

[Ben487]

i've used a payphone when I was a kid. They disappeared over the years, not sure exactly when.

[Radiate143]

Come on. Even though we don't see them we know what they are.

[Starrrboy]

Well, I saw them but never used them because I was a kid and I couldn't reach them lmaoo.. damn, life was so much simpler back then.

[Friendlybro79]

Do you really not know what this is even though you weren't old enough to have used one? Lol

[kaucky1]

Before humans we spoke with minds voices after humans unable to concentrate spoke with voices unable to concentrate

[TheGuyYouCrave]

Its a phone miss. I bet you have your phone glued to your face. Touch grass, less phone germs.

[shortster]

Not the pay phone; but our high school had a free one to use.

[TiaNour]

Payphone, but I don’t think I was born when people were still using them

[NeverGiveUp69]

I did when I was a kid in my cities centre and needed to call home or something

[Luckycharms12]

Can remember cards when had to use them in pay phones then coins

[7Phoenix7]

Good ole pay phones...

[Nikki1989]

They are still around.

[bowenw]

Yes including rotary ones.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I like the ding noise those made.

[FunkyMonkee]

It's called, a public telephone.

[exitseven]

Its a payphone.

[LiamJHayden]

There are still a few around.

[Iron_Man]

We still have one at Southland Mall

[HouseMoat]

I know what it is, I've used one before.

[nawtee_me]

Yes that is a pay phone slot machine….

[Jerre]

It’s a pay phone. Not too many left around.

[ChicoFromThe305]

Pay phones 😂

[riverrat3]

Often