The World Still Uses Pay Phones

Apparently pay phones are still in use and they generate millions in revenue each year. I haven’t used a pay phone in years, have you? And do you know of any in our area?

Teenagers have most likely never used one of these, and they have probably only seen them in movies or old TV shows.

However, at one time there were thousands of them in various sections of the cities and towns all over the world as popular as cell phones because it was the best way to call someone from a mobile location.

Complete with a slot to drop coins into, a door for privacy, a light, and some even had a fan inside. I remember being stationed in San Diego and going to a phone booth with a sleeve or two of quarters to call back home.

Many songs are dated with lyrics making reference to the telephone booth like, "drop the coin in the slot", or "here's a quarter call someone who cares".  There are even catch phrases such as, "I dropped a dime on them".

According to the website Vice pay phones brought in revenue around 286 million dollars in 2015.

I don’t recall seeing any phone booths in the greater Binghamton area, but apparently there are some around.

I haven’t used a pay phone in years, have you? And do you know of any in our area?