Last NYC Public Payphone Removed

In oldish detective novels, detectives and cops had to use pay phones to phone to headquarters, and of course couldn't be contacted the other way. Some cops had "radio cars." Sherlock had a bunch of street kids that ran messages around for him.

I'm reading a book about the middle ages. It took weeks and months for news to spread between european cities.

A "long distance" phone call used to be a really big deal, especially at a pay phone.

Member of the ill-fated Danish expedition to Felix Arabia:

"Von Haven sent a report of this failure to Bernstorff, who had sent word from Copenhagen asking about their progress. Bernstorff was dissatisfied with the response and wrote back that he expected better results, but since the post between Denmark and Egypt was slow, his letter did not arrive until long after von Haven's death."

Well, that's one way to avoid your boss' performance evaluations..

Hello? Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mister Floyd Will you accept the charges from United States? Oh, he hung up, that's your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up? Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer? Hello? This is United States calling, are we reaching See he keeps hanging up, and it's a man answering

I remember spending a couple of hours standing around the central post office in Rome in 1978, waiting for them to connect me with home via long distance. (I was in the middle of a bicycle trip across Western Europe and needed to hit my parents up for some more money--I'd eaten myself out of house and home.) ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

There goes the you caught syphilis from a dirty telephone excuse.

In the early '50s I remember my mother calling my brother in Seattle on Christmas day. The operator would call you back when she finally found a connection to the west coast.