Rotary Payphone Customer, 1973.
MEMBER OF THE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY OF SOUTH BEACH, 06/1973. ARC Identifier 548611 / Local Identifier 412-DA-6124. Item from Record Group 412: Records of the Environmental Protection Agency, 1944 – 2006
The Forgotten World of the Payphone Hustler
The days of the "payphone hustler" at New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal are long gone, but their memory survives in an interesting essay by Gisela Bichler and Ronald V. Clarke.
Myanmar: Community Payphone Operator
About a decade ago satellite-powered community payphones exploded in popularity throughout Africa. The continent’s virtually non-existent civilian landline infrastructure cried out for wireless- and satellite-powered innovation to bring telephony to huge populations that lacked such service. Companies like Tellumat, MTN, and Remkor Technologies brought GSM-powered mobile phone booths to countries like Benin, Uganda, Rwanda, and Senegal. Tellumat had…
All Quiet On The Payphone Front
Lack of content updates at The Payphone Project site belie activities going on behind the scenes. A variety of other pursuits, some payphone-related and others not, have absorbed most if not all of my overextended mental and temporal energies the last several weeks. After much consternation (induced by generally bad planning) a long-anticipated change to…
Brass Band at Times Square Subway, Heard Through a Payphone
Subway musicians sound different when heard through a payphone. Heck, everything sounds different when heard through the raspy, rugged, monochrome sound of the landline. I caught this brass band at the Times Square station and picked up the nearest payphone to call it in.
Val Vashon: Payphones Across America
Val Vashon writes: "I had to drive a TV satellite truck from Washington State to New Jersey for Superbowl coverage for the local station that I work for. Tried to take a few pay phone pictures along the way."
Short Film: The Last Phone Booth.
Creepy dealings inside a phone booth in Adirondack, New York. The film stars Dan Rebeiz and Caleb Rosenberg.
Abandoned Payphone. Flatbush, Brooklyn.
An abandoned payphone at 2130 Caton Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn
“I found your father!”
I spotted this man using a payphone on New Years Day, 2014. I thought he was saying "I PHONED YOUR FATHER!" but I later decided he must have been saying "I FOUND YOUR FATHER!" before angrily hanging up the phone.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Picture of an Afghan Telecom payphone. Kabul, Afghanistan.
Chicago’s Vanishing Pay Telephones (2007)
This story, from Chicago's WGN television, is from 6 years ago but in many ways it could have been produced today.
St. Maarten/St. Martin Payphone. November, 2013
Closeup of a payphone seen on the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten/St. Martin. November, 2013.
Bell Canada Phone Booth. Montreal. August, 2013.
Upper East Side Payphone Customer
Try to imagine the story behind this well-dressed Upper East Side man using a payphone and toting a bottle of wine from a nearby liquor store.
Payphone Innards
This shiny spool of metal wire, part of a payphone's innards, lay exposed for several weeks in a Manhattan subway station.
Look Who Still Uses Payphones
This well-dressed Upper East side woman took a break from walking her dog to make a call from a Titan payphone.
“Squeeze-Play Craze” Reaches Nebraska – April, 1959
The "Squeeze-Play" was the phone-booth-stuffing fad of the 1950s, made most famous by Life Magazine photographer Joe Munroe's iconic image. Here is another take on the phenomenon, by "The Daily Nebraskan" reporter John Hoerner.
Operation Pay Phone (A CNN iReport)
This series of reports from CNN's iReport is from 2010, but it loses nothing for being a few years old.
Casino Queen Hits A Payphone Jackpot (Commercial)
The small but satisfying thrill of getting a quarter back from a payphone segues in to the more volcanic thrill of hitting a jackpot.
Who Still Uses Payphones?
The Payphone Project's occasional reminder that people still use payphones.
Life With Luigi – The Phone Booth (1952)
Luigi Bosco installs a phone booth in his antique shop to drum up business, but attracts nothing more than a common payphone hog.
The Phone Box (Poem)
A poem by Jax Leck.
Disappeared Phone Booths
I was surprised to find that this video contains a shoutout to the Payphone Project. Who knew? Look for it at 1:55.
British Telecom Public Telephone Commercial, 1988
This 1988 commercial from British Telecom depicts an era of public telephony that has nearly disappeared.
US West Payphone Commercial, 1993
US West set up a (fake) payphone spy cam in this 1993 television commercial.
Not Just For Dancing
"Danskins are for breaking dates late, making late dates and calling collect."
Inspector Clouseau on the Button Phone
Lots of amusing phone booth payphonery in this excerpt from the 1968 film "Inspector Clouseau", starring Alan Arkin.
Mutant Payphone Keypad
Here is something you don't see every day, and which you probably would not notice even if you did see it. It is a payphone keypad with a slight problem. It has 2 * (star) keys, and no # (pound).