The Payphone Project > Pictures of Payphones

Rotary Dial Payphone. The Paper Chase, Season One, Episode 11
A rotary dial payphone is seen in Season One, Episode 11, of The Paper Chase, simply on of the greatest TV shows ever made.

The Paper Chase, Season 1, Episode 11
Mrs. Nottingham, played by Betty Harford, calls Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman) from a campus payphone in Season 1, Episode 11 of "The Paper Chase".

Why Be Irritated? (1940s)
Irritation toward the Payphone Hog (a bane of telephone communication for generations) is appeased by the nicotine-stained inhalations of an Old Gold cigarette offered by a man in uniform to an apparently coy and dreamy woman in uniform.

1954: Stetson makes charcoal something to talk about

Brother To The Phones At Home (1955)
A LIGHT IN THE DARK —More and more outdoor telephone booths are being placed at convenient locations. They are available for service 24 hours a day. They supplement the hundreds of thousands of telephone booths in buildings, stores, hotels, gas stations, airports, railroad stations and bus terminals. Brother to the Phones at Home No matter where you go, you are never far from a public telephone. North, south, east and west, they are conveniently located to serve you. They are all brothers to the telephones in your home or office and connected in a nationwide family. From them you can call any one of fifty million other telephones nearby or across the country... and thirty-five million in other countries. So the next time something comes up when you are away from your home or business—or you’re thinking of someone who would like to hear your voice—just step in a convenient telephone booth and call. You can travel far in a few minutes—save steps, time and money—and get things settled while they’re fresh on your mind. BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM "It means so much to keep in touch"

The Man In The Phone Booth (1957)

1957: The Man in the Phone Booth

1957: Phone Booths Add Color to Cross County Shopping Center

1958: Indoor Phone Booths Right For Modern Buildings

Like A Lighthouse On The Highway (1959)

1959: It's us, Uncle Bill! We'll be there in time for dinner!

Mink Will Change Your Life (1961)
We know of the Pagoda payphone in Chinatown. What of Korean-language-crowned payphones in New York's Koreatown? Did they exist? The man appears to be looking at a watchless wrist, circled by a wristband.

Phone Booth Temporarily Closed - Bird Nesting (1961)
The Payphone Project has no evidence to either support or refute the story offered by Bell Telephone System in this phone booth advertisement from 1961. "It happened in White Oak, Maryland. A robin decided to build her nest in the shelter of a public phone booth. To give her peace and quiet, local Bell telephone men quickly installed another phone nearby. Result: service as usual, mother and family (four) doing very well." Bell Telephone System

1962: Formica Laminated Plastic Phone Booths at Los Angeles International Airport

1966: Put yourself in Pedro's place and decide what you would do!

1969: Danskins are for breaking dates late, making late dates and calling collect.

1969: Remington introduces a smaller electric for a smaller office.

1972: Got the wearies?

1972: You're busy. You're a realist. Estée Lauder.

1973: Looking for money? Find a phone booth.

1989: Calls made on AT&T payphones travel at 186,000 miles per second!

Robert Redford sidles up to a 3-slot rotary-dial payphone in "The Natural".

Want a hot tip? Call 1-800-631-1972. Find yourself in the Air Force. (1971 advertisement)

George Lucas' "American Graffiti"
George Lucas' "American Graffiti" ends with this frantic phone booth scene.

Amish Drive-In Telephone (1961): One of over 12 million Independent telephones.

She was all alone and stranded in a strange city
Patricia was crying softly. Heavy snow had slowed her bus so that she missed the last connection back to college. She was cold, lonely and stranded in a big city where she knew no one. As Pat tried to call her college housemother, telephone operator Nellie Hall sensed something was wrong. Friendly questions brought Pat's tears and troubles pouring out together. Within a few minutes, Miss Hall had calmed the girl and made arrangements for her to stay overnight at the Y. W. C. A. Next day, after the storm, a happier, grateful Pat went on her way to college. * * * We would never have heard this small, true story if Pat's parents hadn't written to express their appreciation. And you would never find anything in an operator's instructions about helping stranded college girls. In fact, you wouldn't find any list of the human, neighborly things that our operators, installers and linemen do every day. Yet they're done just the same - and we're glad they are. It's part of our effort to provide you with the world's best telephone service. BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM

Bell Telephone, 1971
Our armored pay phone: Why the street corner phone is no longer in danger of becoming extinct.

Bell Telephone, 1971 Advertisement
Our armored pay phone: Why the street corner phone is no longer in danger of becoming extinct.

This was the first telephone booth
1961 Bell Telephone System Print Advertisement. It was “invented” in 1877, two years after the telephone itself. Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson, his assistant, were making intercity tests which required shouting into the primitive instrument. This annoyed their Boston landlady. Then Watson had an idea. One night he pulled some blankets off the beds, rolled them into a loose tunnel, and crawled in with his telephone. It was dark, it was hot, but it worked. While Watson bellowed, the landlady slept serenely!

Frantic (1998)
Harrison Ford briefly uses a payphone in Roman Polanski's 1998 film Frantic, a great film with a somewhat incongruous title, since the action never quite reaches a level of franticness.

Independent Telephone Association Logo

Panic in Needle Park (1971)
A classic New York City green phone booth is seen in The Panic in Needle Park, starring Al Pacino and Kitty Wynn. I spotted what may be the last surviving Manhattan phones booths of this style over at PayphoneNews.com, a division of the Payphone Project.

1960. Bell Telephone Advertises its New Public Phones.
1960. Bell Telephone Advertises its New Public Phones, including the "Phone From Car", the "Airlight Booth", and the "Walk-Up Phone". Read the Payphone Project's comments on this old advertisement over at PayphoneNews.com.

Rotary Dial Payphone, "The Paper Chase", Season 2, Episode 1
Rotary dial payphone seen in Episode 1, Season 2, of "The Paper Chase, simply one of these best TV shows ever made. This scene reminds me of the long conversations I had using rotary dial phones in college dormitories and other communal living facilities.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
George Peppard in one of two phone booth scenes in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Read more about these scenes over at PayphoneNews.com, a division of the Payphone Project.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
George Peppard in one of two phone booth scenes in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Read more about these scenes over at PayphoneNews.com, a division of the Payphone Project.

Val Kilmer in "The Salton Sea"
Val Kilmer scoping out a new drug deal in "The Salton Sea". Speaking of the Salton Sea, I have one listing for a Salton Sea Payphone. My guess is that the Salton Sea payphone is no longer in service.

"Saturday Night Live", Season 5, Opening Credits
The opening credits from Saturday Night Live, Season 5 (1979-1980), included this shot of SNL castmembers using some gaudy yellow payphones.

Daily Nebraskan. April, 1959: "Squeeze-Play Craze Popularity May Surpass that of Panty Raid"

taste of cherry

Crash (2005)
Early in the movie Crash (2005) LAPD Officer John Ryan (played by Matt Dillon) gives a piece of his mind to Chiniqua (a health insurance administrator played by Loretta Devine) before she hangs up on him and he hangs up the payphone.