| THE TELEPHONE BOOTH |
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Pay phones first appeared at the beginning of the 20th Century. By 1998 there
were nearly 2.6 million of them in the United States alone.
The first phone booths were made of wood. The last ones were made of
aluminum and glass to provide comfort and protection. They featured hanging
phone directories, fans, bright lighting and handy little shelves where a lady could
put her purse while calling. The latest phones were even able to accept credit
cards.
The new generation of phone booths generally survived the elements, but they
proved no match for the changing culture.Thugs smashed the booth doors and
tried to break open the coin boxes. Phone directories were ripped out, sometimes
a page at a time. Some booths were hauled away in thieves’ trucks.
John Brooks reported in his 1979 book, "Telephone—The First Hundred Years,"
that about one third of New York City’s 100,000 pay phones were being wrecked
per month in 1969. He added that about one fourth were out of order at any given
time, costing the phone company an estimated $5 million per year in repairs and
stolen coins.
Phone companies quit installing the booths in the 1990s because the structures
did not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Then came cell phones, and phone booths became the dinosaurs of the phone
industry. They are recalled fondly by a few customers, but are no longer needed
by the millions.
AT&T added closure to the booths' fate by announcing in December 2007 that it
planned to exit "the shrinking pay phone business by the end of 2008."
The company said in its news release that it "has continued to experience
significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily as a result of the
growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and
personal communication devices."
The popularity of the pay phones was officially recognized in 1964 when the
Treasury Department checked with Bell Laboratories to make sure the new coins
it was designing would still work in pay phones.
were nearly 2.6 million of them in the United States alone.
The first phone booths were made of wood. The last ones were made of
aluminum and glass to provide comfort and protection. They featured hanging
phone directories, fans, bright lighting and handy little shelves where a lady could
put her purse while calling. The latest phones were even able to accept credit
cards.
The new generation of phone booths generally survived the elements, but they
proved no match for the changing culture.Thugs smashed the booth doors and
tried to break open the coin boxes. Phone directories were ripped out, sometimes
a page at a time. Some booths were hauled away in thieves’ trucks.
John Brooks reported in his 1979 book, "Telephone—The First Hundred Years,"
that about one third of New York City’s 100,000 pay phones were being wrecked
per month in 1969. He added that about one fourth were out of order at any given
time, costing the phone company an estimated $5 million per year in repairs and
stolen coins.
Phone companies quit installing the booths in the 1990s because the structures
did not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Then came cell phones, and phone booths became the dinosaurs of the phone
industry. They are recalled fondly by a few customers, but are no longer needed
by the millions.
AT&T added closure to the booths' fate by announcing in December 2007 that it
planned to exit "the shrinking pay phone business by the end of 2008."
The company said in its news release that it "has continued to experience
significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily as a result of the
growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and
personal communication devices."
The popularity of the pay phones was officially recognized in 1964 when the
Treasury Department checked with Bell Laboratories to make sure the new coins
it was designing would still work in pay phones.
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