# Remember Pay Phones and Dial Arounds? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662 "2018-08-15T16:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/41 "2018-08-16T18:04:00Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I don’t recall ever hearing the term “dial-around”. I remember phone cards and advertisements for phone services that I guess were considered dial-around (like 10-10-321, which I’d forgotten about but remembered when I searched for dial around.) Just not that term. I’ve never heard of a dial-around. I assumed it was some sort of thing where you dial a random number and talk to whomever picks up. So… A ‘dial-around’ is just a phone card? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/42 "2018-08-16T18:17:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > But do they have phone books? No, because the anthropologist have taken those to museums. Seriously, though, in the few times I’ve ever tried to use a payphone in the last decade, it was always vandalized and non-functioning. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/43 "2018-08-16T18:21:48Z")
There used to be several phone booths in our county that the Amish used, but they all seem to have gone away in the last 5 years or so. Have the Amish gone wireless? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/44 "2018-08-16T18:33:43Z")
In Smicksburg (a nearby Amish area) there is a pay phone in a general store. I see Amish men (haven’t seen a woman on that phone) using it all the time. There are also notes to/from Amish posted by the phone on a cork board. “Will take riders to Pittsburgh weekdays, $45, 123-4567 ask for Don” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/45 "2018-08-16T18:44:04Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Same here. I’ve never heard the term “dial-around,” but I remember the 10-10- numbers (and the commercials with John Lithgow!). And [Alf, and Hulk Hogan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hog9g7s-Mr0&app=desktop), and [George Carlin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDonrJ2WVWM&app=desktop), and [Christopher Lloyd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyKnGFj_KEY). > [@Serenata67](#): > > I still remember cheating the phone company with collect calls. If I needed to be picked up, I’d call my house collect and instead of my name, I’d say “MomI’mDoneWithPracticeComeGetMe.” They’d deny the collect call, but get the message that I was done. [Bob Wehadababyit’saboy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs&app=desktop). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/46 "2018-08-16T18:58:22Z")
I wish phone booths would make a comeback. The kind that hotel lobbies used to have, with a light that turned on when you closed the door, a seat and a little table/shelf. I’d love to see these, without the actual phone, as a cellphone calling station. Privacy and less noise for the caller, less noise for the rest of the world. It might only work in someplace like a hotel lobby, where there are staff around to keep down the vandalism, but I can dream. If I build a house, I might just put in a "phone closet’ for just this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/47 "2018-08-16T19:15:10Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > The “you don’t have a long distance carrier charge” was a brainchild of the FCC. It was known as the Presubscribed Inter-Exchange Carrier Charge or PICC (pronounced “pixie”). … Thanks for the info. I Googled PICC and got a bunch of links to catheters. Ooooh. Better searching got be some old info. But it seems to have been effective starting 1998 which was waaaay too early for when we started getting billed extra and switched. Could have been a latter policy change. ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/48 "2018-08-16T19:58:59Z")
The last pay phone I saw was at a rest stop on I-80 in Nebraska. They were still there last year. Back in the day, when men were real men, women were real women, and cellphones were just a dream, I had a work pager. No display, it was just an alert tone, and the dispatcher would say your last name twice. We were required to call in within 10 or 15 minuets. It was standard for us to keep 2 quarters taped to the back of the pager in case we were out and about and needed to answer a page. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/49 "2018-08-17T01:17:07Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > There used to be several phone booths in our county that the Amish used, but they all seem to have gone away in the last 5 years or so. Have the Amish gone wireless? Speaking of which, I drive past a pay phone every day. It’s at a bus stop, so you can call and get someone to pick you up after you get off the bus, but the main feature is that it’s also a phone-company wireless-access point. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/50 "2018-08-17T02:01:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So… A ‘dial-around’ is just a phone card? Not in the sense of a pre-paid time card. What they did was assign the long-distance call (and the associated charges) to whatever company was providing the dial-around service, rather than to you whichever company (if any) you had selected as the default long-distance carrier on your home phone line. I can’t remember if the 10-10 numbers then billed you directly, or billed you as part of your overall phone bill from your local phone company. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/51 "2018-08-17T03:48:32Z")
I always kept a couple dimes on me in case I needed to “drop one” in a pay phone. Around me the old-style booths lasted here and there until into the 90s until being totally replaced by the kiosk models and one of two places still had full booths INSIDE BUILDINGS!!! :eek: Imagine that! People actually wanted to make phone calls inside and not have others listening in! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/52 "2018-08-17T03:50:43Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Got foto? Maybe in black and white? It could be a classic! Not in black and white but here you are: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211s6wrHRjm5vF3B2eIMGxp8HA%212m2%211d43.1026799%212d-77.5413511%213f291.8%214f8.525%215f0.9 [https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x89d13549bd9ba389%3A0xe42cae82c37e7fa8!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.wilmorite.com%2FLeasingSpecialtyLeasing%2FLeasingInfo%2FPittsfordPlaza.aspx!5spittsford%20plaza%20-%20Google%20Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipP5oSk\_DPkWcyJaHdUO\_HUENrhWGpqw3wgfxvgt&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-9\_KElvPcAhVuTt8KHdogCUkQoiowDXoECAcQCQ#](https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x89d13549bd9ba389%3A0xe42cae82c37e7fa8!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.wilmorite.com%2FLeasingSpecialtyLeasing%2FLeasingInfo%2FPittsfordPlaza.aspx!5spittsford%20plaza%20-%20Google%20Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipP5oSk_DPkWcyJaHdUO_HUENrhWGpqw3wgfxvgt&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-9_KElvPcAhVuTt8KHdogCUkQoiowDXoECAcQCQ#) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/53 "2018-08-17T05:04:28Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > I still remember cheating the phone company with collect calls. If I needed to be picked up, I’d call my house collect and instead of my name, I’d say “MomI’mDoneWithPracticeComeGetMe.” They’d deny the collect call, but get the message that I was done. I just carried around a paperclip. That was assuming the mouthpiece didn’t unscrew. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/54 "2018-08-17T05:27:40Z")
There are pay phones in Hawaii. But phone booths? No, nit that I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/55 "2018-08-17T11:36:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There is a pay phone booth in my City Hall building. But the phone doesn’t work. > > Pay phones are a thing of the past. I walk by a couple of old pay phones every day. They haven’t been maintained and I’d be surprised if they still work, I’d even be surprised if all the parts are still there. I think I’ll check on the way to work today. But everything old is new again. We have a new generation of “pay phones”, the LinkNYC kiosks. > **[LinkNYC](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkNYC)** > > LinkNYC is an infrastructure project providing free Wi-Fi service in New York City. The office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the plan on November 17, 2014, and the installation of the first kiosks, or "Links," started in late 2015. The Links replace the city's network of 9,000 to 13,000 payphones, a contract for which expired in October 2014. The LinkNYC kiosks were devised after the government of New York City held several competitions to replace the payphone system. The m... They provide free WiFi and charging ports - and they also provide free domestic phone calls, maps and directions and info about city services. When they were first installed they allowed full web browsing but that function was disabled as users were monopolizing the kiosks. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/56 "2018-08-17T12:21:12Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Someone please make me feel not old, I have worked a plug and cord switchboard. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/57 "2018-08-17T18:38:25Z")
> [@blob](#): > > I have worked a plug and cord switchboard. I did that, too, but it was Army field equipment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/58 "2018-08-24T21:07:50Z")
When my dad got his first answering machine, in the 80’s, it was capable of remote access using touch tones. You’d wait for the machine to pick up, press 1 to interrupt the message, then a PIN to get to the menu, and then use the menu to listen to your messages, just like a modern voicemail system (but slower, since you had to wait for the cassette tape to rewind). But what if you are out and can’t find a touch-tone phone? It came with a little device with a keypad that just made touch-tone sounds. (I think my first cell phone was smaller than this device) You could hold it up to your non-touch-tone phone and make the beeps to get the answering machine to work. (Also, the machine would pick up on the 2nd ring if you had messages, but the 4th ring if you didn’t, so you could save a quarter and hang up on hearing ring #3.) I remember using the automated collect call system like **Serenata67** to deliver messages, but before that, when my Dad was young, there were actual operators handling the collect calls. So he and his parents had a code. If he used his real name, everything was fine, he’d gotten wherever he was going OK, and no need to accept the charges. If he used his brother’s name, something was wrong and he needed to talk to them. One time he had called and reported no problems with his name, then had some car trouble, so called back with his brother’s name, but got the same operator, who said, “10 minutes ago, you were \_\_\_\_ and now your name is \_\_\_\_. Which is it?” A bit more recently, when I was in grad school in the late 90’s, and in a long-distance relationship with the girlfriend who is now my wife… There was a service (I wish I could remember the name of it), where you called a toll free number, entered the long-distance number you wanted to call, then listened to as many ads as you were willing to listen to, pressed 1 when you were ready to connect, and you’d get 3 minutes of talk time per ad you’d sat through. (Of course, I had to call her with real long distance first just long enough to make sure she was there and had time to talk, then hang up and go through this nonsense to call back, lest I waste 10 minutes listening to ads only to find out she wasn’t home). I don’t remember the number or the name of the service, but I will never forget one of the sponsors: 1-800-LIVE-LOB, the mail order live lobster delivery service. I think a full 1/4 of the ads were from them. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/59 "2018-08-25T00:53:00Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > there were actual operators handling the collect calls. That was me, I worked at the telephone exchange. We were also “google”, people would ring up and ask questions that were bugging them and if anyone knew the answer, we’d tell them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662/60 "2018-08-25T01:28:52Z")
The family stayed at a campground near the SD Badlands in June this year. They had a full size, free standing pay phone booth with the folding door and everything. My daughter (8): why does that port-a-potty have windows? Me: That’s not a port-a-potty. That’s a pay-phone. Her: what’s a “pay-phone?” True story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-pay-phones-and-dial-arounds/819662.md?page=4)