# What did Paul Drake just do? {Perry Mason} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902 "2023-10-21T21:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/1 "2023-10-21T21:04:09Z")
Watching me an episode of Perry Mason. Bored outta my gourd. What? Perry and Paul driving down some street. (Obviously faked, same building passed by 3 times) And I hear a buzz. Paul picks up an old fashioned landline headset. Makes a few comments and turns to tell Perry they have to go back to the law office. U-turn. Same building in the background. First: car telephone? Now how does that possibly work? Second: phone use while driving, and smoking a cigarette and talking to Perry. How’s about that for distracted driving? Third: Don’t they think us bored viewers can see the background flying by and determine when the same building is shown? Fourth: Yeah, I’m the bored viewer. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/2 "2023-10-21T21:09:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > First: car telephone? Now how does that possibly work? Car phones (which were a different technology from cellular phones) were introduced in 1946. They used special radio frequencies to connect the car’s phone to the phone system, but had a limited number of frequencies (meaning that a limited number of users could make calls at the same time), and were only useful in those areas where the phone company had installed antennas. > **[Car phone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_phone)** > > A car phone is a mobile radio telephone specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile. > This service originated with the Bell System and was first used in St. Louis, Missouri, United States on June 17, 1946. > The original equipment weighed 80 pounds (36 kg), and there were initially only 3 channels for all the users in the metropolitan area. Later, more licenses were added, bringing the total to 32 channels across 3 bands (See IMTS frequencies). This service was used at least into the ... ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/3 "2023-10-21T21:11:04Z")
So…‘Science!’ ? Yeah. I was previously informed. Dang it. Someone explain _Get Smarts_ shoe phone. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/4 "2023-10-21T21:15:58Z")
I wasn’t around in The 1960s (well I was right at the end but in the other side of the world where any phones were a rarity) But I’m constantly amazed by folks even of my age who seem to think that mobile telephony was invented in the 1990s. My boss had a car phone in the 1980s. The bills were $200-$300 a month. And that was with him making most of his calls on the road either from a pay phone or from a clients office. The car phone was for really urgent unplanned things. Like he was running late either for an important meeting or for a tee-time (which were often important meetings) He not only used the phone while driving, and smoked while driving, he drove a lot when he would be well over the limit for BAC. He’d fire you if you complained about any of these things. Ah the good old days. > **[Remember Millions of Mobile Phones in the 1960s? You Should - WebUrbanist](https://weburbanist.com/2012/09/18/remember-millions-of-mobile-phones-in-the-1960s-you-should/)** > > The earliest mobile phones were radio-powered, ultra-durable vacuum-tubed contraptions that were installed in American cars by the millions in the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/5 "2023-10-21T21:29:47Z")
Having seen most (if not all) episodes of the original series, I was under the impression Paul just hired operatives and let them do all the work while he dropped into Perry’s office for coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/6 "2023-10-21T21:30:18Z")
Heck, Perry Mason was a Perry-come-lately to car telephones. In _The Adventures of Superman_, Perry White had one in the episode “The Evil Three,” broadcast in 1953. Also from the black and white era, Peter Gunn had a car telephone. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/7 "2023-10-21T21:37:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Someone explain _Get Smarts_ shoe phone. It was a _secret_. I could tell you, but … PS: Any idea which _Perry Mason_ episode that is? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/8 "2023-10-21T21:38:26Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > It was a _secret_. > > I could tell you, but … “Would you believe…?” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/9 "2023-10-21T21:39:27Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Would you believe…?” I _should have_ asked you not to tell me that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/10 "2023-10-21T21:40:13Z")
Couldn’t say what episode it was. I could explain the plot. Oh, but they’re all the same.☺ ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/11 "2023-10-21T21:47:13Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Someone explain _Get Smart_’s shoe phone. It was a prototype that C.O.N.T.R.O.L. was testing for Bell Telephones; but it was never marketed to the public because of too many “foot dialings”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/12 "2023-10-21T21:48:02Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Someone explain _Get Smarts_ shoe phone. Since it worked just about everywhere, I assume it had a direct link to Telstar. I really liked the knockoff shoe radio Jethro had when he was a double-naught spy. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/13 "2023-10-21T21:50:27Z")
Lol! I did too. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/14 "2023-10-21T21:54:16Z")
Cannon had a car phone in the 70s as well. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/15 "2023-10-21T22:03:54Z")
Ditto Mannix. And _The Rogues_, in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/16 "2023-10-21T22:21:28Z")
I’m sure James Bond had to have a bunch of different ones in the early movies. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/17 "2023-10-21T22:29:33Z")
Batman always had one in the Batmobile. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/18 "2023-10-21T22:37:17Z")
I just read Elvis got one really early because of James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/19 "2023-10-21T22:43:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m sure James Bond had to have a bunch of different ones in the early movies. In the second Bond film, 1963’s _From Russia With Love,_ bond has a phone in his personal car. (It was a 3 1/2 liter Bentley. In the books, Bond drove sports cars, but they were 1930s vintage sports cars.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902/20 "2023-10-21T23:08:13Z")
Didn’t Steed and Emma Peel have phones in their cars? UNCLE agents didn’t need them; they had satellite radios. “Open Channel D!” Remember _ **SEARCH** _? World Securities agents had miniature TV cameras in their tie tacks and other jewelry that worked _everywhere_, but I could never understand why they were reduced to using Morse code with their dental contacts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-paul-drake-just-do-perry-mason/991902.md?page=2)