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In this fast-paced world, it is quite easy to notice how things that were once so common are now considered relics. Or even worse, their existence is not known by younger people at all.
For example, one day on X, a woman wondered if pay phones are actual things that exist or if they were created only as props for the movies. Well, let's just say that her wondering caused some intense reactions in the replies.
More info: X 
Image credits: @AkanaPhenix
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#2
Arthur Waite 5 months ago
When my Wife was in hospital for a two-weeks stay, the only telephone in her area was a pay phone - cells not allowed because of 'interference with medical equipment''. So, every time I came to see her I'd bring a couple of quarters and put one in the coin return as I passed. I heard from the nurses that people were charmed to be 'lucky'. Made someone's day.
There have been discussions on the internet that Gen Z is quite afraid of aging. To be more specific, they’re afraid of turning 30. Some feel that this exact milestone strips a person of their attractiveness, stamina, and overall value.
This fear of turning 30 years old is not only detrimental to Gen Z themselves but to those who are over 30, too. After all, imagine how unpleasant it must be to see people being so afraid to turn the age you have already passed. That might make a person feel almost elderly when, in reality, they aren’t even that old. You don’t turn to dust the second you turn 30.
#4
Anna Stephenson 5 months ago
MILKMEN!-YES!- I was born in '79, and I remember mum leaving the glass bottles out to be collected, and they'd be replaced with full glass bottles of milk with those little aluminium foil lids!
Restless panda 🇫🇮 5 months ago
My friend remembers a horse pulling cart, selling potatoes sometime netween 1984-1990 on their streets. In the suburbs of Kotka, Finland. But I guess it was a novelty even then?
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Jumping Jellyfishes 5 months ago
Milk delivered to the doorstep in the 70s, but even better, we had Charles Chips (big can of potato chips) also delivered to the doorstep
Brian Droste 5 months ago
We had rotary dial phones. That is where the phones were approximately square. The front was at an angle. There was a a round plastic dial with holes in it. These corresponded with numbers 1 thru 0. 1 was the first number and 0 was the last number. To make call, you had to put your fingers in a one of the holes at a time and turn that particular number round to the top of the phone. Repeat until you dial all the numbers. Hopefully this make sense,
Gabby M 5 months ago (edited)
60's kid here ... Chimes in with the Ice man in horse drawn cart, people still had wooden refrigerators loved the salt pellets. Coal delivery, Milkmen, Dry Cleaner, Bakery (Freihofer's), Farmer (fruits, veggies & eggs) All delivered!! Oh and NO pay phones and terrible TV NO COLOR ... lmao
Mr. Jones 5 months ago
I live in a popular Maine coastal town and we still have butchers and tons of family owned stores. I don't miss the milkmen though.
Tiny Dancer 5 months ago
Bet your Mom does. Hi-ho! I'm here all week. Tip your veal and try the waitresses.
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#6
Learner Panda 5 months ago
I had occasion to call emergency services in the UK and I quoted the "whatthreewords" reference. The operator laughed and said it shows as a phone box. I replied that all that remains is a square of different coloured tarmac.
Yet, fearing turning the age of 30 isn’t the only way netizens make each other feel overly old. Another efficient way to do that is to bring up something that used to be common in daily life but isn’t anymore. Bonus points if someone asks what that thing even is.
All of that was done by an X user, @AkanaPhenix. Back in December of 2023, she tweeted asking whether pay phones actually existed. To be more precise, she asked if they were only created for drama in movies.
Well, this harmless question caused various emotions to be expressed in the replies. Some of the comments were very amusing but kind of harmless. They slightly trolled the OP for such a naive take and told her that pay phones actually existed only in movies. Or they simply joked about how this made them feel old.
#8
#9
LizzieBoredom 5 months ago (edited)
Plus the demise of pay phones made any number of Rock songs obsolete.
Others weren’t that kind. They found out that the woman who posted the question went to Harvard and MIT. The fact that someone so well-educated could be so unaware of such a basic thing made them very critical. This got so bad that the OP later apologized for asking this in the first place and promised never to ask “stupid” questions again.
But not everyone thought this question was stupid. In fact, some of the X users motivated this woman and others to ask questions. They answered that pay phones actually existed. A few even shared some memories of using them.
And for any other people wondering if pay phones really existed: yes, they did. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they still do. Some of the people on X even shared photos of them. Yet, more often than not, these phones aren’t functioning but are just placed as a relic.
#11
Traveling Lady Railfan 5 months ago
There's the "Bell" phone I was talking about! :) I actually just saw one just like this a few days ago in the Welland Ontario canada hospital
Back in the day, they were usually found in telephone booths or high-traffic public areas. To use one, a person needed to insert a coin or telephone token or swipe a card to pay for a call of a certain length.
Today, there’s a company called “PhilTel,” which is installing these phones in Philadelphia. And they are making them free to use. With this, they aim to create a network of phones that can make free calls anywhere in North America.
Yet, it is unlikely that pay phones will rise to the popularity they once had. After all, they were dethroned by mobile phones, which are still very popular. In fact, they are something that a modern person can barely get by without. And so, when you have a phone in your pocket or hand all the time, is there a use for payphones?
This is why it shouldn’t be such a surprise when younger generations aren’t aware of things like this. After all, it’s likely nothing more than an artifact to them.
#13
PattyK 5 months ago
In the old “Superman” TV series, Clark Kent ran into a pay-phone booth to change into Superman. In the 1978 movie with Christopher Reeve, Clark Kent starts to run toward a pay phone, but realizes there’s no booth, just a phone on a pole like the one shown above. So resourceful Clark uses a revolving door to change into Superman.
#14
Jackie Lulu 5 months ago
They smelled like metal, plastic, dirt, old food, and pee. Not necessarily in that order.
#15
Upstaged75 5 months ago
And giant yellow phone books that got delivered to your house. We used that instead of Google. :)
#16
LaserBrain 5 months ago
Worst part (I travel a lot) was when the payphones were disappearing from airports and train stations but there wasn't good wfi in those places and maybe you didn't own a smartphone because not everybody did.
#17
PattyK 5 months ago
“Adventures with the Mojave Phone Booth” by Godfrey “Doc” Daniels tells of a pay phone in the middle of nowhere. People from around the world would visit it in order to answer it when it rang. And people from around the world would call it, hoping that someone would be there to answer it.
#18
Tyranamar Seuss 5 months ago
My grandmother was so obsessed with maps. Now we don't need them. But I know how to read one.
#20
Regina Holt 5 months ago
That would have been an interesting job to have, dealing with whatever gunk was on those phones.
#21
Learner Panda 5 months ago
Expecting my first baby, our new build didn't have a landline. I drove myself to the only phone box in the village and called hubby. Little lady arrived four hours later!
#23
#24
Brian Droste 5 months ago
I just thought ospf something. They would come in handy if you were in some small town out of the way and reception was bad. But then again what would it cost to maintain them.
#26
Sarah Jones 5 months ago
I highly recommend Richard Coles’ autobiography (part 1) “Bringing in the Sheaves”, lovely book!
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What do you think ?
Tucker Cahooter 5 months ago
Of course pay phones existed! Do you think Clark Kent changed in Superman just standing in the middle of the street?
Mimi La Souris 5 months ago
the red English phone booths ! what a time ! it was pretty and practical, immediately recognizable.
Maisey Myles 5 months ago
Before they became extinct, I’d use one when I couldn’t find my phone in the black hole of my car
Steve Hall 5 months ago
Many of us wore penny loafers so we would always have a coin for an emergency phone call.
Restless panda 🇫🇮 5 months ago
Any Finnish pandas around? Do you remember those public prepaid card phones, and the frenzy with different card designs? I remember that our main library had a phone card exhibition in the 2000s and I wa thinking who is going to pay any attention to those stupid cards, like EVER.
Jo Firth 5 months ago
They've been reinstalled in some cities in Australia and are free to use. And at Xmas time there's a number kids can call to talk to Santa. I'm so old I remember the black phones that had 'A' and 'B' buttons. You'd push A if the number you dialled answered so your money would fall into the phone and B if it didn't to get your money back. Oh, and the call lasted 3 minutes before you had to deposit more money.
Tiny Dancer 5 months ago
Easy to think, now wait a minute, that "Phone Booth" movie with the delicious Colin Farrell was only a couple of years ago. Yeah, try 22 years ago. It came out in 2002. Dang, I feel like dust.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
In South Africa we only got pay phones in like the early 1980s (shut up, I'm old) but they weren't the kind we saw in American TV programmes, where you'd put in a coin and then punch the buttons. The ones we had, you had to call the number, put the coin on the edge of the slot, then when the person on the other end answered, you'd shove the coin in and push the button next to the slot, then you could talk. I hated those frakking phones.
Stannous Flouride 5 months ago
Years ago I read something that suggested that each generation has to deal with a technology that for the previous one was a "miracle." I grew up in the 1950s and televisions were just there. For my mother's generation it was telephones, for her mother it radio, for my great-grandmother it was probably cars and before that trains I guess. My 34 y.o. daughter is much more comfortable with smart phones than I am (I have never used about half the apps mine came with) but I wonder what her kids' tech will be.
notlikeyou1971 5 months ago
I'm Gen X. Of course I remember payphones. Either attached to a wall or a phone booth that closed behind you. We didn't get computer access for a very long time and originally you had to be really wealthy to have this giant block of a portable phone or a business man of some sort. My dad used to have one of those gigantic brick like phones when I was younger. I didn't get a cell phone until I was much older. I have never owned a desktop or laptop before and don't know how to use either one. Only my phone or tablet. Never took computer courses in school. I'm just glad that you are asking questions about the past. Never be ashamed about being curious and asking questions. I suppose payphones don't seem real to young people because most young people assume everyone has a cell phone. That wasn't always the case though. Kids didn't used to have them. It was mostly for adults. They were not computers/ internet like they are now either. They were just for talking.
Moosy Girl 5 months ago
I didn’t get a cellphone until somewhere around 2010 when my sister gave me her old nokia 3310. I was always saying “Why would I need one? There’s phones everywhere!”. Today even if I did find a phone, I’d be hard pressed to find the change to use it. Now I’m having trouble letting go of my landline despite everyone in the house having mobiles.
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Libstak 5 months ago (edited)
On one occasion outside the train station only one pay phone worked. A young teenager was on it, chatting g away forever, 20 minutes later the man behind her gave her an absolute ear full for blocking everybody from using the phone for so long. We all just wanted to get a ride home and needed to call to let our significant others know. There were at least a dozen of us lined up. Took 40 minutes just to get my turn.
tjh1855 5 months ago
I was born in 1970 and I don't think I ever actually used a pay phone. I grew up in a very small town, so maybe that's why. But I do remember a time without the internet, smart phones (or cell phones in general), streaming video, and when dictionaries and encyclopedias had value. I used to stop for people stalled on the side of the road because no cell phones...
Guy-Incognito 5 months ago
If an apocalypse happens and we resort to cannibalism gen z is the first to go.
Tucker Cahooter 5 months ago
Of course pay phones existed! Do you think Clark Kent changed in Superman just standing in the middle of the street?
Mimi La Souris 5 months ago
the red English phone booths ! what a time ! it was pretty and practical, immediately recognizable.
Maisey Myles 5 months ago
Before they became extinct, I’d use one when I couldn’t find my phone in the black hole of my car
Steve Hall 5 months ago
Many of us wore penny loafers so we would always have a coin for an emergency phone call.
Restless panda 🇫🇮 5 months ago
Any Finnish pandas around? Do you remember those public prepaid card phones, and the frenzy with different card designs? I remember that our main library had a phone card exhibition in the 2000s and I wa thinking who is going to pay any attention to those stupid cards, like EVER.
Jo Firth 5 months ago
They've been reinstalled in some cities in Australia and are free to use. And at Xmas time there's a number kids can call to talk to Santa. I'm so old I remember the black phones that had 'A' and 'B' buttons. You'd push A if the number you dialled answered so your money would fall into the phone and B if it didn't to get your money back. Oh, and the call lasted 3 minutes before you had to deposit more money.
Tiny Dancer 5 months ago
Easy to think, now wait a minute, that "Phone Booth" movie with the delicious Colin Farrell was only a couple of years ago. Yeah, try 22 years ago. It came out in 2002. Dang, I feel like dust.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
In South Africa we only got pay phones in like the early 1980s (shut up, I'm old) but they weren't the kind we saw in American TV programmes, where you'd put in a coin and then punch the buttons. The ones we had, you had to call the number, put the coin on the edge of the slot, then when the person on the other end answered, you'd shove the coin in and push the button next to the slot, then you could talk. I hated those frakking phones.
Stannous Flouride 5 months ago
Years ago I read something that suggested that each generation has to deal with a technology that for the previous one was a "miracle." I grew up in the 1950s and televisions were just there. For my mother's generation it was telephones, for her mother it radio, for my great-grandmother it was probably cars and before that trains I guess. My 34 y.o. daughter is much more comfortable with smart phones than I am (I have never used about half the apps mine came with) but I wonder what her kids' tech will be.
notlikeyou1971 5 months ago
I'm Gen X. Of course I remember payphones. Either attached to a wall or a phone booth that closed behind you. We didn't get computer access for a very long time and originally you had to be really wealthy to have this giant block of a portable phone or a business man of some sort. My dad used to have one of those gigantic brick like phones when I was younger. I didn't get a cell phone until I was much older. I have never owned a desktop or laptop before and don't know how to use either one. Only my phone or tablet. Never took computer courses in school. I'm just glad that you are asking questions about the past. Never be ashamed about being curious and asking questions. I suppose payphones don't seem real to young people because most young people assume everyone has a cell phone. That wasn't always the case though. Kids didn't used to have them. It was mostly for adults. They were not computers/ internet like they are now either. They were just for talking.
Moosy Girl 5 months ago
I didn’t get a cellphone until somewhere around 2010 when my sister gave me her old nokia 3310. I was always saying “Why would I need one? There’s phones everywhere!”. Today even if I did find a phone, I’d be hard pressed to find the change to use it. Now I’m having trouble letting go of my landline despite everyone in the house having mobiles.
Load More Replies... Libstak 5 months ago (edited)
On one occasion outside the train station only one pay phone worked. A young teenager was on it, chatting g away forever, 20 minutes later the man behind her gave her an absolute ear full for blocking everybody from using the phone for so long. We all just wanted to get a ride home and needed to call to let our significant others know. There were at least a dozen of us lined up. Took 40 minutes just to get my turn.
tjh1855 5 months ago
I was born in 1970 and I don't think I ever actually used a pay phone. I grew up in a very small town, so maybe that's why. But I do remember a time without the internet, smart phones (or cell phones in general), streaming video, and when dictionaries and encyclopedias had value. I used to stop for people stalled on the side of the road because no cell phones...
Guy-Incognito 5 months ago
If an apocalypse happens and we resort to cannibalism gen z is the first to go.
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