Historic payphone prices?
February 29, 2016 1:39 PM Subscribe
How much did a payphone cost in 1959 (in the USA)?
I googled this and was surprised I couldn't find a chart in a nicely formatted webpage dedicated to all things payphone related.
I read a story that said it was a dime. I thought that it should be a nickel, but this is way before I was born so I'm guessing. My only experience was paying 20 cents in the early 90's.
I googled this and was surprised I couldn't find a chart in a nicely formatted webpage dedicated to all things payphone related.
I read a story that said it was a dime. I thought that it should be a nickel, but this is way before I was born so I'm guessing. My only experience was paying 20 cents in the early 90's.
Best answer: This page indicates that in some places it was a nickel, and in some a dime - the "official" price went up in 1952 but in the late fifties the nickel price still held in some areas.
(I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be a better source, too. There are a lot of poorly designed web pages made by old phone nerds that collect trivia about the old telephone network.)
posted by madcaptenor at 1:46 PM on February 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
(I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be a better source, too. There are a lot of poorly designed web pages made by old phone nerds that collect trivia about the old telephone network.)
posted by madcaptenor at 1:46 PM on February 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
In 1949 it started going up to a dime from a nickle. I think you can safely say by 1959 it was a dime.
posted by ReluctantViking at 1:48 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ReluctantViking at 1:48 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Edit- found another source. There are some nickle hold outs as late as 1962.
posted by ReluctantViking at 1:51 PM on February 29, 2016
posted by ReluctantViking at 1:51 PM on February 29, 2016
Check out this Google Books search. It looks like people in 1958-1960 talk about both nickels and dimes; though, dimes, seem to be winning.
posted by gregr at 1:54 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by gregr at 1:54 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I hate to leave a third comment but.. There will be varying costs because the phone companies were "Utilities".
They would have to get approval from different states' public service commissions. So even though Southern Bell handled several states they'd have to get approval in each state - and there were varying costs all over the country. Add to that there were many phone companies in the US.
So if you gave me a specific place I could probably tell you... but likely 10 cents.
posted by ReluctantViking at 2:03 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
They would have to get approval from different states' public service commissions. So even though Southern Bell handled several states they'd have to get approval in each state - and there were varying costs all over the country. Add to that there were many phone companies in the US.
So if you gave me a specific place I could probably tell you... but likely 10 cents.
posted by ReluctantViking at 2:03 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
In New Jersey, a dime.
posted by beagle at 2:21 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by beagle at 2:21 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
It depends, in part because changing the price typically meant a costly upgrade to each and every machine - and you have to perform collections more frequently as well. I've been to some Ohio River towns which have old (potentially non-functional) parking meters and pay phones that still say they only cost $0.05. Those towns were already on the decline by 1955, but I'm sure you could still use those pay phones through at least 2000.
My guess is that you got the "insert more money" notice with greater frequency, or even prior to being able to make a call. But the machines themselves take nickels (or pennies) only, and the instruction plates say that it costs a nickel. I took a gazillion photos for school in those towns.
Fun fact: my LG keyboard doesn't offer me the use of the "cents" symbol. What's up with that?
posted by SMPA at 3:18 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
My guess is that you got the "insert more money" notice with greater frequency, or even prior to being able to make a call. But the machines themselves take nickels (or pennies) only, and the instruction plates say that it costs a nickel. I took a gazillion photos for school in those towns.
Fun fact: my LG keyboard doesn't offer me the use of the "cents" symbol. What's up with that?
posted by SMPA at 3:18 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Right around that time frame, you'll see a dime being more common. Hence the phrase, drop a dime on someone, meaning to rat them out.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 3:18 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 3:18 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not totally sure about the origins of "drop a dime," since it seems like it picked up steam around the quarter-for-a-call era.
posted by SMPA at 3:23 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by SMPA at 3:23 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
When I started college in Columbia, Missouri, in 1976, I was shocked to see it was still a nickel there.
In Jim Croce's 1972 song "Operator," he says to the telephone operator, "You can keep the dime." I wonder if there are earlier songs with references to the cost of a phone call.
Word Detective says "drop a dime" originated in the 1960s.
posted by FencingGal at 3:55 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
In Jim Croce's 1972 song "Operator," he says to the telephone operator, "You can keep the dime." I wonder if there are earlier songs with references to the cost of a phone call.
Word Detective says "drop a dime" originated in the 1960s.
posted by FencingGal at 3:55 PM on February 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
"If I should call you up
Invest a dime..."
Invest a dime..."
The Turtles, "Happy Together" (1967)posted by Rash at 9:53 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can't cite to any authority other than my own memory - pay phones in south Louisiana were a nickel well into the 1960s possibly into the 70s.
posted by Carbolic at 5:17 PM on March 1, 2016
posted by Carbolic at 5:17 PM on March 1, 2016
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