# Rotary Telephone



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Have you ever made a call using a rotary telephone? What about a payphone?


----------



## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

Since I'm "old" yes to both!
As a kid all we had was one rotary phone in the house and payphones were everywhere.


----------



## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

No and yes to payphone lol. Back when I was kid once or twice.


----------



## 3stacks (Sep 27, 2014)

Nope, but they look so cool to use lol
I did use a payphone once, well a telephone booth but I think they're the same thing.


----------



## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

komorikun said:


> Have you ever made a call using a rotary telephone? What about a payphone?


 Yes and yes. I think they should still have payphones and they should still be a quarter (I think they were actually a dime when I was a kid). Anyway, not everyone even has a smartphone with a dead battery and it's way cheaper to pop a quarter in a payphone than it is to spend $30 for an external battery to charge your smartphone (which isn't even smart enough to make a better battery and make sure it's charged).


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I've used payphones many times. I think my family had a push button phone similar to the one below. Only used rotary phones when we went over to family or friends' houses. Alice (fake grandma) had a rotary phone.


----------



## MadnessVertigo (Sep 26, 2016)

Sadly no to rotary phone. Payphone yes... didn't have a cell phone for a long time.


----------



## riverbird (Mar 30, 2016)

Yes and yes. I had my own rotary phone like this one when I was a kid, just because I thought it was beautiful.


----------



## Mondo_Fernando (Jun 26, 2014)

komorikun said:


> Have you ever made a call using a rotary telephone? What about a payphone?


Used those and I remember that have to wait until it springs back before trying the next number.



komorikun said:


> I've used payphones many times. I think my family had a push button phone similar to the one below. Only used rotary phones when we went over to family or friends' houses. Alice (fake grandma) had a rotary phone.


Have used that too on the old network.

But now have a new phone setup using lastest tech, fibre optic network.


----------



## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

We had one when I was young, but I never used it. By the time I was old enough to use the phone, it'd been replaced.

Payphones I used a couple times. Didn't make a habit of it if I didn't absolutely have to, though, as that was a popular, brazen hang-out for the weirdo town druggies "back in the day." lol


----------



## Amphoteric (Sep 11, 2011)

Yes to both.


----------



## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)




----------



## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Yep - I had a rotary dial phone growing up in the 1980s. It was probably around the late 80s early 90s before we started getting pushbutton phones.

I remember in 1992 that I was doing research for the Presidential candidates and that I had to use a "touch tone" phone to go through the menus to get information over the phone. Cordless phones were becoming all the rage - I bought one from Radio Shack.

I got an A on that project and was too young to actually vote in the 1992 election! :lol.


----------



## Karsten (Apr 3, 2007)

I had one in my childhood house. It was an ugly cream pink color.


----------



## Kuse (Feb 15, 2017)

Yes, we had rotary phones in the 80's. I could really pump out my own phone number super fast on a rotary phone. It was really cool when we updated to touch tone phones. With the touch tone we got "speed dial" and "redial"... lol


----------



## Kinable (Apr 25, 2013)

Yes and yes. I've only used a rotary phone once when we used to live in a poor farm community and someone had one. I must have been like 2-3 years old but I remember using it, they wanted to make a call and showed me how to use it. I guess this one is half true, I only dialed the number but never made the call. As for payphones I remember using them all the time even in the early 2000s. Every business and the public park had one and now they're extinct. I kind of wish they were still around, I feel they can still be useful for kids. I was a kid when I used them but then again every kid nowadays has a phone which is quite sad to be honest.


----------



## truant (Jul 4, 2014)

Yes to both. We had a black one just like the one in the picture when I was a kid. I told my ex-wife I was divorcing her over a payphone. That's how old I am.


----------



## ScorchedEarth (Jul 12, 2014)

Only time I used a payphone was around 2006 and even back then they were manky and in disrepair. I'm guessing the main userbase for them now is hobos.


----------



## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

Growing up I did use both. Now they are both rare. Outside of in say malls most pay phones here have been removed


----------



## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

how a pocket calculator should be


no human possesses any 2nd dimension except me

fwd/back

yep/naah

'ell oh! 'angup! ug øK bite?

start|stop|paws

uh


----------



## jolene23 (Nov 23, 2017)

I remember when my uncle bought a house, I found that phone in one room. It was so interesting to me, I spent whole day playing with it lol. It was ten years ago or so.


----------



## vela (Apr 19, 2012)

Yes to both! In fact I've used a rotary dial payphone!! What do I win? lol We had two rotary dial phones in the house when I was growing up. A wall mounted 554 and a trimline. I have no idea what happened to them. I do have a 1950's vintage model 500 that was given to me. It's an awesome phone and the audio is so much better than anything modern, even over voip!

The rotary dial payphone was at my pediatrician's office when I was a kid. They didn't get a touch tone one until like the mid to late 90's. Also for a couple years during the 90's we didn't have phone service so I used payphones a lot. It's crazy to think they're pretty much gone now.


----------



## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Had one at home when I was a little kid. Shortly after I was old enough to learned how to dialed with the rotary, we switched to a new phone with buttons. Although from what I remembered, even when we had the rotary phone, it was mostly phased out and we were one of the very few people still using the rotary. I remembered having guest come over and commented in amazement that we were still using a rotary phone. So I had no idea around what time they were mostly phased out of common use.


----------



## Kilgore Trout (Aug 10, 2014)

Yes to both.


----------



## Slacker (Apr 30, 2017)

Yep and yep
I can remember how big a deal it was just to get a second line.


----------



## Nick Attwell (Jun 16, 2014)

Here in the UK, people would use a payphone to phone home, telling their family before going out, they will let their phone ring three times

That way it was free, as the call wasn't connected

The family would then know you had arrived at your destination safely or that you wanted picking up at a pre-arranged time

Before British Telecom switched from pulse to DTMF (Digital Tone Multi Frequency) you could phone the operator, reversing the charges/calling collect, to a payphone. The person in the phone box would accept the charges, though in reality BT was paying for the call


----------



## sprinter (Nov 22, 2003)

We had a black one just like that. Now I see they ask $20+ for one at antique stores.


----------



## JH1983 (Nov 14, 2013)

Yes to both. Had a rotary phone at home growing up.


----------



## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

Yup


----------



## SamanthaStrange (Jan 13, 2015)

Yes, both.


----------



## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

I played with a toy one as a child I think but don't think I ever used one to make a call. Also might have messed around with a real one that wasn't connected.


----------



## IcedOver (Feb 26, 2007)

Sure, we had a big yellow rotary when I was young. Then in like the mid- or late '80s it was a push button, then a wireless one, which was a big deal. My dad found our grandma's old rotary a few years ago, but I'm not sure how old it was because it looked like an '80s model. It was still usable to make a call. I'm not sure if I recall using a rotary pay phone, but definitely a push button one. Some are definitely still around.


----------



## In a Lonely Place (Mar 26, 2012)

I remember them from childhood and my partner has a bright red rotary telephone sitting on the bar in her dining room. Dialling a number is a very satisfying experience on one of those phones.


----------



## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

Years ago, yes.


----------



## AllGlad (Feb 16, 2018)

My Parents had the exact black rotary phone in the basement... I had a friend who, when was going home insisted that he call his mom with that phone... unfortunately it broke, so my parents threw it out


----------



## MonstarrBunch (Jun 12, 2018)

Not a rotary phone, but a payphone yeah.
Reminds me of Maroon 5's song Payphone.


----------



## Lonelyguy (Nov 8, 2003)

Yes to both. I grew up with a rotary phone. Back in those days the phone company owned it and my parents had to pay a dollar or so per month to lease it from them. Those old things had a real bell inside them for the ringer too. I still have one in my basement that we never turned in to the phone company. Its not currently hooked up but was working when it was removed. 

It wasn't until the late 1980s when we got out first push button phone with an answering machine. But even then, the phone company still used pulse dialing so it wasn't really any faster. Just like using a rotary phone, the higher the number you pushed the longer the pulses were. It was probably sometime in the mid 90s when they finally switched over to tone dialing.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push-button_telephone#History



> Although push-button touch-tone telephones made their debut to the general public in 1963, the rotary dial telephone still was common for many years. In the 1970s the majority of telephone subscribers still had rotary phones, which in the Bell System of that era were leased from telephone companies instead of being owned outright.[10] Adoption of the push-button phone was steady, but it took a long time for them to appear in some areas.[11] At first it was primarily businesses that adopted push-button phones.[12] By 1979, the touch-tone phone was gaining popularity,[12] but it wasn't until the 1980s that the majority of customers owned push-button telephones in their homes; by the 1990s, it was the overwhelming majority.


----------



## persona non grata (Jul 13, 2011)

Pay phone, yes. Rotary phone I think I tried as a kid, but I was little and I can't remember if it was plugged in.


----------



## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Of course, I have used both...to make prank calls.

When I was a kid, my grandfather and the neighbours all shared one line for everyone in a certain radius, so you could hear your neighbours conversation and scream at them to get off the fking phone.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)




----------



## Harlin (Apr 6, 2018)

i got an old rotary i found working again when my parents trashed my room and broke all the things i owned (not much) so i could call my friends and emergency services.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I remember businesses all had phones that looked like this in the 1980s:


----------



## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

Hipsters love these. You can find them going for good money online.

https://www.etsy.com/market/rotary_phone


----------



## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

komorikun said:


> I remember businesses all had phones that looked like this in the 1980s:


 God I hated those coiled cords! Always getting tangled and not springy like they're supposed to be.


----------



## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

komorikun said:


> I remember businesses all had phones that looked like this in the 1980s:


I have the exact one in the bottom picture. Bought it from a site that sold old phones. This one was in the original box brand new. Probably government surplus. I also bought a pink touch wall phone for the kitchen.

http://www.oldphoneworks.com/antique-phones/


----------



## Rains (Jan 20, 2016)

Probably. We definitely had a phone like that sitting around when I was little but I can't remember if it was actually used. I also remember nearly buying a black rotary phone from some thrift shop when I was a teenager to use as decor.

I have used a pay phone too actually. I remember calling my mum telling her I had gotten lost on my way to my new school on the first day, but I was cut off because I didn't have enough money. Now I think they've all been removed.



truant said:


> I told my ex-wife I was divorcing her over a payphone.


This is such a film scene.


----------



## Suzaniam55 (May 25, 2018)

*Yes, i'm that old!*

Not too long ago, I got out an old rotary dial phone I've been saving because it's one that stands up with the dial on the bottom. I showed it to my 6 yr old granddaughter and taught her how to dial it, just in case someone ever challenged her with them, lolol.
I remember phone booths with doors that opened and closed, and it was very cool! When they started having them out in the open, it was hard to hear and not private at all. 
Thanks for the memories!


----------



## Cascades (Jan 16, 2013)

The good old days of prank calling people on the pay phone...

Damn I feel so old


----------



## birddookie (Jan 8, 2018)

^^ It gets better in your 30's:grin2:
My grandparents kept old stuff. They had an old rotary dial phone in their guest bedroom. Also had a record player cabinet, but it t broke when I was growing up. That room was awesome because it was like going to the 1950's from the 90's when entering.


----------



## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

MadnessVertigo said:


> Sadly no to rotary phone. Payphone yes... didn't have a cell phone for a long time.


I think I was the last person in America to get a cellphone. Bought my first cellphone in 2014.


----------



## Crisigv (Aug 3, 2013)

Yes to both. My mom still has her rotary phone, for sentimental value. We call it the Cruella De Ville phone, because it looks like the one from the cartoon movie, lol.


----------



## iAmCodeMonkey (May 23, 2010)

No to both. Probably.


----------



## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

I remember using my grandmother's rotary phone once ages ago, and my mother's boss had one in the store they worked in. I laughed at it because the whole place was so horribly outdated, they even had phone books like a decade old.

I used a payphone once when I was in too much pain to walk any further on Mackinac Island, and attempted to call a taxi, but both times it swallowed my quarter and the call didn't go through. :bah I had to walk back to town after all.

I remember my mother and I once got stranded at the supermarket when we were locked out of her car; we went inside to use one of the payphones they had in the lobby...and realized that the payphones had all been removed. Nothing but a blank wall. We'd never even noticed them disappear. :/ That was kind of a sobering moment, seeing the past vanish and leave you behind.

I don't know if that phone is even still there on Mackinac Island. If I ever get stranded alone somewhere again, I'm probably screwed.

EDIT:



Cletis said:


> I think I was the last person in America to get a cellphone. Bought my first cellphone in 2014.


I don't even have one. Neither does my dad.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Cletis said:


> I think I was the last person in America to get a cellphone. Bought my first cellphone in 2014.


I got my first cell phone when I was 19 but didn't get a smart phone until 2015. People would snicker at my phone. My sister snickered at the laminated map and small notebook with addresses I carried in my purse.

The biggest problem I had with using a dumb phone was the lack of google maps. Now everyone expects you to have it. And if you are going somewhere for the first time and write the wrong address down you are screwed. There are no phonebooks in payphone booths to consult anymore.

One time for work I had to go to an area I wasn't familiar with. I got to the correct subway station but when I called up the lady I was going to work with, she told me to just walk to the place. She didn't want to pick me up in her car. Apparently it was less than 5 minutes walking distance from the subway station. But I had assumed she would pick me up and hadn't looked up how to get there from the station before leaving the house. She ended up having to pick me up but it was embarrassing to explain to her my lack of a smart phone.


----------



## f1ora (Jan 5, 2016)

i dont think i ever made an actual phone call on one, but i have played with one several times as a kid. Spinning the dial was really fun for some reason


----------



## greentea33 (Mar 4, 2014)

komorikun said:


> I remember businesses all had phones that looked like this in the 1980s:


 We had a phone like this when I was a teenager with our number written on it.

One time my best friends brother brought some older guys to my house and one of them asked to use our phone.

I thought it was weird because he hung up right away and said no one was home.

The next day he called and asked if he could come over. I asked him how he got my number and he said it was written on the phone of course.

The sneaky *******!


----------



## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

Those were the good old days when interfaces were actually intuitive and anyone could use them.


----------



## Memories of Silence (May 15, 2015)

We sold one to an antique shop when I was about five. I think my parents let me put the numbers in for them a few times, but I think they look confusing, and when I saw a photo of one a few days ago, I couldn't think of how it would work.


----------



## blue2 (May 20, 2013)

No we had a button phone in the late 80's early 90's when I was growing up, might have used a payphone a time or two, I was never a big phone user tbh only got a smartphone 2 or 3 years ago had a beat up old nokia till that.


----------

