Does anyone remember the old phone boxes and their first mobile phone?

[upinwath]

I remember smellyy phone boxes and my first mobile.

Big brick of a thing with a curly wire to the handset.

[Eli the Cat]

I too can remember all those red phone boxes by the town hall. I think when you made a phone call you had a choice of either 2p or 10p. When the recipient picked up their phone you would hear them say hello and then you had to push quite hard to get the money in the box to beat the pips, and if you didn't get it in in time wyou would get cut off and have to start again. I guess thinking about it, there's something nostagic about using a dial and hearing it slowly rewind, the pips and the money box that seemed to make a stirring noise that it was about to rob you of

10p. The receiver always seemed quite heavy too, and can you imagine all the infections we might have caught from the mouthpiece etc... As a previous post said could be very dirty and smelly.

[denlin]

I remember smellyy phone boxes and my first mobile.

Big brick of a thing with a curly wire to the handset.

 

Curly wire to handset on a mobile phone? My first mobile was a Nokia 333o on vodaphone, that would have been about 10 years ago and I still have same phone number for vodaphone but not same handset mores the pity because I used to get great reception on that phone

[Grandad.Malky]

On one of the sky channels they are showing Dallas again.

 

JR is laying at the side of the pool, flash car on the drive and huge house in the background when a maid suddenly appears with a phone and the trailing extension wire ………. Posh sods ……… been able to take a phone call in your garden, who would have thought of that.

[hillsbro]

...These phone calls were never payed for because I would phone the operator and tell them that I had phoned a number, got a connection and pressed my money in and the line went dead. The operator would then ask me what the number was, then put me through. It worked every time.

Another dodge was to tap out the number on the receiver rest (1 to 9 taps for each of these digits, and 10 for 0). The exchange system worked on pulses and each tap sent a pulse, so if you were fast enough with the tapping (with a pause between each number) you were connected for free. This system also worked in hotels where the phone on the landing had a dial lock..

...P.S. Have had a re-think, I think the phone directory was just laid on a shelf, before the swivel things appeared years later.

I think the Sheffield boxes just had a shelf - they looked like this - but boxes in London had the swivel device as several thick directories were needed for the whole alphabet.

[exbrit]

I remember the swivelling phone books and someone always had ripped out the page that I wanted. As I am now 78 and losing my hearing somewhat, I wish I had one of the old brick phones. The modern cellphones are made for midgets anyway. Useless with my fingers to send a text

 

Does anyone remember old phone boxes and their first mobile phone

 

I certainly remember those old phone boxes (kiosk). I recall also that the hinges of the doors were like short thick straps made from a type of hardy webbing material. Telephone books were also hanging upside down that could be swiveled around for the telephone-ee to open and read, then swivel back to it’s original position inside a type of clamp folder. In those days (60’s) my parents didn’t have a phone or carrier pigeons making it impossible to get in touch (not that I wanted to!) I had two aunties/ uncles that had phones, and also three school pals’ parents had them.

 

I would often phone the homes of the school pals to ask if they were coming out to play. These phone calls were never payed for because I would phone the operator and tell them that I had phoned a number, got a connection and pressed my money in and the line went dead. The operator would then ask me what the number was, then put me through. It worked every time.

 

My first mobile was a Nortel (Nokia?) that I won in a newspaper competition and the phone was from One 2 One in the mid-90’s. I got free line for one year as part of the prize. After just over two years they phoned me to say that my free line had elapsed over one year ago. I thought ‘ruddy hell’ how much are they going to charge me. She went on to say that it was their fault for not letting me know, so there was no charge……phew!

One 2 One is now T-Mobile.

 

P.S. Have had a re-think, I think the phone directory was just laid on a shelf, before the swivel things appeared years later.

[satman2222]

Got my first mobile (Transportable ) in July 1991. it was a NEC P3 ( BT Marble ) I've still got it somewhere in the loft! It plugged into the car with a curly cord for handsfree and charging. I remember it ringing in my pocket at the checkout in the ASDA at Chapeltown and people wondering where the ringing noise was coming from as I tried to ignore it.

I've still got the same number 20 years later (Apart from the addition of an extra 7 in the number when they changed the UK phone numbering scheme).

I had that phone for 7 years and never had any problems with it until some B****** cloned it ( As in post #12 ) and I had to replace it with a digital phone. Never had headaches with the old analogue phone.

[stevie1957]

Another fiddle (pre 1971) was to ring the operator up and say the phone took your money but didn’t give you any change after the call had finished. The GPO would send you stamps to the value of what you told then they owed you. Also, when the A/B phones were replaced, you could push a lollipop stick up the returns shoot and (if you were lucky) a load of coins would come down.

[hillsbro]

... Also, when the A/B phones were replaced, you could push a lollipop stick up the returns shoot and (if you were lucky) a load of coins would come down.

Yep - been there, done that! Also sometimes when a caller didn't get through they would neglect to press Button B, so as a kid in the 1950s whenever I passed a phone box I would press Button B, and sometimes I was 3d richer (later 4d richer - that's inflation for you....)..

[SILLY]

My first mobile was a Nortel (Nokia?) that I won in a newspaper competition and the phone was from One 2 One in the mid-90’s. I got free line for one year as part of the prize. After just over two years they phoned me to say that my free line had elapsed over one year ago. I thought ‘ruddy hell’ how much are they going to charge me. She went on to say that it was their fault for not letting me know, so there was no charge……phew!

One 2 One is now T-Mobile.

 

My first mobile was a Nortel on one 2 one as well a nice green one. My husband bought it for me for Christmas for if I broke down while driving he said it's one of the new small ones and I suppose that it was compared to the Erricson ones. There wasn't text at first that came about a year or so later but then you had to have somebody with a mobile to text.

 

I also remember the Red phone boxes also how to dial for free by tapping and dialling. also when passing the local one we used to go and press button B to see if anybody had forgotten to get their money back after all 2d was a lot of money to a kid.