Telephone Booth

In a day of remembrance one wonders if they still exist?

A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience.

In the United States and in some parts of Canada, “telephone booth” (or “phone booth”) is the commonly used term for the structure, while in the Commonwealth of Nations (particularly the United Kingdom and Australia and most of Canada), it is a “telephone box” (or “phone box”).

Such a booth usually has lighting, a door to provide privacy, and windows to let others know if the booth is in use. The booth may be furnished with a printed directory of local telephone numbers, and a booth in a formal setting, such as a hotel, may be furnished with paper and pen and even a seat. An outdoor booth may be made of metal and plastic to withstand the elements and heavy use, while an indoor booth (once known as a silence cabinet) may have more elaborate architecture and furnishings. Most outdoor booths feature the name and logo of the telephone service provider.

Back in the day when the communication device used to talk to another was attached to the wall. Even the speaker and microphone device was attached and could only stretch a few feet.

Once outside of your home shelter, to make another communication required going into another house or building and ask to borrow the phone. After enough people got pissed at strangers barging into their homes to use their phones, AT&T (who WAS the phone company at that time) started placing these boxes in selected place where people massed to give the option of placing a call away from home.

It wasn’t free and you had to have the correct change or the call would not go through. Still it was pretty cool to walk into the outdoor closet, close the folding glass door, flip through the phone book (pre-Google), drop some coins into the slots and rotate the dial (no push buttons) and wait for the other end to answer while all the outside world watched.

This was a pretty handy device when you ran out of gas on the highway and had to walk to call for a tow. It was also handy for moviemakers to record actors without them moving.

Unfortunately people started thinking of them as a toilet stall or a place to paint their message. They started disappearing like the mailbox.

Then technology presented us with the mobile phone that could be carried anywhere and answered at anytime from anyone.

Not being a fan of Dr. Who, I still wonder how Superman changed his clothes? For that matter why would he get into a glass box to take his pants off? Didn’t he know everyone could see him? Where did he put Clark Kent’s hat and tie and shirt and pants and shoes? If he bundled them up and carried him with him through the air, he could drop his glasses? If he left them in the phone booth he could be charged with cluttering? If he left his wallet it would be pretty easy to identify whom Superman is?