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Vintage Payphone, Rotary Payphone, Coin Operated Telephone, 25 Cent Phone Call, Rotary Telephone, Vintage Telephone, Public Telephone, Coin Phone, Retro Communications, Vintage Electronics, Telephone Collectible, Estate Sale Finds, The Bonjour Collection

Vintage 25¢ Rotary Payphone

Category
Vintage Electronics & Communication
Photographed
October 2, 2014

Before cell phones, and long before anyone carried the internet in a pocket, a quarter could connect you to the outside world.

This vintage coin-operated payphone features a classic rotary dial and an instruction card advertising local calls for just 25 cents. Callers were instructed to remove the handset, dial their number, wait for the party to answer and then drop in a quarter.

Once a familiar sight in restaurants, gas stations, hotel lobbies and public buildings, payphones have largely disappeared from everyday life. Today, their heavy handsets, mechanical rotary dials and coin slots are wonderfully tangible reminders of how dramatically something as ordinary as making a phone call has changed.

Part of The Bonjour Collection — Preserving the stories behind Arizona estate sales, one discovery at a time.

About The Bonjour Collection

The Bonjour Collection is an ongoing archive of interesting antiques, collectibles, and memorable discoveries photographed during estate sales and auctions across Arizona.​

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