I took the boys out for a walk today into our village which I have only done once before since we moved here back in January. Today we walked past a telephone box (click here for more pictures of them – and my boys pranking the operators who probably were furious they couldn’t reverse phone search them here)- something which the boys have never seen before and of course they were both curious as to what this tall red box without a door was.
I explained that it was a telephone box so of course they wanted to see if it worked and if they could call someone, to which I had to tell them that you needed money to speak to people. This was a revelation to them because the only forms of communication they use to converse with people other than face to face talking, is a mobile phone to speak or face time to talk and see the person they are speaking to.
As I stood there today watching them enthralled by this piece of British heritage, it made me feel old really. I mean here was a telephone box which, according to the advertisement inside it, was redundant and was actually seeking the villagers to adopt it as BT no longer saw it as a valid commodity to allow calls to be made from it. In this age of mobile phones and the internet, telehone boxes such as this one are no longer a necessity, yet during my childhood they were used so much. I have made calls from telephone boxes countless times, always needing at least 20p to be able to call home to let Mum know if I was running late or asking if I could stay out a little longer. Calling a boy from school that I fancied but never actually speaking to him, instead hanging up when his Mum answered! Making a reversed call to my parents when I had no money and hoping desperately they would accept it. I recall how at school there was a payphone (bit different I know, but essentially a smaller version of a telephone box) and my friends and I would find it highly amusing to call the operator (100) to ask to speak to Buzby, who back then was the yellow tee shirt weating bird that BT used to advertise their business. Oh how we laughed at that prank, and how the various operators we spoke to must have grimaced!
As I watched my two in that telephone box today, picking up the receiver and listening to discover if anyone was on the other end, I just realised that they will probably never have the need to use one of these in their lifetime. I sort of found that odd and yet at the same time, it isn’t something that has crossed my mind because I always have a mobile phone to hand myself now. I did tell the boys that we will return one day with some coins and they can ring Daddy – mind you with the costs of calls nowadays, and to a mobile phone aswell, I think I will need a lot more than 20p!
Ahh phone boxes were great for all the reasons you’ve described. It’s a shame they’ve kind of died out now but guess technology moves on. Bet the looks on the boys faces must have been a picture! 🙂
Awww, that’s lovely. The Boy saw one at Coombe Mill and wondered what it was, and he almost found out how to use it because I needed to phone mum and our mobiles didn’t work in the valley. Luckily, Fiona let us use her phone, I have no idea how much a phonecall costs nowadays as I haven’t made one from a box in around 15 years!
Growing up we had a housephone, but with two teenage boys my mum would only have it to accept incoming phonecalls, so if we needed to make a call then we had to go across the road to the public phonebox. It always stank slightly of wee and I remember tracing the scratched in graffiti with my fingernail! Ahh, memories!
What a fab post Jenny. We have a couple in our town which still work although they are not very well looked after.
I remember using phoneboxes to call direct inquiries to ask what the time was when we were out as children. Or reversing the call home to ask our mum to come collect us xx
What I find really sad about it all as well is what if a child needed to make a call and didn’t have a mobile phone or anyone around who did, or they wanted to make a call in private – then what?
When I see people on public phones I always assume they must be CIA agents or something :-p
Love your red boxes :))
What a wonderful post Jenny, telephone boxes used to be such an essential part of our lives didn’t they. I remember all the things you did! We never used to be late for anything as we’d always arrange where to meet in advance. How times change! It’s great that you have this photo, you can look back on it in years to come when the boys are bigger. A lovely post, thank you so much for sharing with #whatsthestory
I remember having two 10p coins in my brownie purse as part of the required inventory of a girl guide. Along with my log book, pencil, piece of string in case your shoelace broke…. 😉
awww this is making me feel old too!! that phone box on the end of my road was like my social secretary! lol
thanks for linking up and sharing with #MagicMoments x
we have an old working red phone box here at Coombe Mill and it gets used too as there is no mobile signal down here in the valley, perhaps you saw it? But then Coombe Mill is a bit of a blast from the past!
Eeeek – having to call boys to their house and run the risk of speaking to their parents if they answered. Texting made dating so much easier 🙂 thank god x
We pass one on our school run, well I say pass but the children can never resist popping in to pretend to make a call. I can’t understand why they’ve left this one there it’s lovely but completely redundant.
I miss the days of collecting phone cards!! xx
20p? 20p? I used to have 2p in my the pocket of my Brownie dress for emergency phone calls!
We have a red box in the next village – I think they use it as a book exchange now.
seriously 2p???? noooooo x
What a thought provoking post. It is funny that something so simple is something that our children will never even get to use. I remember going to the phone box all the time as a child- to prank call people, to ring my mum to say I was going to be late etc. We don’t even have a landline in our house, well we do, but it is not plugged in.
I hope the villagers adopt it because it would be a shame not to keep it in the village, the red ones are even more lovely and part of our countryside. x
I’m really old, as I remember only needing a 10 pence piece to ring home, or we used to buy phone cards. Great photo x