philthetube
Established Member
- Joined
- 5 Jan 2016
- Messages
- 3,762
My mother ran a taxi firm, when drivers finished a job they went to the nearest phone box to call and find out if there was anything else in the area, if the phone was answered with the firms name the driver would press button A to connect and get details of the job, if answered with the number then they would press button B and get the money back.It was four old pennies when I was a kid (I'm not sure whether you could use anything else, like ha'pennies).
I can remember when it was a source of pride (and affluence) that someone was the only one in the road who had a landline (not us). Very occasionally there would be a knock at the door - it was the phone owner, there was an urgent call for us, typically a bereavement or similar. The phone owner had allowed the number to be passed on in emergencies. I can remember making such a call from a phone box on Boxing Day after my grandmother passed away so the neighbour could pass the message on to her sister.
After we had a phone, I seem to remember (but this may have been an urban myth) ringing home from a box and pressing button 'B' quickly at the first ring to get the money back, a single ring being a pre-arranged code 'I'm on my way home', 'I'm at the station', 'All is well', whatever.
You are retirement age if you know who Reginald Mohusband is.