17th February 2021

How cool are these new installations? Sadly, I am old enough to remember using these old boxes for their original purpose – for actually ringing people!

 

How cool are these new installations? Sadly, I am old enough to remember using these old boxes for their original purpose – for actually ringing people!

As kids we discovered a way of tapping the call box phones to trick it into giving us free calls. We mostly used this feature to order our friends unwanted pizza. Not that pizza is ever truly unwanted… Next day we enjoyed hearing the stories of angry delivery men and wrangling over payment!

Another option was to find a faulty box which would connect you indefinitely for just 10p!

I remember the pressure to finish up your conversation when there was a queue outside, people would knock on the glass if they felt you had been in there too long!

These old boxes often had a distinctive smell! But they were a life saver on cold nights out, when we often huddled inside to warm up. The reverse the charge call option was also handy if you didn’t have enough money left to get a bus home and needed to organise a lift!

It is lovely to see these old boxes re-purposed. Enjoy them if you are lucky enough to have one nearby.

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