On 2/12/2016 6:19 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Friday, February 12, 2016 at 6:58:34 AM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 02/12/2016 03:43 AM, wrote:
You'll need a VERY LARGE Wallet to make this call....
(Or a fleet of Semi-Trucks filled with Dimes).

http://www.thisisarecording.com/z/248-771-0023.mp3





Sometime back around 1968 I called a friend... on the East coast... from
a pay phone. The operator would have me put in a quarter every three
minutes or something like that until I eventually ran out of change.


When I ran out, she told me that I could complete my conversation at
which time I was informed that I owed a dollar and when I got the proper
change all I had to do was dial "operator" and ask for #23, tell her who
I was and then deposit what I owed.


What interesting times those were. My guess is that if I never "paid up"
they would have reversed the charge, I don't know.

Back around that time we used to make "free" collect calls.

If you wanted to let someone back home know that you had arrived at your destination
or pass along some other pre-arranged piece of information, you could initiate a
collect call through the operator. When the party on the receiving end would be asked
if they would accept the charges, they would just say "No."

Since it was all prearranged, the collect call itself passed along the information.


I remember being told to do that when I was going out of town. Mom said
she'd know I was safe and wouldn't accept the charges.

--
Maggie