Anybody have phone booths?

[HobieSport]

Gosh Bwanna; that is one of the nicest original phone booths that I have ever seen, and I'm not trying to be flattering. And envy has no place here.

It's a mid century drugstore classic in my eyes.

What kind of wood and glass and hinges does it have? Do the doors still work smoothly?

It that a pressed zinc/tin panel interior?

Are their any old "makers marks" or labels?

I remain flabbergasted in admiration, and I wish I had been a linemanperson when I grew up.

[bwanna]

Cool phone booth Donna.  Do you plan to refurbish it??

thx, dennis   actually i don't think this will require much work.  the wood is still nice& solid, as is the tin interior. light, fan, seat, shelves & phone book cover including chain all here, showing no damage. no cracks in the glass. i think a good cleaning on the inside will make her shine. the outside, a light sanding & coat of varnish. i try not to do any more than needed to make an old piece presentable. i like to preserve the patina. i have a little research to do, so that i will be able to find a period correct payphone.

Gosh Bwanna; that is one of the nicest original phone booths that I have ever seen, and I'm not trying to be flattering. And envy has no place here.

It's a mid century drugstore classic in my eyes.

What kind of wood and glass and hinges does it have? Do the doors still work smoothly?

It that a pressed zinc/tin panel interior?

Are their any old "makers marks" or labels?

I remain flabbergasted in admiration, and I wish I had been a linemanperson when I grew up.

thx hobie, flattery will get you everywhere the wood looks like oak. the door handle is brass, dont know about the hinges. the door kind of sticks a little, but i think once it is sitting level, will be ok. this unit is designed to sit in a corner. unfinished on the back & one side. the other side is finished & has a brass kickplate. not sure if the interior is tin or zinc. it is painted a tan color. didn't notice any maker label.

i was very fortunate, indeed to come across this at a bargain price.

thank you for the compliments!

[HobieSport]

Oak and brass sounds yummy. Are you going to try to find a correct period payphone for it?

$800 for two booths plus other parts? What a super bargain.

An interesting side note about indoor phone booths: I read somewhere that they are now sometimes used in upscale restaurants and such, not for a payphone, but as a place where customers as a rule have to go if they want to use their otherwise pesky cell phones. Sure sounds civilized to me!

[bwanna]

i like the idea of the phone booth for cell phone users. honestly, tho, anybody rude enough to carry on a phone conversation in a restaurant, would be too rude(cluless) to utilize the phone booth

i have a '60's era payphone, which i suppose would be ok, as this booth was still in use thru the '70s. i would rather have one from the '40s or 50s.

i might have overexaggerated the bargain, tho. i'll have to ask the better half, he is the one who made the deal. we also got about 15 phones, 302s 354, 5302, 500s all black, an aqua princess & aqua 554. the princess & 554 are '62, but horrors, converted to modular! those two include the boxes  they were shipped in after re-furb.  i corrected my original post with the true price. $800 was for the first booth & all the phones. the second booth, the one i re-sold to my bro was $500

when i get her all shined up& into the rec room will post more pics. first gotta get the rec room built

[HobieSport]

It would really be interesting to try to find out more about booth, such as where and when it was manufactured. Gosh I bet it's going to look great when it's cleaned up with the rich oak and shinny brass. I wonder what kind of wood finish they used on it. Does it look oiled or varnished/lacquered?

BTW I think the restaurants that make it mandatory to use a booth for cell phone use are pretty "upscale", so I imagine that someone who didn't follow the rules would have the policy politely pointed out pretty fast by the staff, hopefully causing a bit of embarrassment. Heh heh.

[Phonesrfun]

There is one of those wooden phone booths in the post office in the federal building at Walla Walla, WA where I live.  I asked at the desk what it would take to buy it.  They could only shrug.  Darned.

[Greg G.]

There is one of those wooden phone booths in the post office in the federal building at Walla Walla, WA where I live.  I asked at the desk what it would take to buy it.  They could only shrug.  Darned.

You need to go higher up.  Find out who the postmaster is for that area and ask them.

[foots]

I know I'd love to have an old wooden booth but the prices are a little high for my blood.

[Ellen]

Here's one:

[Jim Stettler]

I currently have a  Stainless steel Superman style booth in the backyard. I don't have a phone in it currently. I also have a rotary single slot in a boothettee. The phone has a long HS cord so I can wander around the yard. I also have a Single slot panel phone w/ indoor boothette. That one works but currently isn't mounted. I also have a  desk type 4'x2'. I think it was for a courtesy phone.

I have had the opportunity to buy 3 different English booths locally, They are usually priced around $1500. All 3 needed restoration, and the logistics of moving one makes even a free one expensive.
I have had another superman booth (aluminum) and a wooden booth w/o trim panels.  I once turned down a porcelain blue shell shaped boothette  for $15.00 I have always regreted not buying it.
Booths take up a lot of room, Outdoor booths get dirty pretty quick. But they are still interesting to have around.

Most people that are selling phone booths are tired of them, If you wait awhile after there initial ad they usually will sell them for $100-200 for an outdoor one and $300-$500 for a nice wood booth..
Jim S.

[Jim Stettler]

There is a 3-slot controller produced that mimics a coin line for 3 slot payphones
The current Ebay #300384805664
The reserve on these is around $200

They are really slick.
You should read the whole ad if you are interested in 3 slot payphones. There is a lot of good info in the ad. The creater of this device has made other ones in the past. He is a long time payphone collector.

I bought one of these for my birthday. I hooked it up to a 3slot that I bought locally from an  installer.  It is one of those fun things to show off to your friends.

There are also some plans out there to make your own controllers. they aren't as neat, but they can be quite a bit cheaper.
Jim S.

[Dan/Panther]

All the ones I see are back east, and most to expensive to ship.
D/P

[DavePEI]

I have collected several booths for the museum over the years:

First is a full "Superman" MD9021 Booth is shown with a NOS Centurion QSD-2400-E touch-tone prepay payphone. This is the last fully enclosed booth on PEI.

Second- a Benner Nawman BN4000AX lighted telephone enclosure

Third - ADCO 15 Acousti-Call Compact Shelf and a Northern Telecom Centurion

Dave

[TelePlay]

Here's one:

Is that Madison near the square?


Willy Street Co-op
1221 Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
608.251.6776

http://www.willystreet.coop/

[Dave F]

I have this nice KS-19340 booth (~1971 vintage) with maple finish stored away in the garage.  It currently has an old beige AE 3-slot, but it will eventually (time permitting) display my WE 1234G 10-button touchtone 3-slot.