One of my favorite Over-the-Rhine anomalies — the 20 cent payphone! There are several of these north of Liberty St. [this one is on Elm]. There’s probably a mundane explanation, but all I can think is, when was this installed? I remember payphones costing a quarter back in the mid-80s. Now, if you can even find one, it’s usually 50 cents. But 20 cents?!? The mind wobbles…
There once were many many Cincinnati Bell pay telephones on the sidewalks. As I recall, people began to complain because they felt that drug dealers were using them, and then they changed the phones to dial-out only, and they would no longer accept incoming calls. Then Cincinnati Bell removed all their pay phones… to be later replaced with these private company phones. How much time does 20 cents get you?
Comment by CityKin — April 21, 2008 @ 8:48 am
I barely ever even see payphones, much less cheap ones. Pretty cool! I wonder if it gets a lot of use.
Comment by centerforrespitecare — April 21, 2008 @ 9:33 am
[...] Visualingual remarks: One of my favorite Over-the-Rhine anomalies — the 20 cent payphone! There are several of these north of Liberty St. [this one is on Elm]. There’s probably a mundane explanation, but all I can think is, when was this installed? I remember payphones costing a quarter back in the mid-80s. Now, if you can even find one, it’s usually 50 cents. But 20 cents?!? The mind wobbles… [...]
Pingback by Make Cincinnati Weird! » Blog Archive » 20-cent Payphones In Over-The-Rhine — April 24, 2008 @ 10:29 pm
[...] Cicadas. Who dey. 20 cent payphones. Cincinnati chili. East Side versus West Side. “Where did you go to high school?” [...]
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