I Bought and Installed a Payphone

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
  • Since we already know there's a PBX in the house, it makes sense to mess about with telephones in the yard. I alluded to this near the end of my bedroom reno video I was leaving one line unused for future plans. Here we are.
    For a few hundred dollars I purchased and bought all the materials to install and operate a surplus Verizon/Frontier payphone and booth.
    The result is....well, it's a phone....that you put money into....that I have not even properly configured as of this video....
    But it does work! I'll explain.
    Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.

ความคิดเห็น • 1.5K

  • @writerconsidered
    @writerconsidered 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1611

    I love the internet. You get every kind of mad lad with some niche interest you never thought was a thing.

    • @FlatbushZombiesBuyNTrade-lq5ji
      @FlatbushZombiesBuyNTrade-lq5ji 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      @@sheateeley1doesn’t make a difference what way you say it..

    • @OnceShy_TwiceBitten
      @OnceShy_TwiceBitten 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      yup. lol

    • @daveshongkongchinachannel
      @daveshongkongchinachannel 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      Many of us would be that mad lad too if we had the skills and knowledge.

    • @xenthia
      @xenthia 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ??? What did that person say? ​@@FlatbushZombiesBuyNTrade-lq5ji

    • @charl10439
      @charl10439 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      That's nuts!

  • @WVnFL_Gal
    @WVnFL_Gal 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +666

    As poor college kids we couldn't afford a phone, so we gave out the number to the payphone across the street. We would leave the door open someone would yell "phones ringing" and one of us woud run over to answer it. 😊 thanks for bringing that fun memory into my conscious

    • @LagrangePoint0
      @LagrangePoint0 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

      dayum, for real?

    • @sebastian3004
      @sebastian3004 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +46

      I was surprised after I learned you can call a fucking payphone from the landline in Hollywood movies. In my country, there was no such thing.

    • @YouilAushana
      @YouilAushana 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      ​@@LagrangePoint0you could only imagine the schemes my sociopath mother had us pulling

    • @wileecoyote5749
      @wileecoyote5749 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

      80s drug dealers in Bronx too

    • @FullHD-g4x
      @FullHD-g4x 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

      Back in mid 70s I used the long distance calls with the help from zA Hoffmans book that let me record sounds of coins and the kerplunks
      Play Back 5 10 25 cent sounds and make your calls

  • @MrTurkeypoult
    @MrTurkeypoult 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +908

    Dude has one of the only exits to the Matrix left!😂

    • @imafirenmehlazer1
      @imafirenmehlazer1 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

      Lol yes morphis I'll take the red pill.

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

      Operator! I need an exit!

    • @snesguy9176
      @snesguy9176 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

      If the matrix were to be remade I wonder what they would use instead 🤔

    • @3nertia
      @3nertia 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

      So that's the real reason payphones went extinct! Now we're all trapped in the Matrix! 😱

    • @3nertia
      @3nertia 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      @@snesguy9176 Smartphones because the Matrix got a wifi upgrade :D

  • @TheatreStyle
    @TheatreStyle 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +119

    I never thought I'd feel the urge to have an obsolete payphone installed in my yard, and yet here we are.

    • @raven4k998
      @raven4k998 หลายเดือนก่อน

      but now you do congratulations🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @drewandersonis
      @drewandersonis หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I'm starting an internet club of people who have phones in their yards!

  • @hosk1677
    @hosk1677 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +984

    My dad worked for GTE in the 80s and early 90s as a lineman. When GTE phased out their rotary pay phones he snagged one and installed it in my bedroom as my landline. He converted it to touch tone and bypassed the need to put in change. That sucker was HEAVY, lol

    • @MoonbeamAcres
      @MoonbeamAcres 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +88

      My Dad also was a lineman in the 1980's. He retired before GTE sold their soul to Verizon. He originally worked for Texas Telephone after WW2, then 'Ma Bell' in the 1950's. then General in the 1960's and I grew up with him working for GTE and going off to disasters to help lay phone lines. Do you remember that dial up portable phone thingy they used to clip on the phone lines and test them? Somewhere, I still have my Dads... And I still have his original pole climbing gear (before they started using bucket trucks). Damn I miss my Daddy...

    • @hosk1677
      @hosk1677 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

      @@MoonbeamAcres yep! My dad kept his test kit for a while but I think it got lost after a couple moves. Wild how they used to climb poles with the boot spikes. My dad’s spikes slipped once and he suffered a pretty nasty back injury sliding down. He ended up getting laid off in the 90s when GTE started downsizing and got into the nascent cellular coms field. That ended up being a blessing in disguise.

    • @DandyDon1
      @DandyDon1 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      That Automatic Electric equipment is heavy duty! You should see their early transistorized reel to reel tape answering machines!

    • @jordan.7
      @jordan.7 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Thats real cool. Do you still have the payphone in your room?

    • @hosk1677
      @hosk1677 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      @ no, that was decades and many moves ago. Probably got donated or given away when we moved across country. Would be a cool thing to still have though.

  • @Techsupport243
    @Techsupport243 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +257

    Wow TH-cam recommended a random video that's actually good. That doesn't happen often. This is exactly the kind of video I want. A video from an extremely knowledgeable person enthusiastically talking about an esoteric subject. Awesome video man!

    • @CelGenStudios
      @CelGenStudios  2 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

      I may be a bit dry at times but I try the best I can without a script. c:

    • @Techsupport243
      @Techsupport243 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      @@CelGenStudios Just realized comment could come off as sarcastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the video. Probably could have worded my comment better.

    • @CelGenStudios
      @CelGenStudios  2 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      @@Techsupport243 No offense taken. I didn't notice. :)

    • @iamfreeareyou681
      @iamfreeareyou681 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The feck do you think is esoteric about a fecking payphone? I don't think you know what the feck "esoteric" means.

  • @AxelWerner
    @AxelWerner 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1841

    Who wouldn't want a personal payphone in the backyard??!

    • @kensims4086
      @kensims4086 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +51

      Me.

    • @bobcaygeon975
      @bobcaygeon975 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +56

      Historically, Payphones were always 1/4 mi. from a crack house methlab.

    • @elixier33
      @elixier33 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      Like everyone. No one wanted to use them when installed in public either..

    • @CookieXD1998
      @CookieXD1998 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      Mee

    • @Kredo800
      @Kredo800 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      Good passive source of income though. ))

  • @Tmm42s
    @Tmm42s 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +160

    In Australia payphones are still common and funded by the government and free to use just in case people’s phones are flat or people’s prepaid phones are out of credit…. They also have free wifi access points inside

    • @My_Old_YT_Account
      @My_Old_YT_Account 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

      Based Australia

    • @waza987
      @waza987 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +27

      Indirectly funded by the government. Basically the government has a contract with the largest phone network and pays them to provide a certain number of pay phones covering certain areas. The provider was charging still for calls but basically decided it cost them less to just give free calls anywhere in Australia rather than go around and collect coins and maintain the coin collection mechanism.

    • @intensecutn
      @intensecutn 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@waza987and that historical contract has allowed Telstra to convert their 'payphones' into giant billboards that obstruct the footpath in the city. Free advertisements in lucrative areas is the reason they still have payphones.

    • @marklar7551
      @marklar7551 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@goombabearpopulation of Australia 27 million
      Population of the USA 335 million
      Which government do you think collects more in taxes?
      Texas is smaller than Australia yet has 61 million people and is still mostly empty....free phones are a good idea 👽🗿👽🗿👽

    • @TheMachinist-k9n
      @TheMachinist-k9n 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      In case people’s phones are flat ?
      And also if their tires are uncharged ?

  • @bobcaygeon975
    @bobcaygeon975 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +681

    the MOJAVE PHONE BOOTH sat in a remote area of the Mojave National Preserve since 1948. It drew attention in 1997 after someone published its number online. People from around the world call it at all hours and have conversations with random strangers. The fun lasted until the Park Service ripped it out in 2000.

    • @RealSnail3D
      @RealSnail3D 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +122

      “Until the Park Service Ripped it out in 2000” lololol that sounds personal

    • @Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles
      @Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +27

      @@RealSnail3D That's the part that caught my eye too! "ripped it out..."

    • @Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles
      @Tomovox_PAMS_Radio_JIngles 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +111

      I actually like that random people would call a payphone and have a conversation with other random people. So of course, we can't have that sort of thing happening!

    • @bobcaygeon975
      @bobcaygeon975 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +59

      @@RealSnail3D
      The Parks Service also removed a plaque that memorialized the booth.

    • @tapetwo7115
      @tapetwo7115 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +60

      You can still call the Mojave Phone Booth number. It’s ported to a live public conference bridge where random curious people dial in and meet like minded individuals. (1 - 9)There’s also a new fun silly public voice bulletin board if you wanna post a voice message for others to hear. (0)

  • @maa76249
    @maa76249 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +204

    If I bought your house with this already installed in the backyard, then it rang in the middle of the night, I would have a heart attack and actually die. Imagine having this in the backyard and having no idea who installed it or why. This is how urban legends get started.

    • @3nertia
      @3nertia 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      I hate how right you are and how accurate that is xD

    • @marklar7551
      @marklar7551 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      One reason, it's an exit from the matrix 🗿👽🗿👽🗿

    • @evelynwaugh4053
      @evelynwaugh4053 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      You would mostly get calls from stoners asking for Dave.

    • @LetsTalkAboutPrepping
      @LetsTalkAboutPrepping 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Part of the deed is an easement to the phone for maintenance, and a contract that it must remain visible from the sidewalk and that the homeowner never acknowledge its existence. A private trust sees to its maintenance and phone bills being paid.
      Boom. Actual urban legend

    • @ALEGO666
      @ALEGO666 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Have any of you seen that film the call with Tobin bell that’s the vibe I will be getting from that if it was ringing in the back yard

  • @cburgess5294
    @cburgess5294 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +491

    "Why is this guy so jazzed about pay phones???"
    Starts talking about his personal PBX.....
    "Oh, I get it now"

    • @ridgerunner-x3w
      @ridgerunner-x3w 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      👍😃

    • @selcatron
      @selcatron 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      i just learned what PBX means lol I worked in hospitals I have always wondered what that internal dial system thing was called thanks

    • @drewandersonis
      @drewandersonis หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I can't wait to wire the house now!

  • @Davett53
    @Davett53 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +108

    I grew up in the Payphone era. I always loved the sit down, full enclosure models. They were places to escape to in a busy airport, tavern, bowling alley, etc.

    • @MaseraSteve
      @MaseraSteve 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Oh yea I got a very short experience of it in the early 2000s gotta have to get those replicated on my lounge room one day after my own vending machine. But I prefer the newer model obviously

    • @marklar7551
      @marklar7551 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Oh yeah, the sex boxes.... don't touch ANYTHING in there

    • @Davett53
      @Davett53 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@marklar7551 Ha ha!

    • @Davett53
      @Davett53 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@marklar7551 Ha, ha, ha,.....(Sex boxes?!) Too small for intercourse, I believe,.....maybe a blow job, or a hand job. LOL!

    • @mvrooks
      @mvrooks 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      i had a really nice old booth in my circa 1897 pristine college dorm in the 90s.

  • @SomeoneBloodyRandom
    @SomeoneBloodyRandom 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +151

    I’m sure, one day, the novelty of having a payphone will wear off…. BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!!!!

    • @wlot28
      @wlot28 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      If anything, it'll only increase over time as it becomes more historical

  • @thatoneguy6725
    @thatoneguy6725 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +140

    This video speaks to my soul. Ive wanted a payphone for some time now. Every time i see one in the wild i see if it works. Sometimes they do and i call my mom and tell her im calling her from a payphone lol

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      I'm always amazed when I encounter one. Most have been gone for 20+ years if not more. I wonder if there are more of them in extremely rural places where there aren't cell towers. Heck, I live in a cellular dead spot, but you can get service a mile or two away! No payphones here, though.

    • @CopelandPlays
      @CopelandPlays 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      That’s so wholesome

    • @Kazekoge101
      @Kazekoge101 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Basically 99.999+% gone here in NYC

    • @MrCantStopTheRobot
      @MrCantStopTheRobot 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      You would think payphones would always be useful as an emergency / last resort tool... so there should be just a few scattered around every town. Like 2 on the main street. Don't have to know any addresses, just wander what looks like the main street and you'll hit one.

    • @philp7353
      @philp7353 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      does 1-800-COLLECT still work?

  • @angellynette8258
    @angellynette8258 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +26

    I love that my town has left a few of the old pay phones standing, some even have the phone still in them even though they are no longer in use. I’ve even seen people taking pictures at one, 😂

    • @kellyclark7517
      @kellyclark7517 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Me too, and I took pictures of all of them❤

  • @virtuelles-ankerzentrum
    @virtuelles-ankerzentrum 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

    Great tto see that there are normal ppl with normal hobbys

  • @tissuepaper9962
    @tissuepaper9962 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +154

    0:45 the dolly zoom done by hand is actually hella impressive. i've tried doing that several times and it's rather difficult to get the zoom speed matched up with your walking speed.

    • @GeekFreeek
      @GeekFreeek 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      i was wondering how and why it looked different. I dont know if its part of the phone recording/zoom or an edit

    • @bloodclot
      @bloodclot 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      It's not as hard as you think especially with a standalone camcorder

  • @y0ur_name_here
    @y0ur_name_here 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +147

    I have a gate at the end of my driveway. A keypad was needed to operate the gate, so I installed a drive up payphone pedestal and a payphone. It also connects to the line in the house, so along with the cameras installed there, I can talk to someone without having open the gate. Plus it just looks cool.

    • @Mutlap
      @Mutlap 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      photo, please

    • @y0ur_name_here
      @y0ur_name_here 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      @Mutlap you can't post photos here unfortunately.

    • @imafirenmehlazer1
      @imafirenmehlazer1 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Do you want to accept this collect call?, press 1 to accept 😂 God that is pure nostalgia

    • @okaycola2
      @okaycola2 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Genius

    • @marklar7551
      @marklar7551 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It's also built to last, unlike anything available to buy these days 👽🗿👽🗿👽

  • @generaldissaray4109
    @generaldissaray4109 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +102

    you really nailed that sickly yellow color and pale glow of the original light

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      You just need to add the occasional flicker of the dying tube/ballast.

  • @HunterMann
    @HunterMann 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +26

    I’ve been looking at TH-cam videos for what seems like 100 years and I must say this is one of my favorite videos so far.

  • @andywolan
    @andywolan 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +43

    Now this is the kind of "TH-cam recommendation" videos I need to see more of.

  • @kenjikodai
    @kenjikodai 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    Now this is content, this is nothing short of amazing

  • @oatmeal710
    @oatmeal710 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +33

    thanks for installing the first working payphone i've ever seen in my lifetime

    • @erichross672
      @erichross672 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      I'm 43, and pay phones are what I miss most about the old world, if your phone dies and you need to make a call you can't. They took them out of the poor neighborhoods first, they day because of drugs, there real goal was to get a cell phone in everyone's hands so they could track our every move.

    • @TheKing-jt4bg
      @TheKing-jt4bg 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I'm 22, and there were many payphones in my city in southern Argentina when i was a little kid, but unfortunally they removed all of them around 2010, 2 years ago i traveled to a nearby town and in one street there was a busted payphone like the ones i saw as a kid

    • @sophiaschier-hanson4163
      @sophiaschier-hanson4163 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I’ve actually seen brand new working ones at bus and train stations recently. One of many refurbishments “COVID money” was spent on. :)

    • @SzymonPmc
      @SzymonPmc 18 วันที่ผ่านมา

      if you go to poorer countries they're still there, i saw a couple in italy last year

    • @oatmeal710
      @oatmeal710 18 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      @ i don't need to leave the us to go to a poor country

  • @Thalanox
    @Thalanox หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    People like you being inspired to run super-specific projects like this that probably wouldn't have occurred to me are one of the reasons the internet is great.
    Thank you.

  • @jbird5953
    @jbird5953 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +80

    Lighting it up at the end was the finishing touch. This is a fine tribute to a bygone era and it looks completely at home in your backyard. Thanks for sharing this!

  • @joeynolan304
    @joeynolan304 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    So this is the first time I've ever watched one of your videos, and I saw a ton of cool nerdy stuff in the background and I'm totally in to it.
    I would love to see a tour video. Still searching for one on your channel. Please do a tour of all your toys!

  • @chargermopar
    @chargermopar 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +91

    I have had one in my yard for almost 20 years. Just got through derusting and repainting it. That's a good deal on that stuff. My payphones have Protel boards and I have them set up with Expressnet software running on an old computer. I have no landline but I do use a channel bank running off of Asterisk. I installed LED lights in mine as well and it's solar powered!

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      It'd be fun to put one out in the woods randomly. I'd have to run a lot of wire, though, unless I rigged up a wireless link. That would be cheating and inauthentic, though. There's a rail trail up in the woods behind my house. This is a very rural one, the kind people cross country ski on and there is usually no one on it. It would be fun to have a phone off the trail (still on my property) and see who would try to make calls on it. Either local calls only, or some kind of mockup PBX that would simulate a real phone. It's the kind of novelty that would probably eventually appear in a local paper, assuming people didn't vandalize the crap out of it.

    • @chargermopar
      @chargermopar 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Dwigt_Rortugal You could also string up a drop line between trees LOL!

  • @CesarGarcia-qu6bi
    @CesarGarcia-qu6bi หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I have one pay phone in my living room I thought I was the only crazy to have one just because I love it nice

  • @greglee1174
    @greglee1174 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +114

    In 1983 I had a cousin who worked for a telecommunications company. We spent the night with her and she let us call our mom from her car. Hey Mom, we’re calling you from Sherry’s car. Now in 2024 I would like to call my wife and say hey, I’m calling you from an actual payphone. 😂

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      That's pretty slick to call from a car in 1983! That was a real rarity! In fact, I didn't even know that was possible back then.

    • @marklar7551
      @marklar7551 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Since June of 1946 you could call from inside a car wirelessly. The first consumer car phones were in development since the 1910s with 1 million users of car phones by 1964. The cellular phone hit cars in the early 1980s and didn't need to be part of a car package but could be installed after purchase. Then they packaged up that phone as a mobile device that was a giant briefcase and a corded handset (you can see it in 80s movies like Lethal Weapon) 👽🗿👽🗿👽

    • @jameswood231
      @jameswood231 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Interesting🤔

  • @Tgolden069
    @Tgolden069 19 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    The commentary is just so great. I hope the happiness having this in your yard brings you never stops.

  • @NetflixForeign
    @NetflixForeign 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +67

    I would LOVE to have a booth. I used them one or twice to call someone when they were more in use. I still think it is smart for emergency reasons to keep a number of them on state and national highways.
    I know people can dismiss it and say "Hey, you can get cell phone for emergency use only.". If someone gets kidnapped or something happens the first thing that will happen is that cell phone is getting seized.

    • @Compact-Disc_700mb
      @Compact-Disc_700mb 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

      Yeah they are a very nice thing to have around, cellphones can get lost, stolen, broken, not have service, dead battery, or just fail. I don't really like cellphones and would like to have payphones as an option, it probably won't happen but it would be nice if they came back or at they very least stop disappearing.

    • @NetflixForeign
      @NetflixForeign 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      @@Compact-Disc_700mb Well them disappearing on busy highways and especially more rural just says they are ok with people being trafficked on there.

    • @vadim6385
      @vadim6385 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@Compact-Disc_700mb payphones get broken, vandalized, stolen, disconnected, just randomly die. No more reliable than a cellphone

    • @tsiefhtes
      @tsiefhtes 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      I firmly believe they should be and all state-owned highway rest stops. There are versions of payphones that accept bills, credit cards and even tap to pay. A lot of those car rest stops are in areas that have dodgy cell phone reception anyways so if someone is stranded this would guarantee they're able to reach out for help. If tax money is being used to pay for rest stops there is no reason not to add something as basic as this.

    • @Compact-Disc_700mb
      @Compact-Disc_700mb 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@vadim6385 Yeah true, but cellphones have problems too, if both are available then you have another option.

  • @youtoobe169
    @youtoobe169 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

    Very cool! I am glad TH-cam randomly recommended this to me

  • @seabass1111
    @seabass1111 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

    Im glad you put a payphone for the time traveler from 1960

  • @fab555trainspottingandmore
    @fab555trainspottingandmore 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

    I couldn't believe it when i saw a Person using a phone booth in Zurich in Switzerland. There are still a few left but they are free to use since a few years

  • @networkg
    @networkg 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +33

    I'm glad your realize the false sense of security surge suppressors or even ground fault interrupters have. I once watched a lightning strike travel down the wire to the house, melt then jump over the remains of the ground fault interrupter and go on its merry route through the electrical system and eventually into the ground.

  • @Dwigt_Rortugal
    @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    It was sad when all the payphones started to get decommissioned. My entire childhood, payphones were all you used when you were away from home or work. My first car broke down, and I walked to an old lady's house and used her phone to call AAA. There was a payphone in my dorm, and I'd use a cheap MCI calling card to talk to my girlfriend. The dorm was old enough that there was an actual wooden enclosure with a seat. Then, over the course of about a year, the payphones started disappearing, leaving behind sun bleached outlines and dangling wires. I didn't have a cell phone yet. It was the end of an era. I never thought it would be kind of sad remembering that, but once something is gone forever, you look back at it through a romanticized lens.

  • @CocoHutzpah
    @CocoHutzpah 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

    I didn't know I wanted this, but if I have a yard again, I need a payphone for it.

  • @kaleych.8065
    @kaleych.8065 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    That dolly zoom at 0:44 is a moment of cinema I didn't expect on a random vlog appearing on my feed

    • @CelGenStudios
      @CelGenStudios  2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      I gotta try that again somehow.

  • @RunnerSandman
    @RunnerSandman 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +24

    GTE! YES! I grew up in Redondo Beach. I remember the walk-in phone booths (convenient during rain, lol) and, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, it was 10 cents for a local call... of course, I would have been just as pleased had you installed a Pacific Bell setup, since I had childhood friends in Torrance, one of whom turned me on to phreaking and inspired me to build a so-called "red box" by replacing the crystal in a Radio Shack pocket dialer. Memories! You got yourself a sub from me!

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      All the different boxes distinguished by colors... there was so much lore around them. I never tried to build one, but now I wish I had.

    • @kathleenking47
      @kathleenking47 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Pacific Telephone
      Pre 1984

  • @microchipmatt
    @microchipmatt วันที่ผ่านมา

    This is Geekdom at its finest. Hats off to you good sir, I love the pay phone ATA PBX integration. Brilliant.

  • @Davett53
    @Davett53 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    Life was so much simpler, in the 1960s. You felt safe with hand full of dimes, to make an emergency phone call any time of day or night to your folks, or a buddy. A car repair shop or a service station if you were in trouble, your car broke down, you missed your flight, all sorts of situations. As kids we'd check the coin return slot, and fairly often you'd find a left-behind coin.
    Payphone were everywhere. Grocery stores, bowling alleys, service stations, etc, etc.

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I'd always check the coin return slot, too, though I grew up in the 80s. They really were everywhere. Until they suddenly weren't.

    • @Davett53
      @Davett53 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@Dwigt_Rortugal I wish a few were still around. People find themselves in situations where they may not have a personal cellphone. Although, through government subsidized programs even "bums" and hobos, have cellphones.

  • @BongDonkySecret77
    @BongDonkySecret77 18 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Killer phone booth and soda machines. I grew up with those everywhere. I never realized they would be a symbol of yesteryear. lol! I miss those days. I'm lucky to be from Generation X. Cheers!

  • @thekernel69
    @thekernel69 23 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    This dude definitely carries out hits from this 😂

  • @VVilde36
    @VVilde36 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I am so happy I am not the only person who has wanted one! And know you've shown me its possible!

  • @NeverMetTheGuy
    @NeverMetTheGuy 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    This is the most throwback-feeling TH-cam videos I've seen in a long time. Thanks for making a video I never knew I needed.

  • @4johnybravo
    @4johnybravo 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I would love to use that payhone just to call my own cellphone it would feel so nostalgic! The sounds of the qauarters and the old dialtone man that was a great time

  • @johnlondon5413
    @johnlondon5413 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    Now ET can FINALLY phone home😂 My father had an old wooden phone booth and it worked even the light came on when you shut the squeaky sliding door. Glad to see people still keeping retro stuff alive. Nice one, thanks 👍

    • @Dwigt_Rortugal
      @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      No, ET needs a Speak&Spell with a sawblade rigged up to it. It's specialized equipment.

  • @Heather420
    @Heather420 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I honestly did understand most of this but I've gotta say it's so badass you have one up and running. It was very nostalgic hearing it ring

  • @danieltx7066
    @danieltx7066 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Mt mother, my step-father, and my brother all worked at GTE back in the day. My mother’s boss at GTE eventually retired and owned a bunch of pay phones around the city of L.A.

  • @tom90359
    @tom90359 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Great video.Brilliant interesting and cool.Takes me back to a better time in life.Miss those days.

  • @yommish
    @yommish 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    You’ve planted the seed in my head to have a working payphone in my garage or workspace some day.

  • @greatbigpete8296
    @greatbigpete8296 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    My partner bought me a payphone a few years back. It's setup in my basement. Someday I'd like to get the housing, but for not it's just the phone. This is beautiful.

  • @That0neDud
    @That0neDud 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

    You should get a redbox kiosk

  • @UniqueGeekFreak
    @UniqueGeekFreak 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    You have a great story telling voice that is captivating 😊
    I love these ideas, it feels "homey"
    Like the world hasn't changed since we grew up

  • @MyBestPalJimbo
    @MyBestPalJimbo หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    You're a weird nerd and I love you and please keep doing what you're doing.

  • @ATomRileyA
    @ATomRileyA 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Everything about this video is excellent, love stuff like this.

  • @robertmoore254
    @robertmoore254 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    I acquired 8 of these for free and I have refurbished one and converted it for home use. Most of them still have money in them but you have to drill out two hardened steel locks.

    • @Subgunman
      @Subgunman 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Do some research and you might be able to find some keys for these, with so many pulled from service and many former bell employees out there you might hit the jackpot.

    • @CelGenStudios
      @CelGenStudios  3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      This one came with no locks at all installed. The store sells replacement lock and key sets and I'll probably have to purchase a set in the future when I also go back and buy a coin box.

  • @maverickcuellar7737
    @maverickcuellar7737 10 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Good to find out that I'm not alone with this idea, thanks for the video...

  • @borisbeaver
    @borisbeaver 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    Also, I just realized that it's a GTE model. My grandmother worked as an operator for GTE for many years in Oregon. She started in the era of hand-pulling and plugging individual connecting cords and retired a few years into the early computerized era.

  • @choppergirl
    @choppergirl 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

    I own a 1970's walk in glass payphone booth with no payphone lol
    I also got a lineman's handset signed by Capt'n Crunch...
    My neighbor owns a vending machine with the pull out bottles
    You need a fully operating telephone switching exchange in the basement like the Telephone History Museums

  • @423tech
    @423tech 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    Your Panasonic PBX should support automatic line selection. Just set ext 205 for ALS and give it your POTS line.

  • @nekoshey
    @nekoshey 27 วันที่ผ่านมา +8

    5:24 There is something so wonderfully ominous about a payphone ringing

  • @Subgunman
    @Subgunman 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    If you have issues with lack of power to get the bells working try replacing them with solid state ringers. Mike Sandman in Chicago might still have some in stock.

  • @aestroai8012
    @aestroai8012 22 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    This was cool. Thanks for sharing. I've always liked payphones since I grew up in the 80's before they started getting rid of them. It's pretty surreal having one just in the backyard, but why not?

  • @cheetonian
    @cheetonian 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    When I was in high school in the late 90s, we discovered that if you picked up the phone, and then pulled the cable far enough that the dial tone stopped (a small break in the metal shielding would help) - you could then dial a number, and after letting slack back into the cable, the phone would call the number you dialed without requiring any payment. I would LOVE to know why that worked... and if that works on yours :)

  • @ENWWN
    @ENWWN 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Thanks! Memories my childhood school years ..... Three-slot pay telephone, small public drinking fountain, police/fire call box, bus stop bench seat. What more could you ask for? Just remembered .. a street light. Thanks again!

  • @stafomosakez
    @stafomosakez 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    I remember when we used to skateboard and got the number to the payphone near a store. We'd call it and see if anyone would pick it up.

  • @redline1916
    @redline1916 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    One of the local diners near me still has a functioning payphone with an updated yellow pages.

  • @robertbragg9364
    @robertbragg9364 19 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    That's awesome 🎉 exactly the same phones we had in northern ohio growing up in the 90s.

  • @RDraGoNR660
    @RDraGoNR660 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    0:23 on "free-play" like it's a Pinball machine 🤣

  • @Hansgame
    @Hansgame 13 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    dude WHAT? never thought i wanted to watch smth like this, but its awesome 😄

  • @precisionxt
    @precisionxt 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    There was a payphone booth nearly knocked over and sitting in front of a local Dairy Queen in TX. Every time I passed it, i thought about stopping by and asking if I could remove it and bring it home. Unfortunately i waited too long and that Dairy Queen shut down one week and the booth was gone. I was bummed about it as I’m sure it was scraped. That’s very cool that you were able to get on in good shape!

    • @scaredcrower
      @scaredcrower 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Should of taken it. I ripped off a China Ping Pong sign at my local bath house where the ping pong table used to be. Glad I did because a year later it was renovated and gutted with an entirely new style, no more ping pong, no more many things, it's now family friendly, meant for people to bring their wives and children.

    • @klaasj7808
      @klaasj7808 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@scaredcrower yeah the world is getting sadder, here they tore down a local music/concert events venue 2 years ago. Was in use from 1963. Builden was from the 1950's. Now they have built concrete apartments.

  • @Ojisan642
    @Ojisan642 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I like the cross branding of this unit. I worked for GTE right before it merged with Bell Atlantic to become Verizon. GTE and Verizon never coexisted, but rather one replaced the other. So having these both represented here is just great. I don’t miss using pay phones but they are definitely nostalgic!

    • @leebryantutah
      @leebryantutah 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      You could have seen a mix of branded parts out in the wild, though, correct?

    • @Ojisan642
      @Ojisan642 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @ I would say definitely yes and this combination makes sense. An old 1990s GTE phone booth gets a broken phone replaced during the post-2001 Verizon era. Assuming they don’t bother replacing the booth itself, this is what you’d end up with.

  • @mirisoji8406
    @mirisoji8406 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    That's so neat! It would make a neat decorative home phone if I had the space. I like the old newspaper boxes people use inside to hold their records and record players too. I would put them next to each other lol

  • @Avocadomushroom
    @Avocadomushroom 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    1:31 I just want that round rock at the right of the screen 😩😩😩😩

    • @taschak3889
      @taschak3889 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      It's a damn good rock.

    • @freenewlife8
      @freenewlife8 3 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      A beautiful, round rock.
      🤩😍🥲🥰

  • @fixedgearfever69
    @fixedgearfever69 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I have a bunch of those GTE signs. Glass and plastic. My sister got them out of a dumpster at GTE 30 years ago. She worked for them. 1976- 2016.

  • @Dwigt_Rortugal
    @Dwigt_Rortugal 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    That Pepsi machine is like a time machine to my childhood!

  • @sweettina2
    @sweettina2 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Very cool! I've always wanted an old British red phone booth in my house that really worked. You did a great job. Lol, i have to be honest, throughout the video i kept having these visions of your wife peeping out the window wondering what on earth is he dragging home now...been there.

  • @davidshepherd265
    @davidshepherd265 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Good move using a Panasonic battery instead of a “Maxell bomb”, as they’re known in the retro Apple community. Anyone with an old piece of gear that has an old Maxell half-AA battery installed is best to remove it ASAP before it pops and spews its guts over the internals. Also, that is neat. I’d probably look into doing the same thing if I didn’t own an apartment.

  • @Egress.
    @Egress. 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    That pedestal has a rather rare addition - the Attractor top! its a neon green-yellow sheet of plastic in the top designed to catch your eye. they came in green, yellow, and a purple-red color. I've only ever seen the green and yellow ones.
    BTW, do you have a link to the listings of the payphones, I can't seem to find them :/

    • @Egress.
      @Egress. 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      Also, obligatory “welcome to the club of having a working payphone”. Maybe we can call eachother sometime 😂

  • @nunyabusiness7602
    @nunyabusiness7602 27 วันที่ผ่านมา

    When I was a kid back in the late 70's/early 80's my friends and I would ride our bikes on the payphone express (as we called it). We would visit every pay phone in town, check the coin return slot, then swivel the coin return handle. We almost always hit pay dirt on a few of them, usually enough to play a few video games at the local arcades.

  • @almosthuman4457
    @almosthuman4457 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Very nerdy. I like it.

  • @Drawededed
    @Drawededed 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It's like you stayed in the 90's, love it!

  • @wolfmangoland7972
    @wolfmangoland7972 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Ah, a payphone in the yard-a bold move. Because who wouldn’t want a piece of public hygiene history conveniently located next to their hydrangeas? Bonus points if you stock it with quarters and a rotary dial for the full 'lost in time' experience. Neighborhood kids are gonna be so confused when they try to swipe their credit cards!

  • @justforfunvideohobby
    @justforfunvideohobby 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great job. The lighting is fantastic

  • @Sashko_Dee
    @Sashko_Dee 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    @2:09 Excellent, I found a place to get a phone booth. That's like half the time machine right there.

  • @MATTE.U.K
    @MATTE.U.K 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

    That thing is beautiful. I bet it sounds amazing.

  • @borisbeaver
    @borisbeaver 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I'd expect nothing less 😊

  • @iainlaurence
    @iainlaurence 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I have a bit of payphone history, but it's a mere fraction of what you put together here! I bought a metal 'Bell Atlantic' payphone sign from an antique fair. I think it came from the nearby Staunton, VA mall, which got demolished around the time of the fair.

  • @Drug_Fueled_Nightmare
    @Drug_Fueled_Nightmare 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

    I wanted to buy a Redbox and put my own dvds in there but when I went to my Walmart someone already beat me to both of them

    • @ckm-mkc
      @ckm-mkc 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      There's still one in my local Safeway....

    • @Drug_Fueled_Nightmare
      @Drug_Fueled_Nightmare 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@ckm-mkc I found one at my Walgreens still too there sprinkled around

  • @Sv_vic
    @Sv_vic 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I was hiking a few months ago, and was shocked to see one of these at the ranger station! Unfortunately, it didn't work anymore, but it was in pretty good shape. I would ha e used it if it worked . Made me feel old and nostalgic .

  • @wesley00042
    @wesley00042 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    "Gee!" No, GTE.

  • @DaleArnold-u3h
    @DaleArnold-u3h 4 วันที่ผ่านมา

    When I was a teenager in the 70s, my parents had a payphone in our kitchen, and a guy who worked on the oil rigs would occasionally come and use it, he always had a buck110 on his belt which I always asked to look at, one fine day he called to make one last call because he was moving on, before he left he took a brand new 110 in a case from his pocket and gave it to me as a thank you, not the greatest story apart from the fact we lived in north Nottinghamshire England I am 63 now and the 110 is at the side of my bed 😊❤

  • @RetroTechIIfx
    @RetroTechIIfx 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    GTE badging with a Bell/VZ money holder, interesting combo. Is the original chassis/dial pad a GTE AE manufactured one, or a Western Electric or Nortel one that was transplanted to former GTE territory after protel-ization? To complete the look, instead of a small plastic box for fault isolation, you need to find one of those small metal pedestals used by the telco.
    The example you have isn’t that that weathered! And it lights up nicely, which is awesome. Nice job on the install.

    • @CelGenStudios
      @CelGenStudios  3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Not entirely sure myself of the config. From what I was told it's currently as-is from where in the Seattle area it was removed form service.

    • @thecooldude9999
      @thecooldude9999 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      That’s a GTE Automatic Electric style phone. When Bell Atlantic bought GTE in 2000, creating Verizon, they put the Bell logo on all of their payphones, no matter if they were former Bell or former GTE.
      WE and AE Payphone parts are not interchangeable, not even the vault door. And yes, that means Verizon made vault doors with a bell logo on them that could only fit GTE AE phones!
      Was a weird rebranding effort back in the early 2000s.

  • @brianduarte6045
    @brianduarte6045 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This haircut parlor I go to has a working pay phone, walls are covered in badges, patches, tags, bills, etc of different branches, services, throughout the years. Very cool spot
    $7 haircut too

  • @stpworld
    @stpworld 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I found a rest area with a working pay phone this summer.

  • @badwolf9090
    @badwolf9090 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I've been wondering what my garden has been missing. Thank you, I needed this.

  • @Alexander_l322
    @Alexander_l322 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    It’s like a GTA payphone 😮 I love this and think you’re a very cool person for having such a unique idea to put this in your garden

    • @TheCencc
      @TheCencc 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yeah... very interesting thing, those "GTA payphones"... uh, they're from this thing people call real life.

    • @furryballsploppedmenacingl8534
      @furryballsploppedmenacingl8534 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      When people forget GTA is based off of real life.

    • @tsu08761e
      @tsu08761e 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@TheCenccobviously, but not everyone is going to be familiar with it from real life

  • @p3p3pepe
    @p3p3pepe 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Let's go out there and tackle the damn thing. Great video! hahah.

  • @itskdog
    @itskdog 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

    Tom Scott makes some good video recommendations.