So, I basically missed that transitional phase when telephone booths were more commonplace. This has left me with a number of questions about the ol’ telephone booths, but this one strikes me as one of the funnier and more unnerving ones to ask.
Was it possible to get locked in a telephone booth? Did some models have locks to keep folks from messing with them? If so, who…Would manage the locks? Local authorities & the phone companies?
Were there any notable stories of a person somehow getting trapped in a telephone booth in otherwise ordinary circumstances (i.e. no disaster had struck)?
No lock, but a lot of the ones I remember had a bifold door with the hinge on the inside, so you could lean against it to effectively keep it shut. It was possible to wedge something in there to keep the door shut, and I think that was the subject of a scene in a slapstick movie, where the poor schmuck trying to use the phone left his briefcase perched on a shelf, and as he left it fell and wedged the door shut. I can’t remember the movie, though.
There were no locks of the booths, and phones were in fact occasionally stolen. But it was generally not worth the hassle, and so there were no locks. Plus they were meant to be accessible 24/7.
Finally, many times the phones weren’t in the booth and we’re just mounted to a wall. The booth was to give you some theoretical privacy and reduce background noise, that’s about it.
Thanks! Fwiw in this context I’m thinking of the outdoor, completely(?) enclosed type of booths, but your reply includes those as well I gather.
In Australia, our telephone booths didn’t have doors at all. Just a box like the size of a portaloo with s phone in it
portaloo
A “porta-potty” to Americans; not a relative of the vindaloo.
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🔥 Goes in spicy, comes out spicy. 🔥
And leaves you with an ass like the flag of Japan.
Wait, Australia, the place notorious for dangerous critters, made small, public enclosed spaces…Without doors? 😂 I’m guessing these were mainly in cities, so maybe the critter problem wasn’t as much of a concern, but I love the image this produces of an Aussie going to make a call and some snake or spider is sitting there around the phone.
Wait, Australia, the place notorious for dangerous critters, made small, public enclosed spaces…Without doors?
Would you rather be inside with the dangerous critter? Particularly if they thought they were cornered, and became aggressive.
People tend to be quite tetchy about having a spider land on them while they’re driving. Having one fall on them after they’ve just shut themselves into the phone booth may result in both abject terror, and casualties.
La cabina youtube link
Came to comments to make sure someone mentioned this. Kudos to you.
In my region it was a common prank among youths to lock people there by driving your car very closely up to the door :-)
Watch the documentary with Kiefer Sutherland called Phone Booth. That’s how you get stuck in a phone booth.
Thanks for this. I remember watching this as a teenager… It’s lived with me for years but I could never remember what it was called out if it was even real.
Glad I could (accidentally) help!
I highly doubt it. I don’t remember any of incidents.
Source: Old millennial born in the 1980s
I dont recall any (British) telephone booths having locks
They didn’t have locks but you could probably break the hinges on the door in a way that it doesn’t open, maybe? I’ve only ever seen like a folding door (double hinged) design. Maybe some pennies? It’d work for a normal door, not sure about the accordion style tho.
There’s a movie called “Phonebooth” that has a dude trapped in a phonebooth because a sniper is watching him and blackmailing him because he’s cheating on his wife/fiance. That’s the most notable a thing I know involving a phone booth other than Dr. Who.
Used to be a college challenge to stuff as many people in one as possible; I bet you could find a horror story or two stemming from that, perhaps.
Just for the record, Dr Who’s TARDIS is a police box. They had call boxes on the outside, and were a place for beat coppers to take breaks, fill out reports or lock up some one they’ve arrested while waiting for transport back to the station.
Although there are Doctor Who spoofs that have used a phone box in place of a police box. Inspector Spacetime, for example, uses a phone booth instead of a police box.
Why a penny? Did you put a penny in this door? If I find a penny in this door I’m taking you down.
Dr. Jan Itor?
So, yes you could get locked in. The tracks the door were on were not great, and so you could get locked in. No notable incidents that I remember. There was also a funny bit in Superman 2/3 where he runs up to a phone booth and… it’s one of the top-only ones. Wasn’t there a movie called “Phone Booth” with Colin Farrell in it where he couldn’t leave?
Wow, that clip was great, and that site is …
