In “On This Day in History,” featured in The New York Times, it mentioned that on January 7, 1951, the minimum price of a coin-box telephone call rose to 10 cents from 5 cents in the state of New York.
This made me think about those coin-box telephone booths that were located around Hastings. There was one located outside the auditorium in the High School that was often used to call home for a ride back from an event at the school. And there was one outside the Center Restaurant, or was there just a phone inside? I’ve forgotten. That was used if you were in the middle of the village and needed a lift or had to check in with your parents. I’m sure there was one near the train station and I remember some near service stations. And now, they’re gone. Cell phones are much easier. It’s no longer necessary to fish through in your pockets or purse for that much needed dime. But there was something special about pulling the door of that booth closed to have a private conversation.
by Judy Chamberlain (née Wemer)
A recently unearthed piece of ephemera included a set of very important numbers. At least important to a teenager in Hastings in the 80s.
The numbers to various pay phones throughout the village: the A&P, just before the Gulf station on Warburton and the two in the alley outside of the Center Restaurant. Of course they were nothing like using the one wooden phone booth. In my twenties and thirties, I used the one at The Hastings House in the back beyond the dining room and John’s Bar & Grill – creaking shut the door and dialing the rotary phone.
by Lindsey Taylor
In 1961, The Hastings News kept us informed about the new and emerging area code: 914.
This was perhaps the last payphone in Hastings-on-Hudson, in the now defunct Tony’s Steak & Seafood’s foyer. Photographed by Jeff S Alterman. Posted to Facebook December 18, 2015.
