Phone Boxes.

[Caran]

Do you remember tapping out numbers on a pay phone to get a free call?

[squarebear]

No but I remember you could dial the BT test number 1741 and it would ring the phone back. We used to do it in phones boxes as kids and then watch and laugh as people went into the box to answer the call.

[Peter Pedant]

days of black boxes

it was the change in dialling from the chagga-chagga-chagga mechanical system to the one which used tones.
.....
but apparently whistling a tune - you could reach America....

[Caran]

Squarebear you tapped the buttons on the phone where the handset rested, doing it to dial 123, tap 1 space, tap twice, space then tap three times, the phone will dial out 123.

[squarebear]

Well I never knew that. I could have saved a fortune

[Caran]

Don't know if it works now though.

[Baldric]

I did hear a rumour you could reverse charges between p'boxes in Norwich and Oxford at one time and save a fortune!

[douglas9401]

Yes, and I also remember using ship ha'pennies to register cash input when the basic call cost was 2p.
Exactly the same size of coin but for some reason it went right through the mechanism to the returned coin slot while registering credit. :)

[ChuckFickens]

Yes...

And it worked on "locked" home phones.

It's also the reason the UK emergency number is 999, The original idea was to have 111 as the emergency number but in the early days of telephone wires the wind would occasionally make the wires touch together which easily "tapped" out 111, so it was changed to 999 as it's almost impossible for the wind to tap three sequential 9 pulses.

[bunkmoreland]

in belfast in the civil service in the 70s,at castle buildings,if you dialled a local number and clicked before anyone answered,you got a free line to anywhere in the rest of norn iron! Many homesick young workers used that delight;-)

[Svejk]

Just looked that up, Methyl.
Naughty. Should be Korwich really.

[janbee]

No, but I do remember waaayyy back in the 50s/60s when we had buttons A and B. As kids, (hooligans more like), we used to stuff the button B hole with old newspapers. When people pressed button B to get their money back, nothing came out. They lost their 4d. Later that evening, we would go into the phone box and remove the paper wadding and all the old pennies would come tumbling out like a Las Vegas bandit machine. It was only a few pennies but it felt like a fortune to us... The Bash Street Kids were angels by comparison.

[Dee Sa]

jan we used to do that too, but there was a "boys mafia"and they had their own phone boxes to mind, if we were there at pay out we went with them to the sweet shop, the more daring boys bought 5 fags.

[emmie]

no but i do remember push button A or B, put in coin and hear it go clunk those were the days....

[Georgiesmum]

No, how did you do that?

[Old_Geezer]

I'm surprised that worked. Certainly the clicks would be heard at the exchange the same as the clicks generated from the dial, but the voice channel ought not have been connected until the money was registered.

[dizmouk2009]

Georgiesmum: To tap out numbers (which still works on home landline phones) you just pick the phone up and then use the button that hangs the phone up when you put it back down. The method it rather simple but can be a nightmare if there are a few 0 in the number you wish to ring.

If you wanted to call 020 00059429 you would pick up the phone, press and release the button (tap) 10 times (in quick concession) pause for about 1/2 a second and then tap the button 2 times, etc.

0 = 10 taps
1 = 1 tap
2 = 2 taps

... and so on until you get to 9 which is 9 taps.

[dizmouk2009]

So for the number I gave as an example you'd have to tap it 81 times lol.

[dizmouk2009]

ChuckFickens: also it was believed that birds sitting on telephone lines would tap their feet causing the emergency services to be constantly engaged lol. The chances of a bird tapping 9 times, then another 9 times then another could be unlikely unless it had OCD.