There is one functioning pay phone that I know of and pass regularly on my rounds, which is outside of Lancaster in Georgetown, Pennsylvania right at the dog-leg on 896. There are like three locals reading this who are nodding right now.
From what I gather many Amish will use certain pieces of technology only specifically for business or in an emergency, but draw the line at actually having it in their homes. A payphone is kind of the perfect example of this, because every once in a while in modern times you will just need to use a phone. Not to chat with your aunt Sally or dial up Moviefone, but maybe you have to call a veterinarian or place an order for 2 tons of chicken feed. It just is what it is. An Amish family won’t have a phone in their house, but if push comes to shove they can rock up to the payphone and use it when necessary. It is a community resource, not a personal luxury, and importantly it is not an object that any Amish people actually own.
Or you will see, for instance, that the cattle shed is lit with electric lights but the house isn’t. An Amish work crew will show up to the job site in a truck, but none of them will be driving it – they’ll hire one of us English to do so. Or my favorite, they will have a gasoline engine powered thresher or something whacking away on a cart in the field, but they’ll tow it with a horse. Etc. I don’t claim to know all the rules, but there is clearly some rules lawyering going on there.
The loophole for my local amish is they can use it, but not own it. Which sounds great until they’re clogging up the parking at the Scratch N Dent with their bosses tractor.
Because the Amish disdain for technology is relative. Since smartphones came along, payphones seem quaint in comparison, opening them up for their technological “Amish phase.” Much like how Amish have no issues using bicycles or buggies since the car came along. Give it a few years and before long you’ll see Amish with CRT TVs scrambling for VCRs and NES copies of Super Mario
There used to be a row of them at the ferry terminal. They had cover plates from Bell, Bell Atlantic, Nynex, and Verison. May have been other names, but I can’t recall.
![[OC] Artifact of a lost civilization](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2ad32286-28ba-425a-8549-70448a1c63a3.jpeg){kind=link}
And it still says “Bell” on it, too.
There is one functioning pay phone that I know of and pass regularly on my rounds, which is outside of Lancaster in Georgetown, Pennsylvania right at the dog-leg on 896. There are like three locals reading this who are nodding right now.
See if you can spot it here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9379651,-76.0834154,3a,75y,265.49h,94.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slPUAv70kFlzKxWs1vhQ3PQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
You’ll also readily spot why it’s still there.
If you’re referring to pre-breakup American Bell, this one appears to be Bell Canada, which tragically still exists.
Ma Bell still exists in the US too, we just call it AT&T now.
They got that ill communication.
Ah. Can’t help you with that one, then.
You convinced that entire town to get dial up and join Lemmy?
It’s not much, but it’s honest work.
Is that for the Amish?
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From what I gather many Amish will use certain pieces of technology only specifically for business or in an emergency, but draw the line at actually having it in their homes. A payphone is kind of the perfect example of this, because every once in a while in modern times you will just need to use a phone. Not to chat with your aunt Sally or dial up Moviefone, but maybe you have to call a veterinarian or place an order for 2 tons of chicken feed. It just is what it is. An Amish family won’t have a phone in their house, but if push comes to shove they can rock up to the payphone and use it when necessary. It is a community resource, not a personal luxury, and importantly it is not an object that any Amish people actually own.
Or you will see, for instance, that the cattle shed is lit with electric lights but the house isn’t. An Amish work crew will show up to the job site in a truck, but none of them will be driving it – they’ll hire one of us English to do so. Or my favorite, they will have a gasoline engine powered thresher or something whacking away on a cart in the field, but they’ll tow it with a horse. Etc. I don’t claim to know all the rules, but there is clearly some rules lawyering going on there.
The loophole for my local amish is they can use it, but not own it. Which sounds great until they’re clogging up the parking at the Scratch N Dent with their bosses tractor.
That would make to much sense
Because the Amish disdain for technology is relative. Since smartphones came along, payphones seem quaint in comparison, opening them up for their technological “Amish phase.” Much like how Amish have no issues using bicycles or buggies since the car came along. Give it a few years and before long you’ll see Amish with CRT TVs scrambling for VCRs and NES copies of Super Mario
I imagine it does see some use from them, yes.
Is that what you meant, though?
There used to be a row of them at the ferry terminal. They had cover plates from Bell, Bell Atlantic, Nynex, and Verison. May have been other names, but I can’t recall.
This looks like a Bell Canada phone which is still a company (unfortunately). You do still see these exact same phones around occasionally