Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On January 12, 1881, a strangely shaped small house appeared in Potsdam Square in Berlin, Germany.

The house is about 2 meters high, with a square spire and curtains all around. It looks very mysterious.

Yes, this small house was the earliest public telephone booth in the world (hereinafter referred to as "public telephone booth"), which was called "Fernsprechkiosk" at that time.

It has been five years since Alexander Bell invented the telephone. At that time, telephone technology was popular all over the world and was very popular. However, many families have limited financial conditions and cannot afford to install telephones. As a result, the telephone company launched a public phone kiosk to provide services to the public.

It is worth mentioning that "Fernsprechkiosk" used a paper ticketing service at that time, rather than the well-known "coin casting". The emergence of pay phones will not wait until more than a decade later, in 1899.

In that year, the American William William Gray officially invented the coin-operated public telephone, which laid the foundation for the widespread popularity of public phone kiosks.

For more than a hundred years since then, William Gray, as we all know, the public phone kiosk has entered every corner of the world. They serve tens of thousands of residents, build bridges for people to communicate, and promote social progress.

The public phone kiosks on the streets of England have many stories and witnessed the joys and sorrows of countless people in the square inch of the public phone kiosks.

In the eyes of many people, a public phone kiosk is more than just a communication facility. It not only carries the memories of his youth, but also records the elapsed years.

█ the history of the development of public telephone kiosks in China after the birth of telephone technology, it was soon introduced into China. In 1882, Denmark Dabei Telegraph Company set up the first telephone exchange in Shanghai, China, which was equipped with a public telephone.

In 1931, the Shanghai telephone Bureau installed four public telephones. The following year, the American businessman Shanghai telephone Company opened a public phone booth in the concession. At that time, their phones were coin operated. To use it, you need to buy a special copper dime from the telephone company.

Coin-operated telephones such as public phone kiosks on the street of Shanghai concession were used until the eve of the founding of New China. After the liberation of Shanghai, post and telephone kiosks and public telephone kiosks were restored one after another to facilitate communication among the people.

Post kiosks in the 1950s in 1949, the national telephone penetration rate was only 0.05%, less than half of the phones per thousand people. There are only 41 public telephones in Beijing. At that time, the most effective way to show off wealth was to make a public phone call in full view of the public.

In May 1951, Beijing Telecommunications Bureau opened a "paging public telephone" for the public. If you need to make a call, go to the nearest public telephone station; if someone calls for you, the public telephone station will send you a message immediately.

The launch of paging public telephones in Beijing has greatly facilitated the general public. Therefore, people also call public phones "people's telephones".

In 1952, the Beijing Telecommunications Bureau decided that all paging public telephones in the city would be offered on a trial basis. If the caller says something simple and does not need to talk directly to the receiver, it can be conveyed by the agent of the public telephone (sometimes called "the public telephone person"), and the telephone fee can be paid by the caller; if the caller wants to talk to the caller, the agent will find the person.

By 1953, the number of public telephones in Beijing had increased to 514. But that number is still far from enough.

At that time, there was always an endless stream of people waiting outside the public phone booth. And the telephone lines of the post and telecommunications offices are often busy and clogged.

This headache was ridiculed by the public as: "can not be loaded, can not get through, can not hear clearly."

In 1976, a more convenient magnetic card was born. The "magnetic card payment" model has replaced the original coin-operated mode and brought about a change to the public phone kiosk.

After entering the 1980s, with the deepening of reform and opening up, people's demand for communications has increased sharply.

At that time, our country vigorously promoted the introduction of program-controlled exchanges, but also increased the construction of public telephone infrastructure.

The Telecommunications Bureau is unloading the program-controlled exchange in 1988, the magnetic card type public telephone gradually began to popularize and was welcomed by people.

During that period, fully enclosed public phone kiosks made of plexiglass also began to appear, increasing the privacy of calls.

By 1993, the number of public telephones in Beijing (including coin booths, unattended kiosks and magnetic card kiosks) had finally exceeded 10,000.

Many of the public phone kiosks in the 1990s were set up in city shops or roadside facades.

These public phone kiosks are manned. If you need to use it, you need to pay in cash. In the public phone booth, there is usually a telephone directory for users to consult.

Around 2000, the domestic public telephone kiosk ushered in the heyday of development. Telecom operators around the country continue to build new public phone kiosks to meet people's communication needs.

In these public phone kiosks, there is always an endless stream of users, either communicating information or expressing love.

For people like Xiaozaojun, 80 later said that these public phone booths on campus, that is, Youth, in December 1996, China Telecom issued the first set of IC phone cards, that is, the Yellow River IC cards, which attracted social attention.

Yellow River IC card so-called IC card, in fact, the card surface is embedded with an integrated circuit (IC) chip. When in use, insert the IC phone card into the phone card reader, as long as there is a stored value in the card, the call can be realized.

After 2000, in order to compete with each other, operators launched a variety of 201Universe 301Universe 17908 / IP cards. These cards do not have an IC chip and can be consumed by entering the card number and password.

The popularity of all kinds of cards in the complex use process has not only brought about a continuous decline in phone charges, but also brought tangible benefits to users.

After the peak comes the recession.

With the increasing popularity of home landlines and mobile phones, people begin to reduce the use of public telephone booths. Sales of public phone cards have plummeted and operators are no longer investing.

With the passage of time, more and more public phone kiosks began to become dilapidated and gradually become the scars of the city.

The dilemma of dilapidated public phone kiosks exists not only at home, but also abroad.

In Britain, with the popularization of new communication technology, the classic red public phone kiosks, together with Big Ben and other cultural symbols, cannot escape the fate of being dismantled or sent to the junkyard.

@ Pete Read photographed the freshmen of █ phone kiosks in London after the 1987 storm in 2007, we entered the era of rapid development of mobile communications, and people gradually forgot the existence of public phone booths.

However, in recent years, people begin to pay attention to the public phone kiosk and tap its new value.

The Red Public phone Pavilion is in Shanghai. There are several public telephone kiosks, which are particularly eye-catching.

Near the former site of our party's first radio station, a public phone pavilion with the theme of "red airwaves", "Baise uprising", "the first central radio station", and "Haomi" and other red memories all appeared in front of the public one by one. The pavilion is also equipped with "replica" radio equipment.

Along the Central Huaihai Road, adjacent to the former site of the Central organs of the China Socialist Youth League, some public phone kiosks are designed to be flaming flames and fluttering flags, with the words "the land of the first heart, the eternal transmission of airwaves" impressively printed on it. Citizens can not only listen, but also call the hotline to listen to Red Telecom stories.

Public phone kiosks are not silent witnesses of urban changes, they can also be powerful storytellers of red telecommunications stories. The Red Public phone Pavilion tells the history in its way, and comes back to life in the history.

Urban service public phone kiosks let public phone kiosks "butterfly change", to achieve digital transformation, Shanghai has also carried out some new exploration.

In September 2022, a number of "digital public phone kiosks" appeared in Shanghai, providing a variety of convenient services: the public phone kiosks added a 24-hour public welfare flash book function, just like a "small library".

In addition, the "Watch and help each other" service helps the lost elderly find their relatives through AI face recognition, and facial scanning taxi-hailing wisdom service and medical appointment service meet the needs of pedestrians through multiple channels.

This is a strategic cooperation agreement signed by Linfen Road Street with Shanghai Xintou, Tianyi Digital Life Technology Co., Ltd., and the North District Telecommunications Bureau of China Telecom Shanghai Branch to help provide warm service for the elderly through public phone kiosks to build an outdoor "safety net" for citizens.

The public service flash book of the public phone kiosk (from Little Red Book @ AKira23114)

The digital public phone kiosk service page (pictured by QQ.com) stands an upgraded version of the public phone booth with the scarlet letter "5G signal covered" on the east side of Dahuancang Hutong in Beijing's Xidan business district. It has a multi-touch screen and can provide charging services with multiple ports, as well as convenient services such as information navigation, Wi-Fi and 5G micro-base stations.

At present, the upgraded version of the public phone kiosk has covered the Temple of Heaven Park, Sanlitun and other places.

In addition to communication functions and convenient services, public phone kiosks can also be unveiled in major museums as cultural creations.

At the China Telecom Museum in Haidian District, Beijing, there is a public phone kiosk for visitors to clock in. The combination of design elements and traditional festivals has attracted many tourists to stop and sign in here.

In the cultural creation shop of the first Memorial Hall of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai, the public phone kiosk is closely integrated with the red element while highlighting the sense of fashion.

The public phone kiosk in the exhibition hall of China Telecommunication Museum, as a public phone pavilion of cultural works, is not only a flexible carrier of culture, but also a participant in digging tourism resources with the times.

█ conclusion: in a word, the public phone kiosk is a mirror of the city.

They can peep into the history, humanities, aesthetic consciousness and character of a city. They silently follow the changes of the city, but also record the vicissitudes of the times.

In a few years, maybe the public phone booth will disappear from us completely. But please do not forget them, do not forget their outstanding contribution to the progress of mankind.

Thank you, ordinary phone booth!

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: fresh Jujube classroom (ID:xzclasscom), by Wang Muxian and Xiaozaojun.

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