14 Phone Habits from the Past That Are Totally Obsolete Now
Once essential to daily life, these phone behaviors have vanished with the rise of smartphones and texting.
- Chris Graciano
- 3 min read
There was a time when using a phone meant cords, patience, and memorizing numbers — all things that sound foreign today. Before the digital era, phone etiquette and habits were a whole different world. Here are 14 outdated phone practices that once ruled our lives but are now completely extinct.
1. Memorizing Phone Numbers
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Back in the day, everyone had a mental list of important numbers — friends, family, the local pizza place. Your brain was your contact list.
2. Using a Phone Book
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Every household had a massive yellow-and-white page directory. Need a plumber? Flip to the Ps. Now, those things are mostly gathering dust in recycling bins.
3. Collect Calls
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If you didn’t have change for a payphone, you’d call collect and hope the person accepted the charges. Some even hacked the system with coded messages in the “name” field.
4. Corded Phone Conversations
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Talking on the phone often meant being anchored to a wall. Want privacy? Stretch that spiral cord down the hallway and hope it doesn’t snap back.
5. Calling Time and Temperature
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Need to know the time? Call a number, and a robotic voice would tell you. Weirdly, this was once a daily routine for many.
6. Long-Distance Charges
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Calling someone in another area code wasn’t just inconvenient — it was expensive. Families rationed out long-distance calls like special treats.
7. Busy Signals
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Before voicemail, a fast “beep-beep-beep” meant someone was already on the line. You’d hang up and call back over and over.
8. Prank Calling
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“Is your refrigerator running?” was peak comedy for bored kids. Caller ID ruined the fun — now you’d get grounded before the second ring.
9. Leaving Answering Machine Messages
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Those clunky machines sat by the phone, blinking with mystery. Pressing “play” often meant hearing your voice — or cringing at what you said.
10. Rewinding Cassette Tapes on Answering Machines
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If you missed a message, you had to rewind and fast-forward through the tape to find it. Sometimes you’d tape over old ones by accident.
11. Giving Out Payphone Numbers
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You could tell a friend to “call me at the payphone near 7-Eleven at 5 PM.” Then wait, hoping no one else was using it.
12. Using Star Codes
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Want to block your number? Hit *67. Redial the last number? Try *69. These codes were secret weapons in the pre-smartphone world.
13. Phone Chains for Emergencies
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When something important happened — like a snow day — one parent would call two others, who’d each call two more, and so on. It was a human-powered notification system.
14. Sitting by the Phone Waiting for a Call
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If you were expecting a call, you literally had to be home. Miss it? No clue who it was or when they’d try again. Waiting was stressful — and exciting.