Sofia’s challenge is about time, and how things evolve.
Medical Advances
My first photographs were taken at the Museum of Medical History. A couple of years ago I visited this little out-of-the-way museum when Sacramento was hosting Museum Day. Once a year, the public is invited to visit and learn about all the local museums. This little gem is just fascinating, but do not visit if you are about to have a medical procedure.
With the use of digital equipment, disposables, and computers the look of hospitals is quite different.
Dimise of the Telephone Booth
My next set of photographs has to do with the slow disappearance of the telephone booth. With the advent of the pocketable cell phone, the public telephone is a rare find. I wonder where Clark Kent will go to change into Superman?
These booths had doors. This allowed for more private conversations. None of these are working telephone booths. The bottom image is from the Roseville Telephone Museum.
Somewhere along the evolution, the door is eliminated. And then the booth altogether. The dial is gone, and now there are buttons to press.
This image was taken in 2008. I wonder if this bank of shiny working pay phones is still in service the Phoenix Airport? Where or when did you last see a working pay phone?
One of my early jobs, while I was in college, was that of a long-distance telephone operator. And one of my least favorite part of the job was to connect someone from a pay phone. I had to listen for the coins to drop, connect the call, monitor, and ask for additional money after 3 minutes. Often the person would just walk away without paying. I was also the person who took the many complaints if they lost money on a non-working phone. I really don’t know how the phone call is paid for now. I bought my first cell phone in 1997 (25 years ago), and that took care of my use of pay phones. And that phone did not fit into my pocket or do what my iPhone 13 pro can do.
Thank you Sofia for giving me a chance to look back. 25 years of cell phones. Wow, I just can’t believe that. Oh well, time flies.
A Photo's Worth 
2 very fun choices Marlene – and what an interesting story about your operator job! I had no idea you COULD walk away from the monies owed! And I’ve notice there really is no such thing as a pay phone anywhere any more. Also loved your medical museum. We used to have one like that right near my office about 20 years ago and we found it fascinating. The iron lung is so sad. Can you imagine being locked up in one of those?!
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Thank you for commenting. It really helps me. I just watched a documentary about the polio epidemic and how it compares to the U.S. CoVid response.
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Great post! I’m glad you thought of the medical museum or rather the torture museum. Thank heavens medicine has made a huge amount of progress.
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Yes that was a scarier time to be a patient.
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So interesting to see the old ways again and think about the memories we had with those pay phones. Thanks for sending!
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Thanks for your enthusiastic support of my blog.
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These are great, Marlene. The museum is the kind of place I’d love to visit and a wonderful way to see how things have changed, for the better! I can’t remember the last time I saw a phonebox anywhere, but I think there’s still some left, obsolete but beautiful (we’d only have the red ones around these parts).
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Two lovely stories there. I love the telephone booth story. Such a quick evolution. The old superman would have nowhere to change 🙂
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Ha! GREAT retrospective. Thank goodness medical things are so ADVANCED now! 😉 LOVE the phone booths et al. Someone had to clean them, too. Ugh.
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