In 1877, America’s first phone service covered only five miles, between Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts. Early phone lines couldn’t carry the human voice much farther. Not until 1884, and improved technology, could calls be made across the 292 miles from Boston to New York. When the Bell Telephone Company began providing long-distance service between New York and California in 1915, it charged $20.70 for the first three minutes — the equivalent of about $600 today.
But as years passed, the cost came down. By the time this ad appeared in 1932, that transcontinental call was “just” $9 ($200 today) for the first three minutes. Most private citizens hesitated to spend so much when a letter cost only 2 cents; for decades, they principally used long-distance service for special occasions or dire emergencies. Naturally, Bell Telephone pitched its long-distance service to businesses.
Many cellphone customers today have never paid a cent to make an out-of-state call. But they’ve never known the mix of excitement and dread that came with the distinctive sound of a long-distance call and the voice of a distant relative.
This article appears in the March/April 2023 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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Comments
I can see why this this ad was aimed to businesses (with deep pockets) and not consumers otherwise. It’s pretty shocking, even before being translated into current costs. I can remember making calls on my parent’s phone, (usually the upright one in the kitchen) and my mom making me mindful of the time spent on a call to someone in Brentwood or Redondo Beach versus ‘local’ calls to Northridge or Tarzana, from the Sherman Oaks house.
Even though it probably wasn’t terribly expensive, it was enough so that I’d gotten called out a few times (deservedly so) when the phone bill arrived, and was too high because of my calls; time, date, length, all there. I don’t remember the totals, but would imagine even circa 1974 amounts translated to 2023 dollars would be pretty high now! I’d pay them back though, through a combination of p/t job money, doing extra chores, and not letting it happen very often. Time always goes by too quickly on enjoyable calls, then and now.