Payphones of Hawaii

In Hawaii, a fading technology is still common.

I remember getting a keychain from the local fire department when I was a kid. It was big, red, and featured a secret chamber that could swivel out and reveal two quarters that you’d store inside. I'd call it a “tchotchke,” but the thing was more functional than decorative. It ensured you always had at least 50¢, enough for one phone call.

From a pay phone.

Because they used to be everywhere.

At the mall. At the grocery store. On the corner of streets near gas stations. You no doubt know how the story ends for this once ubiquitous technology: with the proliferation of cellular phones came the rapid decline of the coin operated payphone. There was simply no need to create more or even replace ones that broke. In many instances and locales, the devices were outright removed. I wrote briefly about a specific one last year, but that broken phone found attached to Metrobot’s leg is now more of an artistic/historic feature, its lack of maintenance hardly surprising. Nevertheless, there are still people who use payphones. When the one at the UDF by my place still glistened in the Cincinnati sun, it wasn’t uncommon to see and hear someone having a heated conversation through the voice box of old technology while you pumped gas.

There are no doubt people reading this who will bemoan the payphone’s demise. They’d gladly drop in some pocket change if it meant not having to see all those “kids these days” staring down at the “new fangled,” glowing screens of smartphones. However, at least in the mainland United States, the payphone is an endangered species. Catch a flight to Hawaii, though, and you’ll quickly learn that the payphone is alive and well, still surviving in great numbers on the islands. It’s not just in the common spots of airports and gas stations, either, you’ll still find Hawaiian payphones on street corners, in public parks, and even in rural communities. Most of them, I came to find, still worked (although, I was never able to get one to accept a call from my cell phone, nor was I able to get one to do the “ringer trick”).

I started snapping quick photographs of these things whenever I saw them while in Hawaii recently. They’re everywhere you look, diversely ranging in style and age. There’s beat up, rusted phones that have been weathered down by ocean air. Newer models exist that will accept a credit card. Some still have phonebooks, both old and new, hanging from their privacy shields.

In September 2016, Honolulu Civil Beat looked into the ‘Hawaii payphone phenomena.’ They found that while payphone usage on the island was still declining due to the same reasons found on the mainland, it was just happening at a much slower pace. Catering to tourists who may not have mobile phone service internationally seemed like the best reasoning. There’s also a case to be made for maintaining this technology in the event of natural disasters where landlines may be more reliable than cell phone towers. In the wake of 2012's Hurricane Sandy, New Yorkers were seen lining up at payphones once again.

Hawaii’s many payphones provide a sight on the streetscape for nostalgic eyes. You might come for the beaches or volcanoes, but the payphone is now another attraction almost exclusive to the islands, a unique cultural communication device from the past.

Edit: It was pointed out to me that Cincinnati Bell is now in the process of finalizing their purchase of Hawiian Telcom, the operator of all payphones on the island. Technically, these will all be Cincinnati Bell payphones soon.


A few anecdotes:

• All the payphones I saw in Hawaii were like the ones seen here, I never saw any enclosed phone booths. Cincinnati’s last remaining booth seemed to be the one in Eden Park, but it was removed a few years back. If you know of any more phone booths still in the region, shoot me an email. 

• The story of the Mojave Phone Booth is pretty interesting. An old phone booth, in the middle of nowhere, existed to once serve a rural community and subsequently became a cultural phenomenon. 99% Invisible has a great audio story about it.  

• In 2016, a company called Link NYC started replacing neglected payphones with Wi-Fi hotspots. It seems that most of the former, “retro” looking payphone stands were totally replaced with tall, LED “smart screens,” though. Reception has been interesting and there are a few of these “smart screens” that have shown up in the Cincinnati area over the last year.  

• Metrobot’s payphone is still broken. I checked yesterday. 

Some photographs of payphones seen in Hawaii:

- This payphone was one of many seen at Disney's Aulani Resort. Interestingly, the resort was constructed in 2011, meaning these payphones were purposefully installed and aren't simply remnants.