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Payphone Story – Global History of Payphones and Phone Booths

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South African Payphone- First CHATTERBOX 1985

Manufactured by Tamura Electric Works of Japan for South Africa’s Department of Posts and Telecommunications, the 1985 “Chatterbox” was the country’s first plastic push-button prepayment payphone. It accepted 10c, 20c, 50c and R1.00 coins. Following successful 1983–84 field trials, it replaced rotary-dial designs and paved the way for the locally produced TSA-4 series.

Name	First CHATTERBOX
Date	c. 1985
Manufacturer	Tamura Electric Works, Japan (for the South African Department of Posts and Telecommunications

Information and images with special thanks to Mark Van Der Heever and Peter Van Almelo

Development of the Tamura “Chatterbox” Prepayment Coin Telephone (1985)

Introduced in 1985, the Tamura “Chatterbox” was South Africa’s first plastic-cased push-button prepayment coin telephone, replacing the traditional rotary dial with a modern keypad. Manufactured by Tamura Electric Works of Japan for the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, it accepted four coin denominations: 10c, 20c, 50c and R1.00. During 1983–84, 200 table models and 100 wall-mounted prototypes underwent extensive field trials before production commenced. The Chatterbox marked South Africa’s transition to electronic-style public telephony and laid the foundation for the later locally produced blue TSA-4 series introduced from 1990.