pay phone story

Name	20-fillér coin-operated 1928
Date	1928
Manufacturer	Ericsson Magyar Villamossági Rt., Ericsson’s Hungarian company. What a beauty!
Credit	With thanks to- www.postamuzeum.hu

20-fillér coin-operated 1928

This Hungarian coin-operated public telephone was manufactured in 1928 by Ericsson Magyar Villamossági Rt., Ericsson’s Hungarian company. Designed for a 20-fillér coin, it combined a black wall-mounted case, rotary dial and separate handset suspended from a side hook. Users heard the dial tone when lifting the handset, but could only dial after inserting payment. The coin slot was positioned on top of the telephone. A button on the right accepted the coin, while another opening caught rejected or fallen coins. Printed instructions beneath the dial guided callers through the process. The surviving museum example illustrates Hungary’s early public telephone equipment.