sichermn@beach.csulb.edu (Jeff Sicherman) (03/11/91)
From L. M. Boyd's March 1 column: "William Gray wanted to call his sick wife, but his foreman wouldn't let him use the company phone. That's why Gray invented the pay phone in 1889." [Moderator's Note: As late as about 1960 I saw a "Gray Pay Station Company phone in service on a Southwestern Bell payphone line in southeastern Kansas. I've only seen the one, with the mouthpiece and earpiece as separate units, like the old candlestick phones. PAT]
0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) (03/11/91)
In article <Digest v11, iss193>, Jeff Sicherman <sichermn@beach.csulb. edu> posts: > From L. M. Boyd's March 1 column: > "William Gray wanted to call his sick wife, but his foreman wouldn't > let him use the company phone. That's why Gray invented the pay phone > in 1889." This sounds like one of those colorful bits of early telecom history. However, I carry the notion that the Gray Paystation was simply a product line name of the Automatic Electric Company, which became th repository of Gray's and Strowger's patents. I have some authoritative history of non-Bell telephone interests, which are quick to claim any telephonic invention _not_ made by Bell, and I don't recall the paystation being among their claims of a non-Bell invention. Anybody out there have more on this?