Would this be perfect for a vintage swimming pool setting? Or a place for Superman to change into his cape?
We’ve had this cool vintage telephone booth in our collection here at Legendary Escapes. We’ve just done some research about it – and here is what we’ve learned!
Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth developed in the mid-1950s.
It measures about 86.125 inches (218.76 cm) in height, and 33.5 inches (85 cm) in width and depth at its base. It is slightly larger at the top, with an aluminum roof that projects slightly beyond the walls. The interior of the booth houses an aluminum shelf, above which the original telephone is mounted.
When the Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was introduced c.1954, advertisements touted it as “”something new in telephone booths.”” Its aluminum construction was an improvement over previous booths, and the glass around it, along with the overhead light, made the Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth well-lighted and very comfortable to use. The Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth had several distinctive characteristics that were common to that type of telephone booth.
The aluminum frame and glass panels allowed the weather resistance and weather protection for users that were necessary for an outdoor application. The previous wooden telephone booths were designed for indoor use, so the Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth represented an evolution in telephone booth design in order to allow it to function better in more varied environments. Advertisements for the Airlight booth also touted the “”tip-up directories”” that are in “”easy reach”” and the “”ample shelf for packages and handbags””
By the early 1980s, AT&T oversaw approximately 1.4 million pay phones around the country. In the days before cellular phones, the pay phone and telephone booth were instrumental in allowing telephone communications outside the home or office. The Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was important in communications in the fact that it was geared towards automobile users, especially in small towns and rural areas, which also represented an evolution from the previous phone booths that were more pedestrian oriented. Although the introduction of cellular phones has meant the fast and widespread demise of the phone booth – having a piece of history is priceless.
