It’s Fun to Phone! (Mar, 1958)
It’s Fun to Phone!
A minute from now you can be having a happy time. Just phone someone who means a lot to you. True happiness is tlie kind you share. And nothing helps you do that so easily as your telephone. “It’s fun to phone.”
Bell Telephone System
1958 price for a station-to-station call after 6:00 PM or all day Sunday, for a call from St. Louis to Los Angeles: $1.55 for the first three minutes, 45¢ each additional minute. In 1958 dollars. That translates to $12.10 and $3.50 respectively today. And, kiddies, the rate varied by distance. Don’t forget the 10% federal excise tax, too!
(Incidentally, the US Post Office rate for a one ounce letter increased a whopping 33% in 1958 from 3¢ to 4¢. The USPS would have a lot more business today if chatting on the phone cost 38 times the cost of sending a letter…)