In 1915, a three-minute long-distance phone call cost the equivalent of more than $600.
Most people don’t think twice about making long-distance phone calls today; now that 98% of Americans use mobile phones, people don’t even change their area code when they move. But cross-country conversations used to carry a hefty price tag, and they were at their priciest when the technology first emerged.
In January 1915, about six months after the first transcontinental telephone line was installed, a three-minute call from New York City to San Francisco cost a whopping $20.70, the equivalent of more than $600 today. The shorter the distance, the smaller the price: If you were on the East Coast and wanted to talk to someone in Denver, for instance, you’d have to justify spending $11.25 for the call, around $360 today. Phones were still a luxury item in the United States in 1915, with around one phone for every 10 people. The telegraph was a far more cost-effective way to deliver an urgent message; it cost about a dollar to send a telegram from NYC to San Francisco, the equivalent of around $30 today.
Over time, long-distance rates came down. By 1960, there were around four phones for every 10 people, and a cross-country call was $2.25, or around $25 today. It’s still hard to imagine spending that much just to dial a phone with a different area code, but at least by the mid-20th century the average person could call their grandma once in a while.
