@askhistorians.bsky.social A very specific history question, I've tried the usual suspects but I can't find the information I need. The time 1923, the place: London. When you call for a taxi from a house/business (which people always seem to be doing in contemporary books) who do you call? - ThreadSky

benaaronovitch.bsky.social • 102 days ago

@askhistorians.bsky.social A very specific history question, I've tried the usual suspects but I can't find the information I need. The time 1923, the place: London. When you call for a taxi from a house/business (which people always seem to be doing in contemporary books) who do you call?

Comments

alanburkittgray.bsky.social•102 days ago

You send a servant to the nearest cab rank. In central London, they were fairly common; in the suburbs, outside the station -- eh Blackheath, where I live, had a cab rank outside

alanburkittgray.bsky.social•102 days ago

Associated question to yours: how many people had phones? Even for middle-class homes, a minority

benaaronovitch.bsky.social•102 days ago

Most posh households had phones by 1923 as did all the police stations (as far as I can determine most only had one).
--> 980 by 1920, 1,996 by 1930 and 3,339 by 1940.
Pugh, Martin. We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain Between the Wars (p. 307). Random House. Kindle Edition.

alanburkittgray.bsky.social•102 days ago

Depends what you mean by posh. "The total number of telephones in Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 1st January in each of the years mentioned was 175,300 in 1900, 610,600 in 1910, 807,173 in 1920 and 1,886,726 in 1930. Hansard 11 March 1930

morphote.bsky.social•101 days ago

It looks like you could make a call to the taxi rank, courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive.

benaaronovitch.bsky.social•101 days ago

Ha! And people say social media is useless.

longdariavampysilver.net•102 days ago

a chariot??

Daria

edwardthebooble.bsky.social•102 days ago

In the 1950s my dad drove for a company called Glamtax in Cardiff. There were no minicabs and many places had no phone. Cab companies advertised in phone booths. You could call on your home phone too.