The Retroist

The Retroist

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
You think your Mobile Phone is expensive? Check out this Mobile Phone Pricing Plan from the 1980s!
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
User's avatar
Discover more from The Retroist
A Retro Podcast, Blog, and Newsletter.
Over 3,000 subscribers
Already have an account? Sign in

You think your Mobile Phone is expensive? Check out this Mobile Phone Pricing Plan from the 1980s!

Retroist's avatar
Retroist
Apr 18, 2016
1

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
You think your Mobile Phone is expensive? Check out this Mobile Phone Pricing Plan from the 1980s!
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

When Gary Burton decided to pick up a new phone for his classic eighties car, he thought, “Why not add the ultimate eighties car accessory, the cellphone?” So he hit the antique mall and picked up a Uniden phone. That in itself is pretty great, but what he found with the phone is even more magical. A copy of the Cellular One phone plan.

As you will see, what we see as complexity in our phone plans, is nothing compared the menu of choice you had back in the eighties (I think late eighties). If you were to pick any of the plan that included minutes, they are all local and at $99.99 you are still only getting 360 of those local minutes. That doesn’t even include the $30 activation fee and what I assume are a bunch of taxes, plus whatever the phone guy is going to charge you to hook this up in your car.

It makes today’s phones look simple and downright affordable by comparison. I wonder if, in 30 years, people will look back at how much we pay for what we get and laugh at the simplicity of our current phones and the limitation of our phone plans? (No Mars texting included??? That is sooo shazbot!)

*Thanks to Gary for sharing this find with us and allowing us to post this here.


Subscribe to The Retroist

Launched 4 years ago
A Retro Podcast, Blog, and Newsletter.
1

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
You think your Mobile Phone is expensive? Check out this Mobile Phone Pricing Plan from the 1980s!
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
The Mystery Of The Red Quarters…Solved!
Did you ever find a quarter painted red and wonder if that red served a purpose? It does.
Feb 11, 2017 • 
Retroist
45

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
The Mystery Of The Red Quarters…Solved!
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
6
Remember when Mickey Mouse decided to commit suicide?
Unless you lived in the 1930s or are a fan of vintage comic strips you might not be aware of the attempted Mickey Mouse suicide.
Aug 30, 2017 • 
Retroist
9

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Remember when Mickey Mouse decided to commit suicide?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Monkey’s Blood (Mercurochrome) for those boo-boos
Remember when you were a kid, and you would were out roughhousing with your friends.
Oct 23, 2019 • 
Retroist
4

Share this post

The Retroist
The Retroist
Monkey’s Blood (Mercurochrome) for those boo-boos
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
2

Ready for more?

© 2025 Retroist
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.