SORRY, YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG NUMBER, THAT'LL BE 5 CENTS
Paris, France (JFK+50) On May 2, 1926, The Evening Star reports that since telephone rates have increased here in Paris, "even wrong numbers...cost money."
It seems if you are staying in a "big hotel," and get a "wrong number" on your telephone, you will be charged just as though you got the right one.
All free telephone service in the city has been cancelled along with reduced rates for customers.
Associated Press says that this situation has resulted in a "bitter climax" of the "poor telephone service" in this city.
JFK+50 NOTE
There was no 'pay per call' system in Paris in 1926 as local residents paid an annual subscription fee of 600 francs equal to several months salary of the average worker.
Telephone calls locally from hotels were generally affordable but long-distance & international calls were very expensive.
In the United States in the 1920s, you could make a local call from a public telephone for a nickel. As time passed, the cost went up to a dime & remained there for many years.
SOURCE
"Right or wrong, Phone Numbers in Paris Cost Same," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 2, 1926, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
