[Spooky23]

Phones were expensive, in 1960, you’re looking at the equivalent of a $75/mo bill today. The median income then was about $58k 2023 dollars, about 18% less than todays median income.

Also, urban apartment buildings weren’t always wired and while traveling you didn’t always have phones in motels. My grandfather had a bar whose clientele was mostly from a shipyard. When they’d furlough the workers for a retooling or something, he’d close the place and work as musician in a resort town for a few weeks - he’d send a postcard with a pay phone for folks to call at a certain time window.