"Never paid though- if you tapped for each number, for example 6 taps for 6 but dialled the 0 and 9 and providing the timing was consistent between taps and dials you would by-pass the money box and speak for as long as you wanted."
This was SMART!
I wish I had known that at the time.
Our phone booths were not red where I grew up, they had aluminium frames and glass walls. Maybe the tapping would have not worked, but I feel that trying, at least, to make it work is something I missed in my life.