Fact #193203

A large and luxuriously appointed room...The owners of the Phone Booth seem to feel that if people are staying home to watch Johnny Carson or Merv Griffin preside at a table on television or to listen to telephone conversations on radio, why not combine both features with the added allure of live, physical presence? This is the approach of the nightclub. The resident phone respondent is Lenny Kent, a short, round man with a well-flexed larynx who also serves as a leering variant of the Carson-Griffin host-type. There are cream-colored telephones at every table (103 in all, including the lounge), which can be used to order drink or food or to bandy words with Mr. Kent. They can also be used to call anyone anywhere--provided you have joined the Private Phone Booth Club, which costs $5.
(Source : New York Times, June 1, 1965)