The History Of Phone Sex

Commercial phone sex is arguably one of the most stigmatized, yet profitable, forms of communication. Like language itself, participators often take it for granted, as if it was always around. However, phone sex has a fairly complex history. It goes much deeper than you’d expect (that’s what she said). Today, commercial phone sex is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs so many people. A phone sex operator is an attractive option for some. Typically, it benefits those who lack the means for a proper education, needs to support a family, or need flexible hours in order to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit. It’s something that symbolizes free speech and sexual liberation in a way that no other form of communication could! We’re here to tell you how commercial phone sex came to be the great wonder that it is today.

 

1967 Summer of Love

Ahh yes, the summer of love. As the ’50s and early ’60s came to a close, young people everywhere were in need of an emotional and sexual release from the restraints of a more conservative generation. It was more or less a social revolution that included a hippie-style of dress and a hunger for ecstasy. Suddenly, it was not uncommon for sex to be discussed, performed, and acknowledged freely! This lead to the acceptance and promotion of the sex industry as something beneficial to Americans rather than poisonous.

 

1967 AT&T Introduces Toll-Free Calls

During the time that America’s youth was expressing their sexual freedom, AT&T was introducing a whole different kind of freedom to the world of phones and phone calls. Before AT&T introduces toll-free calls, almost all phone calls were run through a switchboard from operator and operator. Instead, AT&T made direct-dialing a possibility! This direct-dial option was called “Inward Wide Area Telephone Service” or InWATS.

 

1975 Roy P Weber Invents the 1-800 Number

Ray P Weber spent a lot of time attempting to develop the 1-800 idea. While the technology of phone calls was ever-changing, Weber looked for ways to optimize the growth. Eventually, he discovered that numbers could run through a computer system and automatically render smooth distribution to the caller’s destination. Now, when someone calls into a 1-800 number,  their request is directed towards a large computer file that provides instructions as to where to place the call! 

 

1977 Gloria Leonard

Gloria Leonard is the mother of the phone sex business. Initially, she spent her time working on Wall Street in finance and being a single mother. When she lost a major client, Gloria needed a way to make money. She got into porn and made quite a name for herself as a porn actress. Eventually, she was hired as a publisher and editor for the adult magazine called High Society. As a way to generate traffic to High Society, she came up with an idea that would change the game forever. She got the magazine to purchase a dial-it number, which lead to pre-recorded audio of Gloria talking dirty in a sultry voice. Originally intended to increase brand awareness, the number took on a life of its own. Soon, different adult stars were making their own recordings and the magazine was getting a reported 500,000 calls per day by 1983. High Society raked in 2 cents per call, which means the magazine was making $25,000 per day off of Gloria’s brilliant idea.

 

1987 Congress Tries to Shut it Down

Although the FCC confirmed that there was no law against phone sex, Congress would not have it. In 1987-1988, they passed the Telephone Decency Act, which prohibited the use of crude language and indecent material to be commercialized over the phone. 

 

1989 Overturned

Because the idea of “indecent behavior” was so subjective and undefinable, the Supreme Court decided that there was no way to monitor or put laws around phone sex. The Supreme Court overturned the Telephone Decency Act in 1989 because the knew that Congress would never be able to properly define the legality behind it as it compared to free speech.

 

1989 Touch-Tone Changes Everything

Just as the ’90s approached, the idea of touch-tone began to totally take off! Touch-tone made such an impact because what it allowed was for each number to make a unique audible sound. This then allowed phone sex companies to take credit cards over the phone, which lead to an enormous boom in the industry. 

 

1990’s Evolution

As the phone sex business became easier to profit from, it exploded. People fell in love with phone sex! People began to get more comfortable speaking about sexual things over the phone, which bread fetishes within the industry that allowed for subtypes. Phone sex became the multi-billion dollar industry that it is today, providing countless people with both jobs and pleasure!