People are downvoting you, but it’s true. At least in some places the telephone was property of the phone company (kind of like cable-tv boxes are now) and you were just renting it. Source: https://www.britannica.com/one-good-fact/what-household-item-was-primarily-rented-rather-than-sold-until-the-80s edit with more info: https://historyfacts.com/science-industry/fact/people-rented-their-phones/