$150 for a phone?!?
When the hell was this made?
WHO THE HELL RENTS PHONES?!?!
1982. Back in the day, you couldn't just buy a phone. You had no option but to rent one from the telco. Their argument was they they didn't want degradation of their network caused by customer owned equipment.
Telecom history is kind of interesting because AT&T was constantly gaming the system.
Edit: Have you picked up that model of phone lately? I forgot how HEAVY they were. It's a phone but it can also double as a tethered home defense system! Saw a pretty sky blue push button at an antique store for $40. I didn't want to pay that much but now I wish I had.