A rotary phone is a type of telephone that was widely used before the advent of touch-tone dialing. It features a circular dial with numbered holes, where users would place their finger in a hole corresponding to the desired number and rotate the dial clockwise until it stopped. This mechanical process generates electrical pulses that connect the call. Rotary phones typically have a handset with a receiver and a transmitter. They were popular from the early 20th century until the 1980s, when push-button phones and later mobile phones became more common. Despite their decline, rotary phones are often seen as nostalgic items today.