Are you old enough to remember letter prefixes for phone numbers?


Ours was ME5-2275.

You just dialed (5- and the four digit number) for a local call in the exchange.

Back then if the firehouse siren went off police and fire personnel could dial a number and it would tell them where a fire/emergency was.

LOL....Usually it was the local dump was on fire....Again....So everyone would show up with .22s for a "rat shoot", then put the fire out.
Ours was OVerland 4-4498
 

Ours was ME5-2275.

You just dialed (5- and the four digit number) for a local call in the exchange.

Back then if the firehouse siren went off police and fire personnel could dial a number and it would tell them where a fire/emergency was.

LOL....Usually it was the local dump was on fire....Again....So everyone would show up with .22s for a "rat shoot", then put the fire out.

yup.gif
 
I was a communications electrician in the navy and the first job I got when I got out (1970) was with Western Electric, who had a manufacturing plant on Eades Street in Alexandria. I tell my grandkids that I refurbished those coin pay phones that you had to put quarters in. We knocked the coin slots off the top, buffed and painted the housing and installed new coin slots and the little mechs that made the tone. The grandkids say "what's a pay phone"? I lasted about 2 months and joined local 26. Bought a new 71 beetle for $1900 and had to wait 3 months for it.
 
Nope

And it would always confuse the shit out of me when a character on an old show like ‘I Love Lucy’ would give their phone number as “Murray Hill 6705” or something

I still don’t really understand it to this day. Isn’t that way too many numbers?
 
Nope

And it would always confuse the shit out of me when a character on an old show like ‘I Love Lucy’ would give their phone number as “Murray Hill 6705” or something

I still don’t really understand it to this day. Isn’t that way too many numbers?
Typically, they only used the first two letters to guide you to the letters (numbers) on the dial. The names, I suspect, were used as a mnemonic device.
 

Ours was ME5-2275.

You just dialed (5- and the four digit number) for a local call in the exchange.

Back then if the firehouse siren went off police and fire personnel could dial a number and it would tell them where a fire/emergency was.

LOL....Usually it was the local dump was on fire....Again....So everyone would show up with .22s for a "rat shoot", then put the fire out.
/—-/ In the 1940s our first number was 4548. Then it went to the prefix Cedar. 65 years and I still remember it: CE2-4548
 
The following is AT&T's recommended list of central office names as published in 1955,[5] sorted by the first two digits of the three-digit central office code.
22ACademy, BAldwin, CAnal, CApital, CAstle
23ADams, BElmont, BEverly, CEdar, CEnter, CEntral
24CHapel, CHerry, CHestnut, CHurchill, CIrcle
25ALpine, BLackburn, CLearbrook, CLearwater, CLifford, CLinton
26AMherst, ANdrew, COlfax, COlony, COngress
27BRidge, BRoad(way), BRown(ing), CRestview, CRestwood
28ATlantic, ATlas, ATwater, ATwood, AVenue, BUtler
29AXminster, AXtel, CYpress
32DAvenport, DAvis, EAst(gate), FAculty, FAirfax, FAirview
33DEerfield, DEwey, EDgewater, EDgewood, EDison, FEderal
34DIamond, DIckens, FIeldbrook, FIeldstone, FIllmore, FIrestone
35ELgin, ELliot, ELmwood, FLanders, FLeetwood
36EMerson, EMpire, ENdicott, FOrest, FOxcroft
37DRake, DRexel, ESsex, FRanklin, FRontier
38DUdley, DUnkirk, DUpont, EVergreen, FUlton
39EXbrook, EXeter, EXport, EXpress
42GArden, GArfield, HAmilton, HArrison, HAzel
43GEneral, GEneva, HEmlock, HEmpstead, IDlewood
44GIbson, GIlbert, HIckman, HIckory, HIllcrest, HIlltop
45GLadstone, GLencourt, GLendale, GLenview, GLobe
46HObart, HOmestead, HOpkins, HOward, INgersoll
47GRanite, GReenfield, GReenleaf, GReenwood, GRidley, GRover
48HUbbard, HUdson, HUnter, HUntley, HUxley, IVanhoe
49GYpsy, HYacinth, HYatt
52JAckson, LAfayette, LAkeside, LAkeview, LAmbert, LAwrence
53JEfferson, KEllogg, KEystone, LEhigh, LEnox
54KImball, KIngsdale, KIngswood, LIberty, LIncoln, LInden
56JOhn, JOrdan, LOcust, LOgan, LOwell
58JUniper, JUno, JUstice, LUdlow, LUther
59LYceum, LYndhurst, LYnwood, LYric
62MAdison, MAin, MArket, MAyfair, NAtional
63MEdford, MElrose, MErcury, NEptune, NEwton, NEwtown
64MIdway, MIlton, MIssion, MItchell, NIagara
65OLdfield, OLive, OLiver, OLympia, OLympic
66MOhawk, MOntrose, MOrris, NOrmandy, NOrth(field)
67ORange, ORchard, ORiole, ORleans, OSborne
68MUrdock, MUrray, MUseum, MUtual, OVerbrook, OVerland
69MYrtle, OWen, OXbow, OXford
72PAlace, PArk(view), PArk(way), RAndolph, RAymond, SAratoga
73PEnnsylvania, PErshing, REd(field), REd(wood), REgent, REpublic
74PIlgrim, PIoneer, RIver(side), RIver(view), SHadyside, SHerwood
75PLateau, PLaza, PLeasant, PLymouth, SKyline
76POplar, POrter, ROckwell, ROger(s), SOuth(field)
77PRescott, PResident, PRospect, SPring, SPruce
78STate, STerling, STillwell, STory, SUffolk, SUnset,
79PYramid, SWarthmore, SWift, SWinburne, SYcamore
82TAlbot, TAlmadge, TAylor, VAlley, VAndyke
83TEmple(ton), TEnnyson, TErminal, TErrace, VErnon
84THornwall, TIlden, VIctor(ia), VIking, VInewood
85ULrick, ULster, ULysses
86TOwnsend, UNderhill, UNion, UNiversity, VOlunteer
87TRemont, TRiangle, TRinity, TRojan, UPtown
88TUcker, TUlip, TUrner, TUxedo
89TWilight, TWinbrook, TWining, TWinoaks
92WAbash, WAlker, WAlnut, WArwick, WAverly
93WEbster, WEllington, WElls, WEst(more), YEllowstone
94WHitehall, WHitney, WIlliam(s), WIlson, WIndsor
96WOodland, WOodlawn, WOodward, WOrth, YOrktown
98YUkon
99WYandotte, WYman, WYndown
[th]
Numerical
prefix​
[/th][th]
Recommended central office names (1955)​
[/th]​
The letters Q and Z were never used in the naming system, but Z was often mapped on the telephone dial to the digit 0 (zero). The prefix 55 was set aside for fictitious telephone numbers of the form 555-XXXX. They were often used with the fictitious exchange name KLondike (55).
 

Ours was ME5-2275.

You just dialed (5- and the four digit number) for a local call in the exchange.

Back then if the firehouse siren went off police and fire personnel could dial a number and it would tell them where a fire/emergency was.

LOL....Usually it was the local dump was on fire....Again....So everyone would show up with .22s for a "rat shoot", then put the fire out.
Yes. Heck, I am old enough I remember when we were on a party line. I think there were 9 households on the same phone line.
 
Yes. Heck, I am old enough I remember when we were on a party line. I think there were 9 households on the same phone line.
We never had one but my grandparents did. I still have their first Western Electric phone but not the ringer box.

Like this one:

w1__26523.1670689828.png


To get phone service you had to buy a share of Shenandoah Telephone and Telegraph stock and provide the poles.

The poles were of cedar (still in service as of a couple years ago) and that one share of stock morphed into thousands.

1769688074029.webp
 
We never had one but my grandparents did. I still have their first Western Electric phone but not the ringer box.

Like this one:

w1__26523.1670689828.png


To get phone service you had to buy a share of Shenandoah Telephone and Telegraph stock and provide the poles.

The poles were of cedar (still in service as of a couple years ago) and that one share of stock morphed into thousands.

View attachment 1212433
.

I remember when they made working replicas of those "candlestick phones". I tried using my sister's once and it drove me crazy to have to use both hands!

.
 
15th post
Geez. You guys were killing it back then. Looks efficient. Its quite amazing you got to the moon well before I was born.

source (2).gif
 
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