Saturday, March 14, 2020

Dialing a Phone



Manchester, where I grew up, was NAtional.  In Westford where my grandfather's farm was, it was MYrtle, and in Goffstown, where I now live, it was HYacinth.

9 comments:

Douglas2 said...

". . . however doesn't do away with the need
for operators you'll always find
operators ready to help whenever you
need them"

Grim said...

I've got a bottle opener that belonged to Dad. It's got a phone number on it: "Kingsport 993-J."

Sam L. said...

Mine was GIbson.

RichardJohnson said...

Judging from the 1954 date of this instruction in dialing, the two letter-five number dialing system lasted for only about a decade, as in the mid-1960s we were blessed with another change, when digits replaced the numbers.Allan Sherman got us all up in arms.The Let's All Call Up A.T & T And Protest To The President March.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

In Scituate it was LInden. When we first moved to Goffstown, you could dial just the last 4 numbers. AVI's wife

Stephen Taylor said...

Susann Shaw was a model in the late 40's and early 50's who appeared on the cover of Vogue multiple times. She was in demand for several years. Also did a few bit parts in movies. Retired to have babies. Died in 2009 at 89. My hometown had the TUxedo prefix.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Roadgeek, you are exactly why I love the internet.

What my wife mentioned about four digits is technically true, but changed in the first year we were here. I do still recall neighbors "mentioning," though not officially complaining, that they had to go to five numbers.

To my son and to bsking: I think you should be able to get away with the lie that you only had to use 4 digits when you were born. It is close to true, within a couple of years, and in bsking's case, her mother and grandmother were well in place for those four-digit years, and you can be considered eligible to borrow from their leakage. Emanations from the penumbra are considered solid evidence for SCOTUS justices, so why not you?

Michael said...

I had a coworker who claimed that if he was "withing the penumbra of the building" by 815, he was on time. Working with lawyers . . .
In Lowell, it was GLenview. I also grew up when MA had only 2 area codes.

Linda Fox said...

My original phone number, which my mother kept through 5 moves, was ACademy 1-2333

Which also played Mary Had a Little Lamb. Which, when toddlers played on the phone, put them in touch with our house. Where I had a sister, Mary.

Lotta fun.

The number was also one digit different from the local state liquor store. We were awakened regularly on Saturday night in the wee hours by drunks desperate for a drink.