Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
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Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
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Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#2I love to figure out words from my phone numbers, and I've had some doozies over the years.
Of course, there are apps and websites to calculate those instantly now, and you usually get the opportunity to choose a number at least from a menu, so finding a pithy word or phrase is elementary, my dear Watson.
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#3They even had this in the Simpsons in the 90s, so not even 50s era!
Mr Plow gives his phone number as Klondike 5 3226 and the jingle says "KL5 3226"
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#4It's so annoying that they only used one example (Murray Hill) which is actually MU and not MH, which required me to re-skim it a few times to grok what was going on.
It would have been nice for the article to provide several examples of the mnemonic.
While I've been aware for quite a few years that the telephone system used to use names for exchanges (eg, Pennsylvania 6-500), it took a few MORE years for me to realize that it mapped to PE6500, or 736500. It's one of those things where, if you understand the system (like my parents did), it's obvious and it doesn't occur to you that you might have to explain the letter-to-number mapping .
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#5Well that's one mystery solved:
https://youtu.be/QacpBRPonzM?si=7kFqTOe9S9F0OORy
I never knew why Homer gave the fictional number 'KL5-3226' ("Klondike-five") for his Mr. Plow commercial.
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#6They even had this in the Simpsons in the 90s, so not even 50s era! Mr Plow gives his phone number as Klondike 5 3226 and the jingle says "KL5 3226"
Pretty sure Seinfeld gave a KL5 number once too.
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#7using my landline, i generally just give people my last 6 digits - one of the reasons i like using landlines for local calls, actually
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#8And this is likely why you'll sometimes see reserved "555" numbers in tv shows represented as "KL5". e.g. Mr Plow: https://imgur.com/a/XIRKn6W
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#9using my landline, i generally just give people my last 6 digits - one of the reasons i like using landlines for local calls, actually
Most major metro areas in the US no longer support seven digit dialing.
Re: Why did old phone numbers start with letters? (2015)
#10This article, and Wikipedia, and apparently everyone else, all cite the same 2001 nytimes article regarding the Committee of Ten Million to Oppose All-Number Calling. How influential were they, really, if that is the only remnant of their existence?