Telephone number history

[JoeyFarino]

Does anyone know what period they used 5 digit telephone numbers like this one

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by JoeyFarino

Does anyone know what period they used 5 digit telephone numbers like this one

That is not a "five digit" phone number. Telephone exchanges used to have names. One such name was Murrey Hill. The phone number is MH 6-8826--you would dial 646 8826.

Youngster.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

That is not a "five digit" phone number. Telephone exchanges used to have names. One such name was Murrey Hill. The phone number is MH 6-8826--you would dial 646 8826.

Youngster.

Thanks for schoolin me...now I just need to pinpoint the era of this stamp

[ooo-ribay]

I loved those old names.

Ours was TUxedo 5-1505. 50 years later, it still rolls off my tongue.

[steve B]

I looked it up once, and from what I recall the change to all numbers over the exchange being named varied from place to place, I'd think NY was fairly early in the change while small towns were probably last. (I grew up in a town that still had at least one crank phone and a switchboard while I lived there, and I'm not that old. ) And since the number dialed didn't really change a business might not have changed anything for a few years.

Steve B

[David Atkatz]

Phone numbers became standardized at seven figures (letters or numbers) in 1931. Some cities had two-letter/four digit dialing before that, and some had three-letter/four digit dialing. A standard system of two-letter/five digit dialing was phased in thru the 1930s. The letters in all cases were the first letters of an exchange name -- MUrray Hill, SPring, COlumbus, UNiversity, INgersoll, TRiangle, HUBbard, COPley, KIRkland, etc. etc. etc.

The changeover to all-number dialing was very gradual, beginning in 1958 and continuing into the 1970s. The transition was smoothest in small towns, where there were generally only one or two local exchanges, and most difficult in large cities where there were many neighborhood exchanges and often emotional attachment to the exchange names. New York City held out the longest, with some of the old exchange names in use as late as 1978.

However, your photo's stamp is pre-Zip Code. And there is no postal zone number present either. (In NYC, postal zone numbers were incorporated into Zip Codes. I grew up in Bronx, 53, NY, which became Bronx, NY 10453.) The United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. So the stamp is pre-1943, even though the photo event was 1946. Still using an old stamp.

[ooo-ribay]

I remember using this site, years ago, while reseaching something collection related:

http://ourwebhome.com/TENP/TENproject.html

[steve B]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Phone numbers became standardized at seven figures (letters or numbers) in 1931. Some cities had two-letter/four digit dialing before that, and some had three-letter/four digit dialing. A standard system of two-letter/five digit dialing was phased in thru the 1930s. The letters in all cases were the first letters of an exchange name -- MUrray Hill, SPring, COlumbus, UNiversity, INgersoll, TRiangle, HUBbard, COPley, KIRkland, etc. etc. etc.

The changeover to all-number dialing was very gradual, beginning in 1958 and continuing into the 1970s. The transition was smoothest in small towns, where there were generally only one or two local exchanges, and most difficult in large cities where there were many neighborhood exchanges and often emotional attachment to the exchange names. New York City held out the longest, with some of the old exchange names in use as late as 1978.

However, your photo's stamp is pre-Zip Code. And there is no postal zone number present either. (In NYC, postal zone numbers were incorporated into Zip Codes. I grew up in Bronx, 53, NY, which became Bronx, NY 10453.) The United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. So the stamp is pre-1943, even though the photo event was 1946. Still using an old stamp.

Darn memory. Recalled it wrong between small towns and NYC.
I blame the fact that I grew up in a town with a non- Bell company phone system.

Steve B

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

That is not a "five digit" phone number. Telephone exchanges used to have names. One such name was Murrey Hill. The phone number is MH 6-8826--you would dial 646 8826.

Youngster.

I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that the Murray Hill exchange was dialed MU.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by timzcardz

I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that the Murray Hill exchange was dialed MU.

I think you're right, Tim.