[troy1smith]

JACKSON 1-1236 KELLOG 7-8857 MID 50 s

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by DougB

271-2575

REALLY???? How old are you.

[tedquick]

We were on an 8-party line. Our ring was 2 longs and a short. I don't remember the number for sure, but I think it was 214, but I do remember our plumbers and that only because of the writing on the side of his trucks. "Don't fuss. Don't cuss. Call us. 88-W".

[KathieI]

SYcamore 2-0316 Bronx, NY circa mid-1950's

[Sparty6971]

First ever phone (I was a young kid): Our "number" was two shorts and a long. Yep, you held down the hook, cranked the handle and told the operator who you wanted to talk to. If they said us, she would crank out the 2-S and 1-L "number." Goodrich, Michigan

The first real phone number that other people could dial to get us was CEdar 57548. Burton Township, Michigan. It was a party line so yes, you could pick up the phone and listen to others talking on the line since we shared it with a couple of other families on our street.

[Nipper]

Originally Posted by tomwed

Mine was Union 7 oh oh 78. This was before zero had a name and your area was as far as you could see.

BTW, did you ever pick up your phone back then and hear 2 people talking and wonder how this could be? I did. We only owned one phone.

You had a "party" line --- which was a shared line with another customer.

[borjo]

2369

[fishon]

Hemlock (HE) 9 1492

[OCsun]

Beachwood 4-5789 you could call me any old time!

[Deter1]

TRojan2-1813

[jojo]

424 - party line in very small town - Williamsport Ohio (near Circleville OH)

[Toms River T&D]

Growing up was SOmerville 8-0001,

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by Halibut

Good on all of you for remembering those!

I have a dim recollection of my grandmother's number being CYpress something in San Diego.

I do remember "long distance" being mentioned by the adults in the house in hushed tones, because of the expense. It was mostly saved for brief calls to relatives on Christmas.

Ma Bell also used to gouge us for "message units" on calls that were out of the immediate area (like, 10 miles) but weren't officially long distance.




How did you manage that? Was it a small town that let you choose your phone number?

Yes, ours was a small town but I don't know how the license plate came to be the same as the phone number. I was a young teenager at the time and not concerned with such trivial matters. Probably the phone number preceded the license plate.

[Serenoa]

Tucker 4-2202 ....on a farm in east central Illinois. It was a party line with five other families on our country road. I remember my mom & dad having to politely ask Mrs. Brooks to get off the line so we could make a call, otherwise she would stay on it all day talking to her sister, who only lived about another half-mile away.

[dbussone]

WA2-6022
In Beverly Massachusetts. WA stands for Walker.