Smaller states had to drag the zero all the way around ...
November 2, 2017 5:10 AM Subscribe
Why aren’t area codes laid out in a seemingly logical way, like ZIP Codes are? A dig into the history of the apparently random assignation of US telephone area codes.
→ When we inevitably run out of the current numbers we have, the administrators will push us toward adding yet another number to the current lineup of 10
I can't see that ending badly at all. So many databases with hard-coded field lengths …
posted by scruss at 5:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I can't see that ending badly at all. So many databases with hard-coded field lengths …
posted by scruss at 5:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I grew up in 416 which became 905.
416 to the 905
Put your hands up in the air, move 'em side to side
(We don't stop y'all, can't stop y'all, ah T-dot y'all, we make it hot y'all)
And everybody in the place from east to west
Put your hands up in the air, move 'em right to left
(We gonna rock y'all, to the top y'all, you gotta..)
Come on, come on
posted by srboisvert at 5:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
416 to the 905
Put your hands up in the air, move 'em side to side
(We don't stop y'all, can't stop y'all, ah T-dot y'all, we make it hot y'all)
And everybody in the place from east to west
Put your hands up in the air, move 'em right to left
(We gonna rock y'all, to the top y'all, you gotta..)
Come on, come on
posted by srboisvert at 5:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
First, you have to explain what a 'dial' is...
Here's a video inspired by my area code, for you music background of the day.
Yeah, it was on the blue years ago
posted by MtDewd at 5:31 AM on November 2, 2017
Here's a video inspired by my area code, for you music background of the day.
Yeah, it was on the blue years ago
posted by MtDewd at 5:31 AM on November 2, 2017
I fuckin actually grew up with rotary dial phones as a kid and fuck I’m old aren’t I.
posted by Annika Cicada at 5:38 AM on November 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 5:38 AM on November 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
You would be really old if you grew up BEFORE rotary dial phones.
posted by briank at 5:41 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by briank at 5:41 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm in Maine, which still has one area code, 207; we know it's quaint.
posted by theora55 at 5:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 5:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Telephone numbers are rapidly turning into what IP numbers have been for years now-- a low-level implementation detail that fewer and fewer people will know or care about. Contacts can be added by clicking a link. You call someone by scrolling through a list or searching by name. The only numbers I have memorized are my own and (more hazily) my wife's. At some point we won't even care when someone's number changes, because it will be updated for us.
Eventually someone will pitch "DNS for phone numbers", if they haven't already, and get very rich. Maybe they'll even print it as a book and distribute it for free! Everyone's name and number in tiny type! VCs will love it!
posted by phooky at 5:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Eventually someone will pitch "DNS for phone numbers", if they haven't already, and get very rich. Maybe they'll even print it as a book and distribute it for free! Everyone's name and number in tiny type! VCs will love it!
posted by phooky at 5:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Re: rotary phones. At my daughter's very first eye exam as a young toddler (late 90's), she could speak but not yet read too well, so the ophthalmologist used a pictogram chart instead of a letter chart. It was vintage, because one of the pictograms was of a rotary phone.
Doc: OK, honey. Can you read the 4th line for me?
Zakurette: Dog, elephant, house, snake, ...ummm...I don't know what that is. A car? A train?
Doc: Let's skip that one.
Zakurette: No! What is it?
Zakur: That's an old telephone.
Zakurette: Really? That's weird.
posted by zakur at 5:55 AM on November 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
Doc: OK, honey. Can you read the 4th line for me?
Zakurette: Dog, elephant, house, snake, ...ummm...I don't know what that is. A car? A train?
Doc: Let's skip that one.
Zakurette: No! What is it?
Zakur: That's an old telephone.
Zakurette: Really? That's weird.
posted by zakur at 5:55 AM on November 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
Sometimes I'm startled when I go back to my rural Louisiana town and the adverts don't put an area code because it is all the same to the locals.
posted by AlexiaSky at 5:55 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 5:55 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
If you want to talk old, there was a body shop in my neighborhood whose phone number was on a sign outside with the old-style exchange name (CHapel 9-xxxx) well into the 90s, which was pretty odd. I think the other exchange in our town was MYrtle, although I'm not sure that I ever saw it in print.
(We also had a rotary phone in the kitchen, and no touch-tone dialing, because it cost extra, into the 90s. Which was sort of annoying.)
posted by uncleozzy at 5:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
(We also had a rotary phone in the kitchen, and no touch-tone dialing, because it cost extra, into the 90s. Which was sort of annoying.)
posted by uncleozzy at 5:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm in Maine, which still has one area code, 207; we know it's quaint.
I grew up in Lewiston-Auburn, and it wasn't until after I left for college (in the early 1980s), that there was more than one local exchange for both towns. You could dial anyone in either town by using five digits.
posted by briank at 5:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I grew up in Lewiston-Auburn, and it wasn't until after I left for college (in the early 1980s), that there was more than one local exchange for both towns. You could dial anyone in either town by using five digits.
posted by briank at 5:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
When we inevitably run out of the current numbers we have
This isn't inevitable at all. The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:59 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
This isn't inevitable at all. The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:59 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
When we inevitably run out of the current numbers we have, the administrators will push us toward adding yet another number to the current lineup of 10.
Nah. The NANPA will just create a new country code for the former CSA.
Which will make them happier than they have a right to be.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:00 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Nah. The NANPA will just create a new country code for the former CSA.
Which will make them happier than they have a right to be.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:00 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
> The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
posted by ardgedee at 6:03 AM on November 2, 2017
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
posted by ardgedee at 6:03 AM on November 2, 2017
My dad was an engineer for Southwestern Bell. When I was a kid I attended a number of "cut-over" parties, usually barbeques in some small town that was converting from operators to direct dial. The ladies losing their jobs was considered a taboo topic at these celebrations...
posted by jim in austin at 6:15 AM on November 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 6:15 AM on November 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
My favorite story is how the county that contains Cape Canaveral got the 321 prefix, as in 3-2-1 liftoff.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:17 AM on November 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:17 AM on November 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Japan has variable-length area codes and phone numbers, and they dealt with number shortages by lengthening phone numbers: I was living there when Tokyo phone numbers were lengthened from 7 digits to 8. This is so much better than splitting area codes, because you get 10x as many numbers, not 2x. Someone once explained to me that American PBXs wouldn’t be able to deal with those, and people would resist longer numbers. So we’re stuck with this less efficient allocation system that’s longer anyhow.
posted by adamrice at 6:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 6:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
When I was a kid I attended a number of "cut-over" parties, usually barbeques in some small town that was converting from operators to direct dial. The ladies losing their jobs was considered a taboo topic at these celebrations...
My mother was a telephone operator in the 50s. She loved it, and had a lot of surprisingly amusing stories about it.
I'm old enough that briefly, while we were living in a very rural area, my family actually had a party line with the neighbors.
posted by Orlop at 6:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
My mother was a telephone operator in the 50s. She loved it, and had a lot of surprisingly amusing stories about it.
I'm old enough that briefly, while we were living in a very rural area, my family actually had a party line with the neighbors.
posted by Orlop at 6:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Maybe they'll even print it as a book and distribute it for free! Everyone's name and number in tiny type! VCs will love it!
The VCs would really love it if they were to commission their own typeface for the purpose.
posted by 7segment at 6:24 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
The VCs would really love it if they were to commission their own typeface for the purpose.
posted by 7segment at 6:24 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
My great aunt lived in rural Vermont when I was a kid, and as far as I know, she had a party line, again, into the 90s. It looks like party lines weren't eliminated in Vermont until 2000.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:29 AM on November 2, 2017
posted by uncleozzy at 6:29 AM on November 2, 2017
My favorite story is how the county that contains Cape Canaveral got the 321 prefix, as in 3-2-1 liftoff.
posted by RobotVoodooPower
Mine too! :-)
posted by danabanana at 6:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower
Mine too! :-)
posted by danabanana at 6:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I've read this somewhere so didn't come up with it myself, but at least in my social circle of people in their late 20s/early 30s, your area code doesn't indicate so much where you live as much as where you lived in c. 2005 or whenever you got your first cell phone.
Looking at the area codes of a random sample of friends who all currently live in New York, I have:
646 x 2: Manhattan
914 x 2: Westchester County
781 x 2: Boston outer suburbs
715: northern Wisconsin
720: Denver/Boulder
408: San Jose
617: Boston and inner suburbs
319: Iowa City
With one exception -- a friend who lived abroad for a while, thus losing their US number -- these correspond exactly to where these people lived in the mid-2000s.
(These are cell phone numbers, of course. I'm quite sure that no person on this list has a landline.)
posted by andrewesque at 6:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Looking at the area codes of a random sample of friends who all currently live in New York, I have:
646 x 2: Manhattan
914 x 2: Westchester County
781 x 2: Boston outer suburbs
715: northern Wisconsin
720: Denver/Boulder
408: San Jose
617: Boston and inner suburbs
319: Iowa City
With one exception -- a friend who lived abroad for a while, thus losing their US number -- these correspond exactly to where these people lived in the mid-2000s.
(These are cell phone numbers, of course. I'm quite sure that no person on this list has a landline.)
posted by andrewesque at 6:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I don't understand why they didn't use 1 and 2 as the middle digits initially, instead of 0 and 1. 0 was the worst number to dial on a rotary phone.
posted by Automocar at 6:44 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Automocar at 6:44 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'll give up my 212 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. -- Me. (And Elaine Benes.)
posted by rokusan at 6:56 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by rokusan at 6:56 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Obligatory XKCD reference.
That's where I saw it!
posted by andrewesque at 7:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
That's where I saw it!
posted by andrewesque at 7:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Enh, I still have a rotary phone hooked up in my living room. If I'm outside and a phone rings, I always know if it is our house or not. Plus, being attached to the wall with a cord means it doesn't disappear like the cordless phones. My kids answer it, but they won't dial out on it.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:20 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:20 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Automocar: "I don't understand why they didn't use 1 and 2 as the middle digits initially, instead of 0 and 1. 0 was the worst number to dial on a rotary phone."
It's because 1 and 0 weren't associated with letters and having a 1 or 0 in the second location distinguished area codes from central exchange codes which had letter derived numbers in the second position.
posted by Mitheral at 7:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
It's because 1 and 0 weren't associated with letters and having a 1 or 0 in the second location distinguished area codes from central exchange codes which had letter derived numbers in the second position.
posted by Mitheral at 7:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
fimbulvetr, my husband tells a cute story. It was 1995 and they were searching for the phone, which had gotten lost. And his elementary age daughter had this great idea. Why not put the phone on a cord? That way you could always find it!
posted by elizilla at 7:30 AM on November 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by elizilla at 7:30 AM on November 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Eventually someone will pitch "DNS for phone numbers", if they haven't already, and get very rich. Maybe they'll even print it as a book and distribute it for free! Everyone's name and number in tiny type! VCs will love it!
You laugh but the phone book is still an immensely profitable business but everyone knows it won't be at some point as its users die off, so it as a corporate entity gets bought and sold regularly, like a game of economic hot potato.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:35 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
You laugh but the phone book is still an immensely profitable business but everyone knows it won't be at some point as its users die off, so it as a corporate entity gets bought and sold regularly, like a game of economic hot potato.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:35 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
"(And then there’s Manitoba, which got 204, a more efficient code than the Toronto area got, but I digress.)"
Huh? If the 0 counts as 10, then 204 is 2+10+4 = 16.
Toronto's 416 is 4+1+6 = 11.
posted by rocket88 at 7:39 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Huh? If the 0 counts as 10, then 204 is 2+10+4 = 16.
Toronto's 416 is 4+1+6 = 11.
posted by rocket88 at 7:39 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's because 1 and 0 weren't associated with letters and having a 1 or 0 in the second location distinguished area codes from central exchange codes which had letter derived numbers in the second position.
Exactly. The prefix digits were previously associated with names (PEnnsylvania-6-5000!) when it was human operators but those became numbers. They wanted area codes to be mechanically distinguishable from prefixes so the area codes all had 1 or 0 in the middle which weren't associated with letters as Mitheral said.
Also, per the article, Manitoba's 204 isn't more efficient than Toronto's 416. What a weird aside - as someone upthread also noted, 0 was the worst rotary dial digit.
On the plus side I could mostly dial a number on a rotary phone by tapping the hang-up switch quickly, so rotary phones had that going for them.
posted by GuyZero at 7:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Exactly. The prefix digits were previously associated with names (PEnnsylvania-6-5000!) when it was human operators but those became numbers. They wanted area codes to be mechanically distinguishable from prefixes so the area codes all had 1 or 0 in the middle which weren't associated with letters as Mitheral said.
Also, per the article, Manitoba's 204 isn't more efficient than Toronto's 416. What a weird aside - as someone upthread also noted, 0 was the worst rotary dial digit.
On the plus side I could mostly dial a number on a rotary phone by tapping the hang-up switch quickly, so rotary phones had that going for them.
posted by GuyZero at 7:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
but I digress
"'And then there’s Manitoba'.....no, that's not quite right yet.......wait, what about 'And then there's Maude'!"
posted by thelonius at 7:42 AM on November 2, 2017
"'And then there’s Manitoba'.....no, that's not quite right yet.......wait, what about 'And then there's Maude'!"
posted by thelonius at 7:42 AM on November 2, 2017
fimbulvetr, my husband tells a cute story. It was 1995 and they were searching for the phone, which had gotten lost.
Kind of getting off topic here, but my college roommate in 1997 bought a 2.8ghz cordless phone (if I remember the number correctly), and was so excited he had my girlfriend drive him around the block so he could test the wireless range.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:44 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
That's taking those into account, or at least the ones that are really reserved and not sort of reserved by custom. If there weren't reserved numbers, we'd have enough for exactly 10 billion phone numbers.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
That's taking those into account, or at least the ones that are really reserved and not sort of reserved by custom. If there weren't reserved numbers, we'd have enough for exactly 10 billion phone numbers.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I've read this somewhere so didn't come up with it myself, but at least in my social circle of people in their late 20s/early 30s, your area code doesn't indicate so much where you live as much as where you lived in c. 2005 or whenever you got your first cell phone.
I was the first person in my family to have a non-pay-as-you-go cell phone and, at some point, my mom and brother joined me on a family plan. At the time, all the phone numbers had to be in the same area code, so they ended up with 510 numbers, despite barely having ever set foot in the East Bay. My mom eventually dropped off and got a Vermont number, but nearly 10 years later, my brother still has to explain he's never lived in Oakland.
posted by hoyland at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017
I was the first person in my family to have a non-pay-as-you-go cell phone and, at some point, my mom and brother joined me on a family plan. At the time, all the phone numbers had to be in the same area code, so they ended up with 510 numbers, despite barely having ever set foot in the East Bay. My mom eventually dropped off and got a Vermont number, but nearly 10 years later, my brother still has to explain he's never lived in Oakland.
posted by hoyland at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017
PEnnsylvania-6-5000!
Fun fact: the Hotel Pennsylvania's phone number is still (212) 736-5000.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Fun fact: the Hotel Pennsylvania's phone number is still (212) 736-5000.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:47 AM on November 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
God I love Metafilter! :)
I WANT THIS PHONE SO MUCH.
posted by Melismata at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
The existing scheme has room for 6.3 billion phone numbers for the areas using the numbering plan.
Less than that because of the blocks of reserved numbers (for example, xxx-555-xxxx).
God I love Metafilter! :)
I WANT THIS PHONE SO MUCH.
posted by Melismata at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
GuyZero: "On the plus side I could mostly dial a number on a rotary phone by tapping the hang-up switch quickly, so rotary phones had that going for them."
One of the few accurate bits of Hackers.
posted by Mitheral at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
One of the few accurate bits of Hackers.
posted by Mitheral at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Telephone numbers are rapidly turning into what IP numbers have been for years now-- a low-level implementation detail that fewer and fewer people will know or care about. Contacts can be added by clicking a link. You call someone by scrolling through a list or searching by name.Eh, we still call by number all the time at work, even though our office phones are hooked up to our computers so that we could probably indeed just click links from the intranet directory or something (at least for calls to coworkers). And of course, it's important to know numbers in case you lose/break your own device, or for any other reason are required to borrow another.
The DNS-equivalent thing would be a different story, of course. Though to some extent I do personally like the facelessness of a phone number.
posted by inconstant at 8:08 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Though to some extent I do personally like the facelessness of a phone number.
Just like I have multiple email addresses so I can enter contests without giving out my real email address, I maintain a landline and a Google Voice number so I don't give my real phone number to anybody who I don't actually know personally.
The idea of having a "real" number available just reminds me of telemarketing and spam. Which I don't get on my primary number or email address.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just like I have multiple email addresses so I can enter contests without giving out my real email address, I maintain a landline and a Google Voice number so I don't give my real phone number to anybody who I don't actually know personally.
The idea of having a "real" number available just reminds me of telemarketing and spam. Which I don't get on my primary number or email address.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:14 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
DNS for phone numbers is you phone's "Contacts" app.
posted by GuyZero at 8:16 AM on November 2, 2017
posted by GuyZero at 8:16 AM on November 2, 2017
Back in the mid-70s I was a programmer for Security Pacific National Bank (at that time the second largest bank in California.) We were implementing terminals (connected via telephone lines) at the bank branches state wide. This was to replace a complicated and labor intensive set of printouts of balances, printed state wide every night in one of two data centers and transported to each branch before it opened in the morning.
California didn't have one or two telephone companies; it had dozens and dozens for the little communities everywhere remote up and down the state. (Old mining towns in the Sierra foothills were frequently their own telephone company.) In some cases, SPNB purchased a new telephone switch for a telephone company (or helped them purchase the switch) to replace early 1900s technology such as a Strowger switch.
When I started at SPNB, there was no direct dial to Santa Catalina which is only 26 miles from the mainland. Many rural communities in Eastern California were on party lines or had no direct dial capability. You called Zenith 9000 and asked the human operator to connect you.
I believe Santa Catalina converted to direct dial in 1977 or 1978.
Zenith 1-2000 is still active and contacts the California Highway Patrol.
posted by blob at 8:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
California didn't have one or two telephone companies; it had dozens and dozens for the little communities everywhere remote up and down the state. (Old mining towns in the Sierra foothills were frequently their own telephone company.) In some cases, SPNB purchased a new telephone switch for a telephone company (or helped them purchase the switch) to replace early 1900s technology such as a Strowger switch.
When I started at SPNB, there was no direct dial to Santa Catalina which is only 26 miles from the mainland. Many rural communities in Eastern California were on party lines or had no direct dial capability. You called Zenith 9000 and asked the human operator to connect you.
I believe Santa Catalina converted to direct dial in 1977 or 1978.
Zenith 1-2000 is still active and contacts the California Highway Patrol.
posted by blob at 8:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
If you want to talk old, there was a body shop in my neighborhood whose phone number was on a sign outside with the old-style exchange name (CHapel 9-xxxx) well into the 90s, which was pretty odd. I think the other exchange in our town was MYrtle, although I'm not sure that I ever saw it in print.
IIRC, 9 was initially labeled WZ, making MYrtle an impossible exchange name once dial service began, but I may be misremembering. I know Q and X were never on Bell phones (they only showed up on cell phones for texting), and that 9 originally only had two letters, but I'm not positive which. Can you tell I spent a lot of time staring at the dial on the 1960s wall phone we had in the house I lived in in high school?
posted by wierdo at 8:19 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
IIRC, 9 was initially labeled WZ, making MYrtle an impossible exchange name once dial service began, but I may be misremembering. I know Q and X were never on Bell phones (they only showed up on cell phones for texting), and that 9 originally only had two letters, but I'm not positive which. Can you tell I spent a lot of time staring at the dial on the 1960s wall phone we had in the house I lived in in high school?
posted by wierdo at 8:19 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wierdo, Melismata links to an old rotary phone which shows 9 as having WXY and 0 having Z, which is how I remember rotary phones as well.
posted by blob at 8:32 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by blob at 8:32 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, and the article says middle digits 0/1 were used so 2-9 could be used for expansion. As someone mentioned above, the actual reason had to do with CO codes all being NNX originally, where N is 2-9 and X is 0-9. Step by step switches needed the early differentiation so they could connect the call to a long distance trunk without having to mechanically buffer a bunch of digits. By the time we needed more area codes, electronic switching made buffering feasible.
The distinction also allowed for 7/8 digit dialing of intra-LATA long distance calls without a bunch of hackery. (7 or 8 depending on whether your particular operating company required a leading 1 as a long distance signifier, as mine growing up did)
posted by wierdo at 8:39 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
The distinction also allowed for 7/8 digit dialing of intra-LATA long distance calls without a bunch of hackery. (7 or 8 depending on whether your particular operating company required a leading 1 as a long distance signifier, as mine growing up did)
posted by wierdo at 8:39 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
→ I WANT THIS PHONE SO MUCH.
You meant this telephone, surely?
posted by scruss at 8:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
You meant this telephone, surely?
posted by scruss at 8:42 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I work in technical support for a cellular service. And let me know you this, people take their phone number seriously. It is not pleasant being yelled at for informing a customer that because we're an MVNO we do not have the option to choose phone numbers and that they're randomly assigned.
And no I was not trying to say something about the customer and I didn't do this on purpose and I'm not sure why the random number that came out started with 666 and I'm also struggling to keep the laughter in my brain and mouth from coming out on this call because "calls are monitored for quality assurance".
posted by Fizz at 8:46 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
And no I was not trying to say something about the customer and I didn't do this on purpose and I'm not sure why the random number that came out started with 666 and I'm also struggling to keep the laughter in my brain and mouth from coming out on this call because "calls are monitored for quality assurance".
posted by Fizz at 8:46 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Melismata's linked phone is from the 40s or early 50s, before direct distance dialing. At some point between the two, the lettering changed. Z went away and 0 was labeled "OPERATOR." 9 lost a letter at some point also.
posted by wierdo at 8:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by wierdo at 8:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
If you want to talk old, there was a body shop in my neighborhood whose phone number was on a sign outside with the old-style exchange name (CHapel 9-xxxx) well into the 90s...I saw a metal sign, advertising a landscaping service, in this style (two letters, five digits) just last month. Now I wish I had dialed the number just to see what happened, but I don't know what area code would be appropriate.
The sign is affixed to the exterior of a restaurant whose claim to fame is that then-senator JFK held some sort of campaign event there in 1960. The place does not appear to have been updated since.
posted by Western Infidels at 8:53 AM on November 2, 2017
laid out in a seemingly logical way, like ZIP Codes are?
“Ahahaha. Hahahahaha. Hah.” – everyone who has worked with zip code data.
immediately there are three pathologies visible in this map
posted by zippy at 8:59 AM on November 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
“Ahahaha. Hahahahaha. Hah.” – everyone who has worked with zip code data.
immediately there are three pathologies visible in this map
posted by zippy at 8:59 AM on November 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
I'm on my phone so I can't search for pics, so it's possible I'm confusing the lettering on the 60s rotary wall phone and the 70s Slimline touch tone version. It could be that the former had ditched the Z but not the X, while the latter was missing the letter on 9. It's been over 20 years, after all. ;)
Speaking of old phone numbers, my sister still has my granddad's branded letter opener from the 40s. His phone number was something like 204. The address was just "Business Name Smalltown, Ark." Old phone books indicated that they went to 4 digit dialing a few years later, at which time everybody got a leading digit I can't remember. They didn't start having to dial the exchange code on local calls until around 1970, though it was assigned and used for dialing into town from elsewhere.
Also, we had a mobile home out in the sticks as a vacation spot when I was growing up. Didn't have a phone for the longest time, but when we finally did get one in the 90s, they still only had party lines available. There were enough wires that a couple of people in the area could have private lines by the late 90s, but they were stupid expensive. If you dialed long distance an operator would come on the line and ask "What number are you calling from?". I didn't understand the question the first time. Being a townie, I'd never had a party line. :p
posted by wierdo at 9:07 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Speaking of old phone numbers, my sister still has my granddad's branded letter opener from the 40s. His phone number was something like 204. The address was just "Business Name Smalltown, Ark." Old phone books indicated that they went to 4 digit dialing a few years later, at which time everybody got a leading digit I can't remember. They didn't start having to dial the exchange code on local calls until around 1970, though it was assigned and used for dialing into town from elsewhere.
Also, we had a mobile home out in the sticks as a vacation spot when I was growing up. Didn't have a phone for the longest time, but when we finally did get one in the 90s, they still only had party lines available. There were enough wires that a couple of people in the area could have private lines by the late 90s, but they were stupid expensive. If you dialed long distance an operator would come on the line and ask "What number are you calling from?". I didn't understand the question the first time. Being a townie, I'd never had a party line. :p
posted by wierdo at 9:07 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I went to school in eastern Los Angeles County, which had the honor of having area code 909: the worst area code to dial on a rotary phone.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
> middle digits 0/1 were used so 2-9 could be used for expansion. As someone mentioned above, the actual reason had to do with CO codes all being NNX originally, where N is 2-9 and X is 0-9.
From the dawn of area codes until 1995, they were formulated as [2-9] [0-1] [0-9].
After 1995 area codes could be [2-9] [0-8] [0-9]. Area codes are still not allowed to start with a 0 or 1, nor have 9 for a middle digit.
posted by ardgedee at 9:22 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
From the dawn of area codes until 1995, they were formulated as [2-9] [0-1] [0-9].
After 1995 area codes could be [2-9] [0-8] [0-9]. Area codes are still not allowed to start with a 0 or 1, nor have 9 for a middle digit.
posted by ardgedee at 9:22 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area in North Carolina has the area code 919.
So hereabouts we have public service announcements on the TV reminding people that their area code is 919, not 911. And that if they dial 911 by accident, they should NOT hang up but instead explain to the operator that they misdialed.
posted by ardgedee at 9:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
So hereabouts we have public service announcements on the TV reminding people that their area code is 919, not 911. And that if they dial 911 by accident, they should NOT hang up but instead explain to the operator that they misdialed.
posted by ardgedee at 9:25 AM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I grew up in a very small town in rural Illinois , and can remember having a candlestick phone without a dial up until about 1959 or 60. Our phone system (2100 people, more or less) worked on a Virginia basis. (Virginia was the name of our town's operator ;). You picked up a phone and gave her the number. As a small child, I can remember picking up the phone and hearing "Number Please?", and asking for my Daddy, and getting connected because of course Virginia knew who I was, as well as who my Daddy was and my Grandma, and my Aunt Shirley, and everyone else in town.
Now I can tell my phone to "dial Susie" and it does it. Doesn't seem like that much progress, but I do miss Virginia.
posted by pjern at 9:26 AM on November 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
Now I can tell my phone to "dial Susie" and it does it. Doesn't seem like that much progress, but I do miss Virginia.
posted by pjern at 9:26 AM on November 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
My dad was an engineer for Southwestern Bell. When I was a kid I attended a number of "cut-over" parties, usually barbeques in some small town that was converting from operators to direct dial. The ladies losing their jobs was considered a taboo topic at these celebrations...
I work for (the new) AT&T, i. e. the company that got to where it is by starting out as Southwestern Bell and buying up a bunch of the other companies created in the breakup in the '80s. There don't seem to be parties any more, but we're always figuring out how to "cut costs" and I try my hardest to not think about how that usually means people will lose their jobs. (Because, well, I like having a job.)
posted by madcaptenor at 9:37 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I work for (the new) AT&T, i. e. the company that got to where it is by starting out as Southwestern Bell and buying up a bunch of the other companies created in the breakup in the '80s. There don't seem to be parties any more, but we're always figuring out how to "cut costs" and I try my hardest to not think about how that usually means people will lose their jobs. (Because, well, I like having a job.)
posted by madcaptenor at 9:37 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Kids React to Rotary Phones; the small kids are cute and the pre-teens/young teens make me feel old; I had completely missed that, wow, rotary phones are entirely unknown, and even in old TV and movies, they're not common enough to have been picked up by younger people.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:39 AM on November 2, 2017
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:39 AM on November 2, 2017
My mother was a telephone operator in the 50s. She loved it, and had a lot of surprisingly amusing stories about it.
My mom was a "number please" operator in the 50s. They were officially not allowed to listen in on calls but they all did. The nice NJ Bell ladies knew all the dirt on people in town.
posted by octothorpe at 9:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
My mom was a "number please" operator in the 50s. They were officially not allowed to listen in on calls but they all did. The nice NJ Bell ladies knew all the dirt on people in town.
posted by octothorpe at 9:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
So hereabouts we have public service announcements on the TV reminding people that their area code is 919, not 911. And that if they dial 911 by accident, they should NOT hang up but instead explain to the operator that they misdialed.Gosh, I've lived there but never heard this. That's fantastic.
posted by inconstant at 10:09 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I had completely missed that, wow, rotary phones are entirely unknown, and even in old TV and movies, they're not common enough to have been picked up by younger people.
I made mention of a CD (compact disc) in front of a younger child the other day and the child didn't know what I was talking about. I'm 36. I get that CDs aren't super common any more but I had not realized that they had already made that generational jump where it's just not a thing that kids know.
*sighs*
posted by Fizz at 10:15 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I made mention of a CD (compact disc) in front of a younger child the other day and the child didn't know what I was talking about. I'm 36. I get that CDs aren't super common any more but I had not realized that they had already made that generational jump where it's just not a thing that kids know.
*sighs*
posted by Fizz at 10:15 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Also, remember those super long cords that you'd have connected to your family/kitchen phone. This is before the jump to wireless phone and so you had these long ass cords that would let you walk two rooms over to have a conversation. And then it'd just get tangled as shit as you're walking around and talking.
posted by Fizz at 10:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 10:18 AM on November 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm still irrationally pleased that my cell phone number uses the old Toronto area code (416) instead of the new one (647).
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 10:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 10:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
remember those super long cords that you'd have connected to your family/kitchen phone
My parents still have one of those on their kitchen phone. It is rotary, of course. They kept paying monthly rent on that phone until about 15 years ago when the phone company told them they could stop paying rent and just keep the damn thing. Probably best not to think about how much 35 years of monthly rent on a rotary phone added up to.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
My parents still have one of those on their kitchen phone. It is rotary, of course. They kept paying monthly rent on that phone until about 15 years ago when the phone company told them they could stop paying rent and just keep the damn thing. Probably best not to think about how much 35 years of monthly rent on a rotary phone added up to.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Nice! Tedium! I have been a long time fan of Ernie Smith's website, ever since it was ShortFormBlog. Great place to waste time learning about obscure things.
posted by beatThedealer at 10:26 AM on November 2, 2017
posted by beatThedealer at 10:26 AM on November 2, 2017
My phone system stories:
My hometown has had three area codes over my lifetime, and it's been sixteen years since the last change, so I'm sure a fourth is coming any day now.
When I was a child, I could call the number I was calling from and get a recorded message telling me that the line was currently in use, and to hang up so that the phone company could ring back when the line was no longer in use. Of course I would hang up immediately so I could pick the phone up and talk to... myself. This ended with the local introduction of Call Waiting, bane of modems.
My hometown added the 666 exchange in the late 80s. A classmate of mine lobbied her dad for months for her own phone line with a custom number: 666-2634, or 66-MANDI.
My grandparents had a home in eastern North Carolina, and their phone system differed from ours. On ours, you could keep the phone off the hook, and listen to the speaker cycle from dial tone to "if you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again" to fast busy to fast loud "you left the phone off the hook" beeps. At their place, you could leave the phone off the hook, and the dial tone would continue indefinitely, comfortingly.
Those same grandparents had the same phone numbers for their home and business ever since the introduction of seven-number dialing. I've always had both numbers in my personal phone speed dials/contact list, whether wired, cordless, flip or smart. The business is a family concern, and if you ever need an HVAC contractor in NC or VA, I will happily rattle off the number for my uncle's business from memory. In 2012, my grandmother joined my grandfather in death, but I found myself unwilling to delete her listing from my phone. (My wife and I still haven't.) Now, of course, we get social media notifications telling us to add a rando tween from back east because he's in our contacts. Sorry, "tsizzle," but there's no way your biscuits are as good as Grandma's.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
My hometown has had three area codes over my lifetime, and it's been sixteen years since the last change, so I'm sure a fourth is coming any day now.
When I was a child, I could call the number I was calling from and get a recorded message telling me that the line was currently in use, and to hang up so that the phone company could ring back when the line was no longer in use. Of course I would hang up immediately so I could pick the phone up and talk to... myself. This ended with the local introduction of Call Waiting, bane of modems.
My hometown added the 666 exchange in the late 80s. A classmate of mine lobbied her dad for months for her own phone line with a custom number: 666-2634, or 66-MANDI.
My grandparents had a home in eastern North Carolina, and their phone system differed from ours. On ours, you could keep the phone off the hook, and listen to the speaker cycle from dial tone to "if you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again" to fast busy to fast loud "you left the phone off the hook" beeps. At their place, you could leave the phone off the hook, and the dial tone would continue indefinitely, comfortingly.
Those same grandparents had the same phone numbers for their home and business ever since the introduction of seven-number dialing. I've always had both numbers in my personal phone speed dials/contact list, whether wired, cordless, flip or smart. The business is a family concern, and if you ever need an HVAC contractor in NC or VA, I will happily rattle off the number for my uncle's business from memory. In 2012, my grandmother joined my grandfather in death, but I found myself unwilling to delete her listing from my phone. (My wife and I still haven't.) Now, of course, we get social media notifications telling us to add a rando tween from back east because he's in our contacts. Sorry, "tsizzle," but there's no way your biscuits are as good as Grandma's.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:31 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
My hometown added the 666 exchange in the late 80s.
I would have thought that exchange wouldn't get used, because some people would have complained that they didn't want a 666 number. (And it's not like you could just give people a new number easily back in the old days of physical switching.)
posted by madcaptenor at 10:50 AM on November 2, 2017
I would have thought that exchange wouldn't get used, because some people would have complained that they didn't want a 666 number. (And it's not like you could just give people a new number easily back in the old days of physical switching.)
posted by madcaptenor at 10:50 AM on November 2, 2017
"...did you know you can figure out how important your state or province was circa 1961 by adding up the code's three digits? Zero equals 10."
Boston was 617 (sum of 14) while St. Paul, MN, had 612 (sum of 9).
I guess that theory checks out!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Boston was 617 (sum of 14) while St. Paul, MN, had 612 (sum of 9).
I guess that theory checks out!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:57 AM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I had a 609-area-code cell phone number (South Jersey) from the late nineties through 2014, during which time I lived in six different area codes. A few months after we moved to Atlanta I got a 404 number. (They had apparently run out of them a few months before we moved, but I guess someone had given their number back.)
Of course then we bought a house in the suburbs... so now I have a number that's "where I lived in 2014".
posted by madcaptenor at 11:01 AM on November 2, 2017
Of course then we bought a house in the suburbs... so now I have a number that's "where I lived in 2014".
posted by madcaptenor at 11:01 AM on November 2, 2017
I'm still irrationally pleased that my cell phone number uses the old Toronto area code (416)
But are you still calling Drake, late nights when you're all alone?
posted by GuyZero at 11:01 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
But are you still calling Drake, late nights when you're all alone?
posted by GuyZero at 11:01 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Pjern, this is a wonderful comment and I wish I could like it 50 more times.
posted by Annika Cicada at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
My dad's office number was 699-9995.
It was quicker to get on my bike and ride the two miles to talk to him face-to-face than it was to wait for all those damn clicks.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
It was quicker to get on my bike and ride the two miles to talk to him face-to-face than it was to wait for all those damn clicks.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I was in an antique store a few months ago. They had a rotary phone on display (because, you know, they're antique.) There was a 9-year-old kid in there with his mom. When examining the phone, he picked up the handset. His mom asked him if he knew what the thing was. And he did -- he told her it was an old phone. The she upped the ante and asked him, "If you had to make a call on that thing, how would you do it?"
He was still holding the handset out in front of him. He turned it over a few times, but never did put it up to his ear. He looked down at the rotary dial, tapped the buttons on the cradle. Then, in utter defeat, he said "I have no idea."
My other I-feel-so-old anecdote: A woman I work with has a 6-year-old. He was talking to his grandmother on her iPhone. In letting him know it was time to get off the phone, she said to him: "Okay, you need to hang up the phone now."
After a long, puzzled pause, he said "Hang it where?"
posted by mudpuppie at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
He was still holding the handset out in front of him. He turned it over a few times, but never did put it up to his ear. He looked down at the rotary dial, tapped the buttons on the cradle. Then, in utter defeat, he said "I have no idea."
My other I-feel-so-old anecdote: A woman I work with has a 6-year-old. He was talking to his grandmother on her iPhone. In letting him know it was time to get off the phone, she said to him: "Okay, you need to hang up the phone now."
After a long, puzzled pause, he said "Hang it where?"
posted by mudpuppie at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm in Maine, which still has one area code, 207; we know it's quaint.
Shooo, Idaho just entered the big time and now has TWO area codes. In addition to the old 209, we now have 986. Rather than split the state geographically, new phone numbers are assigned the new area code. Personally, I think it's a crock. They missed the big chance to divide the northern White Supremacist/apoco-preppers from the rest of us sane folks here in the southwestern part of the state. On the positive side, I suppose we can now identify all the Californians.
Yes indeed, I remember the joys of the party line--but then that went away.
Then we still only had to dial the last four plus the seven (7-xxxx) instead of the whole 587 prefix.
Eventually, we had two prefixes!
My supposition is that we will only end up with the 587/580 prefixes in this town, because our phone book for the land lines has gone from a quarter inch thick to a tri-fold pamphlet size with the advent of the cell phone.
If you really, really, really want to entertain a toddler/preschool kid, go find them one of the old plug in phones they can dial. Bonus points if it's an old black ATT desk phone. My grandkids nearly wore off the dial.
posted by BlueHorse at 12:00 PM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Shooo, Idaho just entered the big time and now has TWO area codes. In addition to the old 209, we now have 986. Rather than split the state geographically, new phone numbers are assigned the new area code. Personally, I think it's a crock. They missed the big chance to divide the northern White Supremacist/apoco-preppers from the rest of us sane folks here in the southwestern part of the state. On the positive side, I suppose we can now identify all the Californians.
Yes indeed, I remember the joys of the party line--but then that went away.
Then we still only had to dial the last four plus the seven (7-xxxx) instead of the whole 587 prefix.
Eventually, we had two prefixes!
My supposition is that we will only end up with the 587/580 prefixes in this town, because our phone book for the land lines has gone from a quarter inch thick to a tri-fold pamphlet size with the advent of the cell phone.
If you really, really, really want to entertain a toddler/preschool kid, go find them one of the old plug in phones they can dial. Bonus points if it's an old black ATT desk phone. My grandkids nearly wore off the dial.
posted by BlueHorse at 12:00 PM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The battle over area codes is also something I remember being very much a thing in the 90s.
Having a different area code meant you lived in an area that was either NEW or OLD and people would absolutely stereotype and class you into particular categories based on this type of information.
I'm sure it is still happening today. Oh you're not 214, you're 972. Oh you must be NEW MONEY. Or some other ridiculous shit.
posted by Fizz at 12:17 PM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Having a different area code meant you lived in an area that was either NEW or OLD and people would absolutely stereotype and class you into particular categories based on this type of information.
I'm sure it is still happening today. Oh you're not 214, you're 972. Oh you must be NEW MONEY. Or some other ridiculous shit.
posted by Fizz at 12:17 PM on November 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
My favorite phone number related story:
Among his other activities, Woz collects phone numbers, and his longtime goal has been to acquire a number with seven matching digits. But for most of Woz's life there were no Silicon Valley exchanges with three matching digits, so Woz had to be satisfied with numbers like 221-1111.
Then, one day, while eavesdropping on cell phone calls, Woz begin hearing a new exchange: 888. And then, after more months of scheming and waiting, he had it: 888-8888. This was his new cell-phone number, and his greatest philonumerical triumph.
The number proved unusable. It received more than a hundred wrong numbers a day. Given that the number is virtually impossible to misdial, this traffic was baffling. More strange still, there was never anybody talking on the other end of the line. Just silence. Or, not silence really, but dead air, sometimes with the sound of a television in the background, or somebody talking softly in English or Spanish, or bizarre gurgling noises. Woz listened intently.
Then, one day, with the phone pressed to his ear, Woz heard a woman say, at a distance, "Hey, what are you doing with that?" The receiver was snatched up and slammed down.
Suddenly, it all made sense: the hundreds of calls, the dead air, the gurgling sounds. Babies. They were picking up the receiver and pressing a button at the bottom of the handset. Again and again. It made a noise: "Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep."
The children of America were making their first prank call.
And the person who answered the phone was Woz.
posted by TedW at 12:20 PM on November 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
Among his other activities, Woz collects phone numbers, and his longtime goal has been to acquire a number with seven matching digits. But for most of Woz's life there were no Silicon Valley exchanges with three matching digits, so Woz had to be satisfied with numbers like 221-1111.
Then, one day, while eavesdropping on cell phone calls, Woz begin hearing a new exchange: 888. And then, after more months of scheming and waiting, he had it: 888-8888. This was his new cell-phone number, and his greatest philonumerical triumph.
The number proved unusable. It received more than a hundred wrong numbers a day. Given that the number is virtually impossible to misdial, this traffic was baffling. More strange still, there was never anybody talking on the other end of the line. Just silence. Or, not silence really, but dead air, sometimes with the sound of a television in the background, or somebody talking softly in English or Spanish, or bizarre gurgling noises. Woz listened intently.
Then, one day, with the phone pressed to his ear, Woz heard a woman say, at a distance, "Hey, what are you doing with that?" The receiver was snatched up and slammed down.
Suddenly, it all made sense: the hundreds of calls, the dead air, the gurgling sounds. Babies. They were picking up the receiver and pressing a button at the bottom of the handset. Again and again. It made a noise: "Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep."
The children of America were making their first prank call.
And the person who answered the phone was Woz.
posted by TedW at 12:20 PM on November 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
After 1995 area codes could be [2-9] [0-8] [0-9]. Area codes are still not allowed to start with a 0 or 1, nor have 9 for a middle digit.
Ah, yeah, my bad. I always forget about the middle 9 being reserved for area code expansion, likely by inserting a 9 as the second digit of existing codes to expand them to four digits. (305->3905, 212->2912, etc.)
These days, software remembers for me, as with so many things, so it's all slowly leaking out over time. :(At least I still remember my family's phone numbers from when I was a kid..)
posted by wierdo at 12:20 PM on November 2, 2017
Ah, yeah, my bad. I always forget about the middle 9 being reserved for area code expansion, likely by inserting a 9 as the second digit of existing codes to expand them to four digits. (305->3905, 212->2912, etc.)
These days, software remembers for me, as with so many things, so it's all slowly leaking out over time. :(At least I still remember my family's phone numbers from when I was a kid..)
posted by wierdo at 12:20 PM on November 2, 2017
Eventually someone will pitch "DNS for phone numbers",
They did.
Needless to say the idea never took off.
posted by dmd at 12:23 PM on November 2, 2017
They did.
Needless to say the idea never took off.
posted by dmd at 12:23 PM on November 2, 2017
I would have thought that exchange wouldn't get used, because some people would have complained that they didn't want a 666 number.
Perhaps like this Jesuit university.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2017
Perhaps like this Jesuit university.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2017
I would have thought that exchange wouldn't get used, because some people would have complained that they didn't want a 666 number.
madcaptenor, that's probably why it took so long to put the 666 exchange into use, and then only in a market with 6-prefixed exchanges already in place, that had the potential for rapid population and economic growth so as to minimize the chance of superstitious protest. And yet months after the first 666 numbers were assigned, the region's major employer announced its intentions to close their plant and pull up stakes. The secondary employers, who were major customers of the former primary employer, sent their operations overseas en masse a few years later. Today serious journals regularly feature articles about how my hometown is a terrible place to live, with no jobs and horrible neighbors. But I believe that very few of these calamities can be chalked up to Satanic telephonic influence.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:42 PM on November 2, 2017
madcaptenor, that's probably why it took so long to put the 666 exchange into use, and then only in a market with 6-prefixed exchanges already in place, that had the potential for rapid population and economic growth so as to minimize the chance of superstitious protest. And yet months after the first 666 numbers were assigned, the region's major employer announced its intentions to close their plant and pull up stakes. The secondary employers, who were major customers of the former primary employer, sent their operations overseas en masse a few years later. Today serious journals regularly feature articles about how my hometown is a terrible place to live, with no jobs and horrible neighbors. But I believe that very few of these calamities can be chalked up to Satanic telephonic influence.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:42 PM on November 2, 2017
I'm still irrationally pleased that my cell phone number uses the old Toronto area code (416) instead of the new one (647).
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 1:21 PM on November 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
Yeah, I was pretty late to the game for getting a cell phone but somehow when I went to get mine not only did I get a 416 area code (my wife who got her phone a year earlier has a 647 number) but it is easy to remember and almost has the same last 4 digits as my wife's number.
The phone number my family had during part of junior high and high school was composed entirely of 7s and 1s. That was a great phone number, maybe Woz has it now.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2017
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 1:21 PM on November 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
Yeah, I was pretty late to the game for getting a cell phone but somehow when I went to get mine not only did I get a 416 area code (my wife who got her phone a year earlier has a 647 number) but it is easy to remember and almost has the same last 4 digits as my wife's number.
The phone number my family had during part of junior high and high school was composed entirely of 7s and 1s. That was a great phone number, maybe Woz has it now.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:27 PM on November 2, 2017
Anecdote time
Young me had a father who worked for Ma Bell (AT&T, pre-breakup), in the rural midwest.
It blew the school nurses mind, and anyone else, when they asked me what phone number to call to reach a parent.
I said, "just dial 711"
"What?"
"Yeah, just like 911, but dial 711 instead"
"Really?"
"Yes."
And then they did it. And it worked. Any time, from any phone, anywhere in that region of the state, that number called my dad, wherever he was.
On top of that, I had the direct number to my mother's desk at the large institution where she worked. Nobody had this number. Everybody who wanted to call her had to go through the institutions main switchboard.
But not me!
Dad was fun.
posted by yesster at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Young me had a father who worked for Ma Bell (AT&T, pre-breakup), in the rural midwest.
It blew the school nurses mind, and anyone else, when they asked me what phone number to call to reach a parent.
I said, "just dial 711"
"What?"
"Yeah, just like 911, but dial 711 instead"
"Really?"
"Yes."
And then they did it. And it worked. Any time, from any phone, anywhere in that region of the state, that number called my dad, wherever he was.
On top of that, I had the direct number to my mother's desk at the large institution where she worked. Nobody had this number. Everybody who wanted to call her had to go through the institutions main switchboard.
But not me!
Dad was fun.
posted by yesster at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
> Gosh, I've lived there but never heard this. That's fantastic.
I don't know how ubiquitous the PSAs are (because that's something I'd need a TV for) but I've seen them on a few occasions.
My guess is that this was not a problem until relatively recently as people adapt to having to use area codes for local calls.
posted by ardgedee at 2:13 PM on November 2, 2017
I don't know how ubiquitous the PSAs are (because that's something I'd need a TV for) but I've seen them on a few occasions.
My guess is that this was not a problem until relatively recently as people adapt to having to use area codes for local calls.
posted by ardgedee at 2:13 PM on November 2, 2017
IIRC, back in the day my Hungarian grandfather's phone number was 13.
Just 13.
I think there were about sixty phones in the village.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:10 PM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Just 13.
I think there were about sixty phones in the village.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:10 PM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Idaho just entered the big time and now has TWO area codes.
Rhode Island still muddles through with the ol' 401.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:19 PM on November 2, 2017
Rhode Island still muddles through with the ol' 401.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:19 PM on November 2, 2017
You think area codes are bad? bah - try ip addresses...
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:31 PM on November 2, 2017
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:31 PM on November 2, 2017
zippy: Ahahaha. Hahahahaha. Hah.” – everyone who has worked with zip code data.
Indeed. Do not get me started. And read about Zip Code Tabulation Areas, which attempt to map zip codes to actual areas on maps. Because they aren’t areas on maps, to begin with.
Re: PSAs to not dial 911 instead of 919: I actually did this once. On an airport pay phone, back when those still existed. I didn’t actually think it was 911, having had a 919 area code most of my life; my finger just jogged on the 1. But I did panic and hang up — I thought I’d hung up before the call had gone through, but apparently not. A cop came by a few minutes later and asked if I’d seen anyone call 911 and hang up. I played dumb and did not get in trouble. But yeah, kids, if you make that typo on the kind of phone where the numbers go through immediately as you dial them, don’t hang up.
posted by snowmentality at 8:38 PM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Indeed. Do not get me started. And read about Zip Code Tabulation Areas, which attempt to map zip codes to actual areas on maps. Because they aren’t areas on maps, to begin with.
Re: PSAs to not dial 911 instead of 919: I actually did this once. On an airport pay phone, back when those still existed. I didn’t actually think it was 911, having had a 919 area code most of my life; my finger just jogged on the 1. But I did panic and hang up — I thought I’d hung up before the call had gone through, but apparently not. A cop came by a few minutes later and asked if I’d seen anyone call 911 and hang up. I played dumb and did not get in trouble. But yeah, kids, if you make that typo on the kind of phone where the numbers go through immediately as you dial them, don’t hang up.
posted by snowmentality at 8:38 PM on November 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Automocar: "I don't understand why they didn't use 1 and 2 as the middle digits initially, instead of 0 and 1. 0 was the worst number to dial on a rotary phone."
Boy was it ever. I was a shy teenage boy in the 70s. Our phones were rotary, and our suburb's prefixes were 961, 962, and 968. Most of the girls I knew also lived in that town, so they had numbers in those ranges.
The higher the digits were in a number, the longer it took to "drag the [digit] all the way around". And when you're overflowing with anxious awkwardness about what you're going to try to say to a girl (or worse, her dad or mom who might answer), the phone dial seemed lead-weighted and molasses-slow to a reluctant finger. So dialing each of a 9-6-8 plus other high digits could feel Sisyphean.
That was just the beginning, though. Once you dialed a digit, you had to release the dial to let it rotate back to rest before wrenching it around for the next one. Or maybe not. As that zero or nine or eight hole began to swing back counter-clockwise, time could seem to slow down like the cliched scene in an action movie when the bad thing switches to slow motion and the hero yells "No-o-o-o-o!". There were countless times when I would watch the dial begin to rotate back, with a spasm of shyness moving at light speed through my neurons while the zero hole spun so slowly through its long arc that I could hear the individual clicks, and I'd stab my finger into the nearest hole to stop it. Then (try to) try again.
It's a good thing that those Western Electric phones were built like tanks, with all the extra stop-&-start mileage our dials got, and the death grip pressure my other hand sweatily inflicted on the handset.
The only female-related phone number I remember fondly from those days belonged to a girl who was smart, beautiful, interesting, and easy to talk to, but who also had a number that followed the Fibonacci sequence. That not only delighted my nerdy side, but it made the dialing into a manageable progression: "OK ... I can do 1 ... now I make it to 2 ...". The hitch was that she was the girlfriend of one of my best friends. Well, nobody's perfect.
posted by NumberSix at 11:07 PM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Boy was it ever. I was a shy teenage boy in the 70s. Our phones were rotary, and our suburb's prefixes were 961, 962, and 968. Most of the girls I knew also lived in that town, so they had numbers in those ranges.
The higher the digits were in a number, the longer it took to "drag the [digit] all the way around". And when you're overflowing with anxious awkwardness about what you're going to try to say to a girl (or worse, her dad or mom who might answer), the phone dial seemed lead-weighted and molasses-slow to a reluctant finger. So dialing each of a 9-6-8 plus other high digits could feel Sisyphean.
That was just the beginning, though. Once you dialed a digit, you had to release the dial to let it rotate back to rest before wrenching it around for the next one. Or maybe not. As that zero or nine or eight hole began to swing back counter-clockwise, time could seem to slow down like the cliched scene in an action movie when the bad thing switches to slow motion and the hero yells "No-o-o-o-o!". There were countless times when I would watch the dial begin to rotate back, with a spasm of shyness moving at light speed through my neurons while the zero hole spun so slowly through its long arc that I could hear the individual clicks, and I'd stab my finger into the nearest hole to stop it. Then (try to) try again.
It's a good thing that those Western Electric phones were built like tanks, with all the extra stop-&-start mileage our dials got, and the death grip pressure my other hand sweatily inflicted on the handset.
The only female-related phone number I remember fondly from those days belonged to a girl who was smart, beautiful, interesting, and easy to talk to, but who also had a number that followed the Fibonacci sequence. That not only delighted my nerdy side, but it made the dialing into a manageable progression: "OK ... I can do 1 ... now I make it to 2 ...". The hitch was that she was the girlfriend of one of my best friends. Well, nobody's perfect.
posted by NumberSix at 11:07 PM on November 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
In case you were wondering what all those pulses were doing when you dialed, here's an AT&T training video from 1951 showing how they worked with the phone switches to connect your call.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:28 AM on November 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:28 AM on November 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
> My guess is that this was not a problem until relatively recently as people adapt to having to use area codes for local calls.
Indeed - 10-digit dialing became required in 2012 in Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Orange, Wake and Wayne counties in North Carolina.
I remember the PSA's, as well as local employers, including mine at the time, having to issue directives to their employees to reprogram speed dial buttons and devices such as fax machines.
posted by research monkey at 4:17 PM on November 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Indeed - 10-digit dialing became required in 2012 in Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Orange, Wake and Wayne counties in North Carolina.
I remember the PSA's, as well as local employers, including mine at the time, having to issue directives to their employees to reprogram speed dial buttons and devices such as fax machines.
posted by research monkey at 4:17 PM on November 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
And misdialing 911 by mistake continued being a problem into 2014, at least.
posted by research monkey at 4:24 PM on November 3, 2017
posted by research monkey at 4:24 PM on November 3, 2017
→ the old Toronto area code (416) instead of the new one (647).
Hey, even 647's legacy now: it's almost full. Most new Toronto numbers are 437 area code.
posted by scruss at 7:25 PM on November 3, 2017
Hey, even 647's legacy now: it's almost full. Most new Toronto numbers are 437 area code.
posted by scruss at 7:25 PM on November 3, 2017
« Older A Wolf in Dancing Shoes | “They hated it. Hated. Especially the fans.” Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
did you know you can figure out how important your state or province
was circa 1961 by adding up the code's three digits? Zero equals 10."
"No."
"It's because zeros used to take forever to go around the little
rotary dial - while ones zipped along quickest. The lowest possible
code, 212, went to the busiest place, New York City. Los Angeles got
213. Alaska got 907. See my point?"
Karla always comes up with the best digressions. "Yes."
"Imagine Angie Dickinson in Los Angeles (213) telephoning Suzanne
Pleshette in Las Vegas (702) sometime before the Kennedy
assassination. She dials the final '2,' breaks a fingernail, and
cusses a shit under her breath, irritated at Suzanne for being in a
location with a loser area code."
"How come you won't call your family?"
"Dan, let it rest."
--Douglas Coupland, Microserfs
posted by logicpunk at 5:21 AM on November 2, 2017 [39 favorites]