Remember Your First Home Phone Number?

-
dibbons

dibbons

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
5,827
Reaction score
3,893
Location
La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
Back in the '60's the phone numbers were remembered using two letters followed by five numbers. Our home phone begin with "ES" and my best friends phone began with "AN" followed by the five digits. I will never forget those two phone numbers. Well, up until now I have not forgotten them.

article:

Why Did Old Phone Numbers Start With Letters?

phone.jpeg
 
I'm 71

We moved into the house that Dad and Gramps had built, when I was 6 years old, in 1954. At that time and for several years after, we had a hand crank "farm" wall phone, with about 20 customers on the "party line." Our "ring" was 4 short rings, and the number was 19F4, which meant that we were the 19th customer of the "F" farm line, and our ring was "fast 4"

On a side note, the house is only 2 miles from 1st Ave "downtown."

Pretty much like this one

s-l1000.jpg


Inside is a hand crank magneto --I had a couple of them, they will shock you--and a couple of th ebig old huge dry cells

20762248_5_l.jpg


20762248_3_x.jpg
 
Last edited:
772-8133 my uncle got the number for his cell phone. My grandparents had the number when they went from 5 digits to 7.
 
The old crank phone was “1 full crank, pause...1 full + 1/2 crank, pause...2 full cranks.” A real PITA to listen for your call-sign on the party line.

First dial phone was WY5-3512 (pronounced “why down” 5-3512).
 
Wow, you guys are OLD!
I'M 62. We moved into our first house when I was 7. My number was 301-725-8366. We were one of the few that didn't have a party line.
 
Our first number was a 7 digit in the city, but when we moved to the country, we had a party line. And we live at the corner of 3 different exchanges, so everything was long distance, even the houses on both sides of us. It was the reason we never got calls from our friends in town. Now, if you got to town and wanted to call someone in town, you went to the pay phone in the park and dialed the last 4 numbers of their phone number, free of charge. They only charged you .10c if you dialed anything that didn’t have the towns prefix numbers. So we just waited till we got to town to call anybody. We hitch hiked everywhere we went as teenagers, sometimes going to town and back 3-4 times a day. Someone would always pick you up, and you knew who was going where, and when. Farmers going to Aunt Bettys for their breakfast “meeting” at 6am, folks going to work or coming home....you just walked up to the road and in a few minutes of their scheduled passing, there they would be. That was back when you could just hop in the bed of Mr. Wylie’s truck and get where you were going. Probably a ticket now, to save us from ourselves!
 
furyus2 said:
Wow, you guys are OLD!
I'M 62. We moved into our first house when I was 7. My number was 301-725-8366. We were one of the few that didn't have a party line.
Click to expand...
HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not old.....I'm well seasoned (with a little patina). And maybe I might not be able to cut the mustard..... I can still lick the jar (and I still do!!!)!!!!
 
OL6-31xx

This number still works today 60 years later.
 
Last edited:
JU8-4192 when I can first remember. Sometime prior to 1970 when we moved, the JU was replaced with a 58.
 
When I was a little boy we were on a farm party line. My mom taught me to take my right hand , palm up, and look at my fingers. 2 shorts, a long, and a short was our ring. If that ring came up I had to quick find her and let her know that "our" phone was ringing. And yes I'm 67 years old and still remember the number. 988-4***. By the way my Mom just turned 96!!! And sharp as a tack! Happy Birthday Mom.
 
PlumCrazyJay said:
When I was a little boy we were on a farm party line. My mom taught me to take my right hand , palm up, and look at my fingers. 2 shorts, a long, and a short was our ring. If that ring came up I had to quick find her and let her know that "our" phone was ringing. And yes I'm 67 years old and still remember the number. 988-4***. By the way my Mom just turned 96!!! And sharp as a tack! Happy Birthday Mom.
Click to expand...
I would be thrilled to be as sharp as a ball peen hammer when I'm 96!!!:mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top