Exchange names are also of interest to pop culture mavens. Glenn Miller s 1940 hit Pennsylvania 6-50

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Jeffrey Osman of Chicago s Bucktown neighborhood is sure of it. He remembers calling his friend Richie, a Humboldt Park resident, by dialing HUmboldt 6-5127. Translation on the telephone keypad: 486-5127.
Before 1977, Chicago phone numbers were often listed as Jeffrey remembers. The letters, which signified longer words, had once stood for exchanges places where operators directed calls by plugging cords into switchboards with electric jacks that corresponded to individual telephone numbers.
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What did we find after we dialed up the history of numbers and phone technology? Two big points. The first is that today s smartphone users the most savvy of which rarely even use phone numbers may not realize there was a time when dialing pals required a working list of phone numbers and perhaps letters. It was also best to have a mental map of where contacts were physically located!
Let s go back to the beginning. Chicago s first telephone exchange opened in 1878. Then, you actually told the operator the name and address you were trying to reach. Chicago s first switchboards were at the telephone company s central office downtown, and in two branches at Halsted Street and Canal Street.
Until 1923 , a dialer would call an operator and ask for the person they wanted car rentals in maui to reach by giving their exchange name or number. Phone numbers were just three or four digits, with an exchange name tacked onto the front . Names were sometimes selected to be memorable or easily understood over the phone. CALUMET-555, for example, could be taken from local Chicago geography.
From 1921-1948 , dialers car rentals in maui used three letters and four numbers. Operator-free dialing had also become common ( the unlikely origins of the first automatic, operator-free dialing is the subject of an episode of 99 Percent Invisible ). Exchanges were given three-digit numbers and names that could be signified by the letters located on phone dials. CALUMET, for example, car rentals in maui was 225 (CAL).
In 1948 local exchange name codes shrunk to just two letters, making room for a fifth digit that would allow phone companies to meet growing car rentals in maui demand for new numbers. When possible, the old exchange names were preserved to continue the example above, Calumet became CAlumet 5. Some number combinations didn t spell much at all, let alone a name that happened to have local significance. AT T had national lists of recommended exchange names, so some of Chicago s old exchange prefixes have nothing to do with the region .
It s probably no surprise that history buffs are interested in anything having to do with changing technology, but you may not realize that some small groups are dedicated enough to maintain databases of the names. One group The Telephone EXchange Name Project continues to accept car rentals in maui new entries.
Exchange names are also of interest car rentals in maui to pop culture car rentals in maui mavens. Glenn Miller s 1940 hit Pennsylvania 6-5000 got its name from the phone number for The Hotel Pennsylvania in New York 212-736-5000 supposedly the city s longest car rentals in maui continuously operational phone number. Elizabeth Taylor won her first Oscar for the 1960 movie BUtterfield 8, The film was named for the telephone exchange used by its main character.