Houston Phone Numbers Became Numbers

[Subdude]

There was no voice mail, or "for this, press 1, for that, press 2.

We should go back to that.

I'm not sure about this, but I think that back then you didn't actually buy your phone, it was somehow leased from the phone company, and they came in black or funky green.

[dbigtex56]

Absolutely correct. Ma Bell leased phones and forbade people from buying their own. Their contention was that non-Bell phones might be of inferior quality and would interfere with the phone system. If someone was to damage their phone, Ma Bell made the repairs. The charges were pretty steep.

Of course, if you wanted to pay a little extra and get a 'designer' color or Princess model, Bell was all too happy to help.

I think it took a court ruling, but people were finally allowed to purchase - not lease - their phones about 25 years ago.

[gnu]

yeah, I think all (or a lot of) phones were leased up until the breakup of AT&T around 1980. I remember my grandma had this cool old black phone from the 40's - at least. Very heavy and solid, lots of deco design influences. When she moved to DC in the late seventies, she had to turn in her phone because it had been leased! I wanted to keep it (ie. steal it) but back then you didnt mess with the "phone company"

[lowspark]

We should go back to that.

I'm not sure about this, but I think that back then you didn't actually buy your phone, it was somehow leased from the phone company, and they came in black or funky green.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yeah. You had to rent your phone, and pay for it every month in the phone bill. And a princess phone cost extra. So did colors. WHAT A RIP OFF!

Then in about 1980 or so, you had to turn in your rented phone and buy your own. They were pretty expensive to buy back then too!

And yes, I do remember rotary phones. You can still see them in old movies sometimes. I remember telling my kids about them, and I said, I hated phone numbers with too many zeros. You had to rotate that dial ALL THE WAY AROUND, and wait for it to come all the way back! How funny that all seems now.

[gnu]

BTW, I still have a rotary phone. It was in the attic when we moved in. I hooked it up in a spare bedroom. It works great, the receiver is very solid. Of course, I don't use it too often..especially nowadays with the 10-digit dialing.

[Ashikaga]

Absolutely correct. Ma Bell leased phones and forbade people from buying their own. Their contention was that non-Bell phones might be of inferior quality and would interfere with the phone system. If someone was to damage their phone, Ma Bell made the repairs. The charges were pretty steep.

Of course, if you wanted to pay a little extra and get a 'designer' color or Princess model, Bell was all too happy to help. 

I think it took a court ruling, but people were finally allowed to purchase - not lease - their phones about 25 years ago.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're right. In 1982 the telecommunications industry was deregulated as a result of the courts ruling that AT&T was a monopoly. Years ago it costs more, but it was simpler. After 1982, everyone was swamped by MCI, Sprint, and numerous other long distance companies.

Up until 1983, area code 713 covered not only all of Houston, but all of the southeastern corner of Texas including Beaumont (the city that I graduated from high school in), Port Arthur, Orange, Jasper, Galveston, etc. Nowadays when you drive just a few miles, you don't know if you've entered a new area code or not. Now 713 is the very innermost part of Houston.

Chet Cuccia

[Subdude]

Here is area code trivia that I heard (but I can't prove it's true). When they originally introduced the area codes, the ones that were easiest to dial on a rotary telephone went to the largest metropolitan areas at the time. That meant that the middle digit was a "1" instead of "0", and the first and third digits were small so you didn't have to wait long for the dial to spin around. New York, the biggest city, got 212 because it was easiest to dial. Next Chicago got 312 and LA 213. Maybe Houston's having 713 is an indication of our size at the time.

[Ashikaga]

Here is area code trivia that I heard (but I can't prove it's true).  When they originally introduced the area codes, the ones that were easiest to dial on a rotary telephone went to the largest metropolitan areas at the time.  That meant that the middle digit was a "1" instead of "0", and the first and third digits were small so you didn't have to wait long for the dial to spin around.  New York, the biggest city, got 212 because it was easiest to dial.  Next Chicago got 312 and LA 213.  Maybe Houston's having 713 is an indication of our size at the time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might not be too far "off base."

Chet Cuccia

[Perimeter285]

When area codes were first assigned, states with multiple area codes had codes with "1" as the center digit. States with only one area code had "0" as the middle digit. Since Texas had multiple area codes, Houston and Southeast Texas got one with a 1 in the middle: 713.

It all stood to reason: states with multiple area codes were usually more populous and therefore fielded more phone calls. Since "0" took longer than "1" to dial on old rotary phones, then the states with the most phone calls got the area codes that took less time to dial.

[Ashikaga]

BTW, I still have a rotary phone.  It was in the attic when we moved in.  I hooked it up in a spare bedroom.  It works great, the receiver is very solid.  Of course, I don't use it too often..especially nowadays with the 10-digit dialing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, you couldn't use a rotary dial phone even if you wanted to because 9 out of every 10 businesses you call are answered by a recording that tells you to "press 1" or "press 2" for this or that.

Chet Cuccia

[Diane]

Among those I remember are:

86

[sevfiv]

If you go into the Julia Ideson library (the old library building next to the Central Library, very beautiful 1926 interior, by the way) they have old City Directories where you can look up the old exchanges by street address. You can also see which houses on each street had phones year by year and what the phone # was. My house got a phone for the first time in, I think, 1939 and the exchange was Wayside.

i have a 1955 city directory, and it is very interesting to look through. it is especially helpful that the directories have reverse look-ups (not only by name of business/person, but listings by street name and number).

and the ideson building/texas room is an indispensable source for houston information...

[57Tbird]

The earliest exchange I can remember is from when I lived on Elgin in the early 40's. It was Lehigh-6464 (dial L-6464). We moved to Southampton about 1946 and our exchange was LYnchberg (LY-), which begat LYnchberg9 (LY9-), which became JAckson9 (JA9-), and then just 529-. What was interesting was the party line that we always had, that we shared with someone else. Finally got a private line in the early 50's.

[HoustonianInColorado]

I am 52, but still remember my phone numbers when I was a child. While in Kindergarten I lived in Bellaire and the number was MAdison 3-9975. The next year, we moved to Sharpstown, and the number was GYpsy 4-2931. The Gypsy exchange was changed to Prescott for some reason later, and the number would have become PRescott 4-2931. Once they implemented direct distance dialing (DDD) in the old Bell System, they added Area Codes (NPAs in Telephonese, for Numbering Plan Area), and they went to all number dialing. Thus PR 4 exchange was the same as 774. The number would then have become 713-774-2931.

[Heights2Bastrop]

It wasn

[Ashikaga]

It wasn’t that long ago that phone directories showed the person’s occupation and/or where they worked. I know the huge cross reference directory from the early 70s showed that information.

In the same vein, as late as the 50s, the newspapers used to include the address of the person in an article whether it was about a crime or simply a human interest story.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now it's mostly city directories that list a person's name, address, phone number and occupation. Nowadays, many people are opting-out of having anything about themselves listed in either the telephone or in the city directory because of identity theft.

I, personally, have no problem with my name being listed in the telephone book because of Caller ID. If someone calls that I don't want to talk to, I simply don't answer my telephone. But I would have my number non-published (not just unlisted) if Caller ID had not been invented.

[Watchful]

As I remember it, most of the downtown businesses in Houston  had the CApitol numbers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK...who recognizes this phone number:

CApitol 2-7171

[57Tbird]

OK...who recognizes this phone number:

CApitol 2-7171

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Doggone! Had forgotten all about that until I saw it. That was time service wasn't it? Used it many times. I think the current temperture was later incorporated in addition to the time. It started out as just Capitol-7171 as far back as I can remember.

[Watchful]

Doggone!  Had forgotten all about that until I saw it.  That was time service wasn't it?  Used it many times.  I think the current temperture was later incorporated in addition to the time. It started out as just Capitol-7171 as far back as I can remember.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're fast! And if I remember correctly, you could dial 222-71xx (anything for the last two numbers) and you would still get it - so in the days of the old rotary phones, I got in the habit of dialing 222-7111.

[Trophy Property]

The small town I grew up in had some very old phone switching equipment until about 1992 or 1993. Every phone in town was in the same exchange, so the way we dialed local calls was by just dialing the last five digits. If you dialed all seven digits for a local call, the call would not connect because the equipment was set up with every line on the same exchange. For example, my home number was 283-5968 and Dad's work number was 283-2231. To dial him at work from the house, you'd just dial 32231. Touch tone phones would also not work on that system -- just about everyone had the old rotary dial phones (Dad's store still has one that they still use!) or a push button phone set to the pulse setting. After SBC installed new phone switching equipment shortly after I graduated high school, touch tone phones could be used, and you were forced to dial the 2 and 8 for local calls. It took a long time for many people to break the habit of not dialing those two numbers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My parents owned a house in Breckenridge, Colorado until 1994 and way back in the early 80's I remember only having to dial the 4 numbers. Every phone is the city had the prefix 453. As the town grew I assume this all changed. I just remember dialing the four digits. Interesting.

[Trophy Property]

You're fast!  And if I remember correctly, you could dial 222-71xx (anything for the last two numbers) and you would still get it - so in the days of the old rotary phones, I got in the habit of dialing 222-7111. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It does not work anymore. How is a person expected to the get the time if he does not own a clock, computer, cell phone, beeper or watch. All 6 of them.

[Ashikaga]

My parents owned a house in Breckenridge, Colorado until 1994 and way back in the early 80's I remember only having to dial the 4 numbers.  Every phone is the city had the prefix 453.    As the town grew I assume this all changed.  I just remember dialing the four digits.    Interesting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

On "Hee-Haw," I think that most people will remember "Junior Sample's Used Cars." He would always say: "The number to call is BR-549."

[HoustonianInColorado]

Who remembers this other Capital Number: CA4-6868?

[sevfiv]

the chronicle?

[Watchful]

Who remembers this other Capital Number:  CA4-6868?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And its counterpart.....WA6-8237....anyone?

[Ashikaga]

My parents owned a house in Breckenridge, Colorado until 1994 and way back in the early 80's I remember only having to dial the 4 numbers.  Every phone is the city had the prefix 453.    As the town grew I assume this all changed.  I just remember dialing the four digits.    Interesting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember one place we lived at we had to share a party line with our next door neighbors. We got along with them pretty good, so it wasn't too bad.

[HoustonianInColorado]

the chronicle?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, the Chronicle Classifieds as I recall.

[notsuoh]

How about:  FA-irfax,  MI-lby,  OL-ive,  MI-ssion,  VA-lentine &  PR-esident ?  As I remember it, most of the downtown businesses in Houston  had the CApitol numbers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

dont forget PR for preston

you can go to the texas room and look at the old city directories (you only have to go back to around the 60s) to see the phone numbers listed that way. If you have never been to Texas room at the library, go there immediately!

[Watchful]

And its counterpart.....WA6-8237....anyone?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This was W-A-N-T-A-D-S which was the Houston Post classifieds.

[sevfiv]

this site still shows some of the exchanges:

http://www.fonefinder.net/findome.php?npa=...Number&cityname