Houston Phone Numbers Became Numbers

[gonzo1976]

Does anybody remember Pac Mans number 322 and Froggers was 611 when you would dail them you would here a sound effect like a frog catching a fly or here Pac Man music. I never hear this two numbers in any advertisement. I wonder who or what i was calling. This was about 1982-83. I got these digits from my friends.

I remember that. It was right around that time period, too. I dialed the Pac-Man number.

[smackypete]

and from 1955:

CA - Capitol

FA - Fairfax

GL - Glendale

GR - Greenwood

HI - Hickory

HI - Hillcrest

HO - Homestead

HU - Hudson

JA - Jackson

MA - Madison

ME - Melrose

MI - Mission

MO - Mohawk

OL - Olive

OR - Orchard

OV - Overland

OX - Oxford

UN - Underwood

WA - Walnut

NE - Neptune (63x-) Homestead Rd. north of present day I-610

[technoevil]

I remember that phone test line. We did that too! We would set it up for my mom to answer. There used to be a "robot line" too. You could call it and it would produce some really unique noises to that time during the 1970's. 455-5555 or something like that. Maybe it was one of the first fax lines or something.

In Sugar Land with Alltel you can dial your own number then immediatly hang up and the phones will ring. I have tried it on SBC/AT&T and it dosent work.

[SpaceAge]

Telephone prefixes from 1966 Houston city directory:

CA - Capitol

DI - Diamond

FA - Fairfax

GE - General

GL - Glendale

GR - Greenwood

GY - Gypsy

HI - Hickory

HI - Hillcrest

HO - Hobart

HO - Homestead

HU - Hudson

HU - Hunter

ID - Idlewood

JA - Jackson

MA - Madison

ME - Melrose

MI - Mission

MO - Mohawk

NA - National

NE - Neptune

NO - Northfield

OL - Oldfield

OL - Olive

OR - Orchard

OV - Overland

OX - Oxford

PA - Parkfield

PR - Prescott

RE - Republic

RI - Riverside

SK - Skyline

SU - Sunset

SW - Swift

TW - Twilight

UN - Underwood

WA - Walnut

[Guest Marty]

I found a Rand McNally's 1947 edition Road and Reference Atlas

Compliments of

Joe Jolesch

The Insurance Man

Phone 68

Ennis, Texas

Edited November 13, 2006 by Marty

[plumber2]

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.

There was also a number you could call (think it was 999-9999 or something like that) and you could

talk on the "grapevine" to total strangers. It allowed 5 or 6 people at a time to talk with each other. A service message would come on every few minutes asking you to hang up and redail, but it was real cool back then to get "on-line". This was like our 60's version of the "Internet".

don't foget 78 SUnset (West Houston west of Post Oak)

and 68 OVerland (Houston Heights)

[Ol' SEHouston Girl]

Southeast Houston had MIssion and OLive numbers. My uncles and aunts have the same numbers that they had 40-50 years ago and I still remember them by the exchanges, not the 7 numbers.

[brerrabbit]

MI3-7274 My parents had that number for 40years in Southeast Houston

[Firebird65]

My parents had HI7-5248 for 37 years.

The Hillcrest exchange came into existence in 1955. Prior to that, the Airline area had Melrose.

[northbeaumont]

I remember that phone test line. We did that too! We would set it up for my mom to answer. There used to be a "robot line" too. You could call it and it would produce some really unique noises to that time during the 1970's. 455-5555 or something like that. Maybe it was one of the first fax lines or something.

Here in Beaumont, you would dial 410411, hang up, and the phone would ring.

[Stephen]

When I lived in Pennington, TX, we had a similar thing. To call anywhere in Pennington, you just dialed the last 4 digits. To call to another town nearby, you just dialed a prefix digit + the last 4 numbers. Crockett, for example was like 5+1234.

It was still like that in New Hampshire, where I grew up, into at least 1987 by my memory. When they changed it so you had to dial the whole seven digits, my dad had a conspiracy theory that it was so that we would be confused and more likely to dial a long distance number accidentally and thus pay more for the phone bill.

[Mikeytex]

Yes, back then there was no Caller ID/Answering Machines/Voice Mail/Call Waiting, etc. If your phone rang, you had no choice but to answer it and hope that it wasn't a bill collector. If you called someone and you heard a busy signal, you had to hang up and try calling them again later.

The only way around that was to call the operator and tell them it was an emegency, and most times they would cut into the line...............I actually never did that, but I had friends that did.

[Firebird65]

Does anyone know when the Melrose (ME ) exchange started? I grew up in Northline Terrace, and that was Hillcrest (HI) from 1955 on. But before the area got HI, it was ME. However, when I looked in old phone books for the exchange maps, I couldn't find anything for the areas outside the city (as this area was back then) prior to 1950. I know the area did have ME at least as far back as 1935, but know how much further back it went.

[TikiOwl]

Willow Bend started out as MOhawk (1956) and sometime later approx (1958) became PArkview.

[Vertigo58]

In the 1960's my dad said Houston had a unique dialing code (like a bunch of letters instead of numbers) can someone give me any more info on what that was like. I'm REALLY curious!

He found an old menu from "Juniors" and when the Astrodome opened which had these "letters" instead of numbers. I hope someone knows what I'm talking about. Its hard to explain. :-/

Our phone # (in the 60's) was OR 36370 and I still never forget it. Which is weird because I was only about 6-7 years old when we moved and it changed but to this day I remember it. Of course the phone was a black very heavy rotary. I still remember how my finger would hurt from dialing.

There was a very popular song in that day too that was called " and my number is Beechwood 45789 and you can call me up for a date any old time".

Edited February 5, 2007 by Vertigo58

[northbeaumont]

Our phone # (in the 60's) was OR 36370 and I sill never forget it. Which is weird because I was only about 6-7 years old when we moved and it changed but to this day I remember it. Of course the phone was a black very heavy rotary. I still remember how my finger would hurt from dialing.

There was a very popular song in that day too that was called " and my number is Beechwood 45789 and you can call me up any old time".

Yes, "BEechwood 4-5789" was recorded by The Marvelettes back in the early 1960s. Their # 1 song was "Please Mr. Postman." ( I really don't know if the correct spelling is BEA or BEE).

[Alpha]

Yes, "BEechwood 4-5789" was recorded by The Marvelettes back in the early 1960s. Their # 1 song was "Please Mr. Postman." ( I really don't know if the correct spelling is BEA or BEE).

Don't forget PEnnsylvania 6-5000, which was recorded by Glenn Miller in 1940. The interesting thing is that this was the actual (7-digit) number of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York. In Houston, during the 40s, phone numbers were only 5 digits. My grandparents' phone number was M 1165. I know this because I have my dad's U of H directory from 1945. Later on (around 1952 or so, when I was learning to dial the phone) their number was MA 1165. Shortly after I learned to dial, the extra digit was added and it became MA 3-1165.

[northbeaumont]

Don't forget PEnnsylvania 6-5000, which was recorded by Glenn Miller in 1940. The interesting thing is that this was the actual (7-digit) number of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York. In Houston, during the 40s, phone numbers were only 5 digits. My grandparents' phone number was M 1165. I know this because I have my dad's U of H directory from 1945. Later on (around 1952 or so, when I was learning to dial the phone) their number was MA 1165. Shortly after I learned to dial, the extra digit was added and it became MA 3-1165.

Yes, even now that we push buttons, we still say that we are "dialing," not "pushing."

[devonhart]

Yes, even now that we push buttons, we still say that we are "dialing," not "pushing."

The first prototype for a cellphone I saw was in 1964. This guy opened up a cigarette lighter and said, "Open Channel D" Napoleon Solo even beat out Captain Kirk's Communicator.

[Firebird65]

The first prototype for a cellphone I saw was in 1964. This guy opened up a cigarette lighter and said, "Open Channel D" Napoleon Solo even beat out Captain Kirk's Communicator.

Hey, totally off topic, but speaking of the Napoleon Solo, the American Life Network (which for me is on the digital tier) shows the Man From Uncle every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Last night, they showed the unaired 90-minute pilot. There were some fairly major changes from this pilot and what eventually became the final show as we know it.

First, this pilot was entitled "Solo" not the Man From Uncle although the music and graphics were the same. Also, there was no Mr. Waverley. Another man played the head of Uncle. I think he was black, albeit light skinned. That would have been very ground-breaking for the time. Thirdly, while Ilya Kuryakin was in the show, he was not Solo's partner, but an Uncle headquarters technician. Solo basically worked solo.

[devonhart]

Last night, they showed the unaired 90-minute pilot. There were some fairly major changes from this pilot and what eventually became the final show as we know it.

You can watch it at: http://video.aol.com/video-category/in2tv-secret-agent/2454

The pilot was also in color, which the first season of TMFU wasn't.

[northbeaumont]

The first prototype for a cellphone I saw was in 1964. This guy opened up a cigarette lighter and said, "Open Channel D" Napoleon Solo even beat out Captain Kirk's Communicator.

That reminds me of that comedy sitcom that came on back in the 1960s called "Get Smart". Maxwell Smart had a phone dial on the sole and the speaker on the bottom of his shoe.

Hey, totally off topic, but speaking of the Napoleon Solo, the American Life Network (which for me is on the digital tier) shows the Man From Uncle every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Last night, they showed the unaired 90-minute pilot. There were some fairly major changes from this pilot and what eventually became the final show as we know it.

First, this pilot was entitled "Solo" not the Man From Uncle although the music and graphics were the same. Also, there was no Mr. Waverley. Another man played the head of Uncle. I think he was black, albeit light skinned. That would have been very ground-breaking for the time. Thirdly, while Ilya Kuryakin was in the show, he was not Solo's partner, but an Uncle headquarters technician. Solo basically worked solo.

Here's a bit of trivia:

UNCLE--United Network Command for Law Enforcement

Their enemy agency:

THRUSH--Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesireables and the Subjugation of Humanity.

[northbeaumont]

Two more to add to the 1955 list - these were around in the mid '60's,

SU- Sunset (now 78x-)

RI - Riverside (now 74x)

Here's some more things about today's technological advances that I talk about to the students that I substitute, even the seniors:

"When I was in high school, we didn't have VCRs, DVDs, & CDs. And not only did we not have cell phones, our telephones in our houses didn't have push buttons."

"When we would call someone on the phone and we heard a busy signal, we simply had to hang up and call them back later, hoping they would hang up soon. We didn't have any features such as Call Waiting."

They all gasp in amazement!

[Fringe]

"When I was in high school, we didn't have VCRs, DVDs, & CDs. And not only did we not have cell phones, our telephones in our houses didn't have push buttons."

"When we would call someone on the phone and we heard a busy signal, we simply had to hang up and call them back later, hoping they would hang up soon. We didn't have any features such as Call Waiting."

And don't forget back then we had to ANSWER the phone to see who was calling. How on earth did we survive?

[northbeaumont]

And don't forget back then we had to ANSWER the phone to see who was calling. How on earth did we survive?

Yes, how did we survive? We just had to pick up the receiver with our fingers crossed and hope that it wasn't a bill collector.

[NenaE]

MI3-7274 My parents had that number for 40years in Southeast Houston

Our's was MI3 as well...wonder why the letters help you remember the no. so well? Those rotary phones were heavy...in the 60's SWBell gave you more choices of pink or baby blue, not just black.

[TexasVines]

There was also a number you could call (think it was 999-9999 or something like that) and you could

talk on the "grapevine" to total strangers. It allowed 5 or 6 people at a time to talk with each other. A service message would come on every few minutes asking you to hang up and redail, but it was real cool back then to get "on-line". This was like our 60's version of the "Internet".

don't foget 78 SUnset (West Houston west of Post Oak)

and 68 OVerland (Houston Heights)

in the 70s and early 80s it was the 3 numbers on the diagonal like 951 or 159 or 357, 753

I believe it was the line the technicians used to talk to the central office on before things became more high tech...we called it the party line even though a real party line was a different thing

[Subdude]

The clothes and women's hair styles would suggest 40s to 50s in my opinion.

 

I have some photos of my parents as young marrieds in the 40s that are similar to that picture.

 

When we moved to Houston from east Texas in the very early 50s, I believe we had a CApitol phone exchange and later a FAirfax. 

 

That puts me to wondering when a single letter was used, especially in advertising, maybe 40s and earlier?

 

 

What part of town was the FAirfax exchange?  Funny you should mention it - I was trying to find that just this morning.

[FilioScotia]

I'm not trying to hijack this thread but I'm reminded of a posting I made on the subject of telephone exchange names nearly ten years ago here on HAIF.

 

In the days of word-prefixes on phone numbers, you could tell at a glance what part of town a person lived in. For example, MOhawk numbers were in Bellaire. Actually, they still are, because the letters "MO" are "66" on the dial. Even today many numerical prefixes in the 713 area code tell me where a phone number lives, because at one time, ALL Houston phone numbers were 713.

This is hardly a complete list, but here some others, with the current numeric prefixes listed first,

22 - CApital, and it was the downtown Houston area.
52 - JAckson, in the Montrose area
62 - NAtional, on the west side. It replaced the MAdison exchange in the 1960s.
64 - MIssion, on the southeast side.

65 - OLive, also on the southeast side
92 - WAlnut, on the east end.between the Gulf Fwy and the Ship Channel.

46 - HOmestead, on the west side north of Buffalo Bayou and in Spring Branch
69 - OXford, on the north side.
63 - MElrose - also on the far north side.

45 - GLendale, in east Harris County in the Jacinto City Channelview area
47 - GReenwood, in Pasadena, Deer Park and La Porte.
       Originally, this was GRand, but it was changed to GReenwood in the mid 50s. I have no idea why it was changed.
48 - HUdson, in South Houston, and later the Clear Lake Area as NASA moved in.
       This was changed to HUnter in the 1970s. Again, I don't know why.

86 - UNderwood, in the Heights.

78 - SUnset - West Houston west of Post Oak
68 - OVerland - Much of Spring Branch and parts of Memorial

 

Using words as prefixes went the way of the Dodo bird when the population grew and they needed more phone numbers, and they decided they could no longer use numbers that conformed to the first two letters of a known word. So that's why we now have "numbers only" phone numbers. Ah yes. Progress.         

 

 

[mollusk]

When my grandparents lived near Palm Center (and Art Grindle Dodge, sponsor of Tarzan movies on Saturdays), their phone number was in the RIverside exchange.  My dad worked in Bellaire; his office had a MOhawk number.  We moved out past Dairy Ashford in the late '60s and were assigned a GYpsy number, one digit off of Uncle Bens.  I have no idea where FAirfax might have been; I'll have to look around for an old phone book - they used to have a map of the exchanges in the front.