We used a finger to speed up the return so we could dial faster.

The number registers on the return only, and speeding it up can foul up the registration method and either record the wrong number or result in no connection.
Why the return speed is governed.
Depended on the exchange.

 

I remember watching an a recording of an entire show on a specific television channel of The Three stooges that included the commercials and in the commercials they would call out the phone
number they would say call Richmond 9 4296 or something like that does that ring a bell with anyone. Was that the area code. Richmond 9? And how do you dial that?

 

I remember watching an a recording of an entire show on a specific television channel of The Three stooges that included the commercials and in the commercials they would call out the phone
number they would say call Richmond 9 4296 or something like that does that ring a bell with anyone. Was that the area code. Richmond 9? And how do you dial that?

Before direct dialing the exchanges were given names. You told "central" (the operator) which number you wanted and to make it easier the exchange was a meaningful name. As the number of phones grew, they could no longer name things meaningfully.

With the advent of direct dialing, they switched to a two digit code that served the purpose of the name. Richmond 9 would be 749. Now you know why they put letters on the phone dial.

 

Here's a dial for reference.

​

 

I remember watching an a recording of an entire show on a specific television channel of The Three stooges that included the commercials and in the commercials they would call out the phone
number they would say call Richmond 9 4296 or something like that does that ring a bell with anyone. Was that the area code. Richmond 9? And how do you dial that?

Most telephone numbers were named after their neighborhood. The numbers on the phone dial / keypad also had letters associated with them.


So Richmond 9 would be 749. My neighborhood was Woodlawn 3, or 963…

 

Beautiful! you just answered my next question.
The letters on the phone dial

 

For those that have never used one, 9 is the last number on the dial!!

It's my understanding that 999 was deliberately chosen, to slow things down and help reduce panic which could lead to mis-dialing.

 

Here in Randers, Denmark, the last two payphones were taken down about six years ago.

Google Street View July 2014 with a box on both sides, and October 2018, they are both gone.

 

The question is, why is there no 'Q' on a phone dial?
Bonus question, why do some people think the official AT&T name for the '#' symbol on the phone is "octothorp"?

[EDIT: fighting with autocorrect, I won.]

 

The question is, why is there no 'Q' on a phone dial?

Damn never even noticed that! I guess it took up too much space (not enough room for Q)

 

It's my understanding that 999 was deliberately chosen, to slow things down and help reduce panic which could lead to mis-dialing.

I would have thought it would create the opposite effect??

 

Richmond 9 4296 or something like that does that ring a bell with anyone. Was that the area code. Richmond 9? And how do you dial that?

The first two letters of the word are converted to digits, so it would be 749-4296. Whenever I visited my kindergarten teacher, she'd have me say my phone number for any guests she had. The word my mother used for our phone number was Crestview.

 

What phone dial? We used crank phones. Our ring was one long and two short. Of course they were all party lines so every phone on the party line rang. To get someone on your party line you cranked their "ring" i.e. short long short, etc. after you listened to see if the line was "clear" or in use. To get another party "on the line" you cranked the line several cranks as one very long ring to wake the operator up to make the switch connection on her board or to connect you to the long-distance operator. It was said the local operator was the most informed gossip in the county as she listened in on everyone's calls. Each party line seemed to also have a well-informed gossip who loved to listen in on others calls every time anyone on their line was rung.

 

To get another party "on the line" you cranked the line several cranks as one very long ring to wake the operator up to make the switch connection on her board or to connect you to the long distance operator.

Were there ever male operators in those days?

 

There's one of those switch buildings in my neighborhood, several blocks away. And then another one a little further in the other direction, different neighborhood. Records say they're both owned by Bell of PA, but I thought they were both converted to power substations.

 

Were there ever male operators in those days?

You mean a Ernest, the male version of Ernestine?

 

Were there ever male operators in those days?

Actually, at the very beginning in the US, they had boys doing the operator job but they were lazy and rude to the customers. By chance, they had a young woman do the job and it was so successful they never hired another male until the 70s.

AT&T created a culture of operators and very extremely strict about selection and training. This video is fascinating.

 

Here's a film about the direct dial transition which was a huge undertaking, town by town they built exchanges, and they planned and executed a zero down time cutover.

Really amazing stuff.

 

I remember watching an a recording of an entire show on a specific television channel of The Three stooges that included the commercials and in the commercials they would call out the phone
number they would say call Richmond 9 4296 or something like that does that ring a bell with anyone. Was that the area code. Richmond 9? And how do you dial that?

I made a slight chronological mistake because I conflated the 7-digit dialing transition with the direct dial transition.

Originally, you told the operator something like "give me 4373J please". The exchanges were added to create a unified dial plan but it ran out of capacity and they had to stop using words and simply use the two digit number, and many more could be assigned. Adding the area code made direct long distance dialing possible.

 

What phone dial? We used crank phones. Our ring was one long and two short. Of course they were all party lines so every phone on the party line rang. To get someone on your party line you cranked their "ring" i.e. short long short, etc. after you listened to see if the line was "clear" or in use. To get another party "on the line" you cranked the line several cranks as one very long ring to wake the operator up to make the switch connection on her board or to connect you to the long-distance operator. It was said the local operator was the most informed gossip in the county as she listened in on everyone's calls. Each party line seemed to also have a well-informed gossip who loved to listen in on others calls every time anyone on their line was rung.
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My Mom was one of those telephone operators in the day. To this day, I always have a unique way of pronouncing my numbers.
Wun, two, three, four, fi-yuv, six, seven, ay-yut, nigh-yun, zero.