# What was your phone exchange? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 8, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257 "2007-05-08T15:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/1 "2007-05-08T15:43:27Z")
Uncle Cecil’s [latest](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mphoneexchange.htm) reminded me of the phone exchange we had when I was a kid. Do you remember one (or more)? Mine was DAvenport. My dad resisted shifting to 32 for a long time. At least it seemed like a long time to a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/2 "2007-05-08T15:49:32Z")
It’s not an Uncle Cecil column; it’s a Staff Report. 🙂 Moderator!!! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/3 "2007-05-08T16:00:35Z")
:smack: DOH! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/4 "2007-05-08T16:21:14Z")
My parent’s was MIdway, and my grandparent’s was ORiole . I found them [here](http://rcrowe.brinkster.net/tensearch.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/5 "2007-05-08T16:26:00Z")
When my family lived in London for a year, it was TERminus: I think it was named after King Cross and St Pancras railway stations nearby. The alphabetic prefix that we had in Australia was B, which didn’t stand for anything. The code was completely different, too: only one letter per number, and the letters chosen so that they sounded as different as possible, i.e. A - 1, B - 2, F - 3, down to Z - 9 ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/6 "2007-05-08T16:34:27Z")
We had TRail, then ROxbury and then CHerry. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/7 "2007-05-08T16:37:52Z")
MOHAWK. Dad’s work was in the FRANKLIN exchange. I recall LOCUST and SKYLINE in North Little Rock. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/8 "2007-05-08T16:50:33Z")
**AT** lantic, then **YU** kon. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/9 "2007-05-08T18:17:33Z")
When I was a kid living in Baltimore **6** , Maryland (before zip codes), we had HAmilton 6, then it was changed to IVanhoe 8 just before the change to all numbers. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/10 "2007-05-08T18:40:04Z")
TRinity 2 (Waterville, ME), FRontier 7 (Madison, NJ), MErcury 5 (Chatham, NJ) In Waterville in the 1950s, though, we didn’t dial seven digits for local calls. Just the last five. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/11 "2007-05-08T18:53:52Z")
Mine was HUnter 2-4980, in Camarillo, CA. We didn’t switch over to seven digits until 1970. I used to call my great aunt in Redwood City, CA and her exchange was EMerson. I remember picking up the phone, dialing (and I do mean _dialing_)“O”, then telling the operator that I would like to make a long distance call to Redwood City, California. The operator would ask for the number I was calling from (!) and then the number I was calling, with the exchanges of course. I don’t consider myself all that old, but boy, telecommunications has certainly changed in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/12 "2007-05-08T18:58:30Z")
Since this is about a Staff Report, I’ll move the thread to the appropriate forum. bibliophage moderator CCC ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/13 "2007-05-08T19:12:46Z")
When I was a kid, our exchange (River Grove, IL) was GLadstone. Hey, Chicago area dopers! Remember the “HUdson 3-2-7-hundred” TV jingle? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/14 "2007-05-08T20:27:56Z")
REpublic 92693. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/15 "2007-05-08T20:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] Hey, Chicago area dopers! Remember the “HUdson 3-2-7-hundred” TV jingle? [/QUOTE] How \*could \* you forget Bouchelle Carpet? Growing up, we were at VAnderbilt 7. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/16 "2007-05-08T20:52:05Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] When my family lived in London for a year, it was TERminus: I think it was named after King Cross and St Pancras railway stations nearby. [/QUOTE] Most UK codes still have the remnants of these codes. Lost Property at Kings Cross: 020 7837 4334 (= 020 7TER 4334). Also, long before 999 was in place as an emergency number, you could dial 1212 from any London phone and it would connect to the local police station. This has persisted in the modern numbers for many stations - Scotland Yard is 020 7230 1212. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/17 "2007-05-08T21:00:51Z")
In Saratoga, California, we had UNion 7; next town over, Los Gatos had ELgato. Both sets of grandparents lived in San Jose. One had AXminster, the other CYpress ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/18 "2007-05-08T21:05:29Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] How \*could \* you forget Bouchelle Carpet? [/QUOTE] Yep, I remember that one! We had TUxedo9, then BElden7. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/19 "2007-05-08T21:54:09Z")
Ah, the advantage of being the author of the piece in question is that my old exchange is used as an example in the report: JEFferson, in Northern Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257/20 "2007-05-08T22:48:14Z")
HAzel When I was a kid, there was a radio ad during Pittsburgh Pirate baseball games. The guy whose company was advertised died in 2001. I just read about him: > [@](#): > > It went like this (imagine Chiquita Banana singing): “Joe Ziskind takes your house out of hiding / and brightens it up with beautiful siding / No money you’ll be riskin’ / when you call Joe Ziskin’ / So dial this number and do it quick / Hazel-1-7866.” [http://www.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20010730ziskindobitp3.asp](http://www.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20010730ziskindobitp3.asp) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-phone-exchange/403257.md?page=2)