# What was your telephone exchange name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850 "2014-07-23T16:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/1 "2014-07-23T16:43:27Z")
This one is for us old farts. Back in the day we had something called [telephone exchange names](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names) that identified what part of town we were calling from. For instance, my old number was TR6-(XXXX), and when you said it aloud you would say, “TRIANGLE 6” followed by the next four numbers. So, does anyone else remember their old exchange names? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/2 "2014-07-23T16:51:46Z")
Crestwood. My grandparent’s was Glenview, but then it changed to Park. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/3 "2014-07-23T16:56:01Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Crestwood. My grandparent’s was Glenview, but then it changed to Park. First two letters for each one? ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/4 "2014-07-23T16:58:46Z")
My parents had TU2 (xxxx). TU stood for tuxedo. Apparently we lived on the classy side of town. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/5 "2014-07-23T17:00:00Z")
Fairfax. There was also a Broadway exchange, among others. ---
**Author:** ![TXCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/76d3ee/32.png) [@TXCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXCowboy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/6 "2014-07-23T17:19:57Z")
Ours was YEllowstone 8 for 938-XXXX ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/7 "2014-07-23T17:19:59Z")
VAnderbilt-7 ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/8 "2014-07-23T17:25:40Z")
Ours were TRinity, CHerry 4 and 6, and ROckwell. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/9 "2014-07-23T17:27:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > First two letters for each one? Yes. CR, GL, and PA. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/10 "2014-07-23T17:37:30Z")
There were several: Alpine Amherst Cherry and perhaps a couple more that I’ve forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/11 "2014-07-23T17:39:35Z")
TEmple was the exchange where I grew up. The other day my wife and I were driving past some old apartment buildings that probably date back to sometime in the 60s. I said “Vikingtown Apartments… that’s an odd name. There really isn’t anything Viking-related in this area.” My wife informed me that Viking was the old telephone exchange. I never knew that! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/12 "2014-07-23T17:42:59Z")
Neptune 7-xxxx (Good thing we didn’t live one neighborhood over. Then we would have been Uranus.) ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/13 "2014-07-23T17:43:46Z")
AMerican 7. 57 years later, my father still has the same number (not just exchange, all 7 digits). ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/14 "2014-07-23T17:44:55Z")
STerling for me. Other exchanges in our general area: KEllogg RIverside OLympia PLaza …and my favorite: SWeetbriar ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/15 "2014-07-23T17:53:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This one is for us old farts. I’m old, but I’m not _that_ old! :mad: In Lancaster, CA (that’s ‘LAN-caster’; not ‘LANK-aster’) in the mid-to-late-'70s nobody used the exchange name; but you could still see old ads in the phone book and signs here and there that had **WH – for ‘Whitehall’**. An interesting thing (to me, anyway) was that into the '80s you only had to dial five numerals to call someone in Lancaster or Quartz Hill. Palmdale, which I think was seven miles away (no distance at all) was a long-distance call. So if I wanted to call Lancaster or Quartz Hill, I only had to dial 35583 or 56789 or 86112. But if I wanted to call Palmdale I’d have to dial 1-947-5150 – and be charged long-distance for it. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/16 "2014-07-23T17:57:24Z")
Ours was 5-2, and though it certainly wasn’t common in the early 80s, I remember my Mom referring to ‘JAckson’ ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/17 "2014-07-23T18:04:03Z")
Exchange names were before my time, but a local window company turned their exchange number into a catchy ad ditty that’s still in use today: GArfield 1 - 2323 GArfield 1 - 2323! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7v0dx-TX8yQ/hqdefault.jpg "GARFIELD 1 2323") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v0dx-TX8yQ) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/18 "2014-07-23T18:06:09Z")
JEfferson 4-1385 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/19 "2014-07-23T18:29:20Z")
I don’t remember if our exchange had a name. I was born in 1957 and by the time I learned to use the telephone, I learned our number in the seven-digit format, 266-xxxx. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850/20 "2014-07-23T18:34:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > For instance, my old number was TR6-(XXXX), and when you said it aloud you would say, “TRIANGLE 6” followed by the next four numbers. Were you required to say TRiangle for TR, or could you use any word you liked, such as TRiumph or TRepidation. Sadly, I am not old enough to know these things… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-telephone-exchange-name/693850.md?page=2)