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Posted By: pauluk Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/01/03 09:15 PM
Prompted by a conversation I had with Bill earlier today.

This is something I have been asked by people in England: Why does almost everybody in American movies and TV shows have a telephone number that starts with 555 ?

So for everybody, including perhaps the younger of you in America who aren't aware of the development of telephone switching, here's a brief explanation.

When direct-distance dialing was being introduced in the 1950s, all local numbers had to be made up to 7 digits, the first three being the central-office code. The system which was adopted as standard was the 2-letter, 5-number system, where the 3-digit prefix was listed as 2 letters plus a single digit. This system was already in use in many large cities which had used 7-digit numbers for many years (e.g. the famous PEnnsylvania 6-5000 in New York City, immortalized by Glenn Miller's recording).

The digit 5 corresponds to the letters JKL, which severely restricted the number of exchange names which could made up for the codes 55x. Thus the prefixes 55x were rarely, if ever assigned in any area code (some places used a couple of 55x codes for mobile phones and other special purposes).

So it was that the prefix 555 was free and was therefore a handy choice for TV and movie producers who wanted to display reasonable looking numbers without fear that they were showing a number which actially belonged to someone. (Did anybody really believe that by calling the number shown they could actually talk to Lt. Kojak or Chief Ironside? [Linked Image] I suppose they must have done!)

In some older shows, a number is actually displayed using about the only name which can be made from the JKL combination -- KLondike.

Ma Bell herself even got in on the act. Look at many old ads for telephones and you'll see the number on the dial is 555-2368. They even included "area code" 311, which was a reserved service code, at that time unused.

The only "real" 555 number is that which was assigned in every area code throughout the country, 555-1212 for directory assistance. Although always advertised as 555-1212, in many areas years ago dialing into the area with 555 plus any 4 digits got you information.

I believe that some areas have now actually started assigning some genuine 555 numbers.

OK, off-topic trivia over.

This is a recording.... [Linked Image]
Posted By: Trainwire Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/01/03 09:48 PM
I always thought the number was
BR-549

[Linked Image]

(Now we will see who really is the "old fogy") [Linked Image]
Posted By: Bjarney Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 12:27 AM
For more intensely useful telephone-exchange info, see http://ourwebhome.com/TENP/TENproject.html

I think ‘they’ have further restricted "movie" numbers to between 555-0100 and 555-0199 nowadays.
Posted By: DBC1 Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 12:55 AM
555 prefix is a reserved VPN for ATT.
Posted By: ThinkGood Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 12:57 AM
Eight-Six-Seven-Five, Three-O-Nayayn...
Posted By: Bill Addiss Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 02:10 AM
Paul,

Ah, it makes sense now.
KLondike-5 sounds familiar too.

[Linked Image]
Bill
Posted By: harold endean Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 02:17 AM
Actually, I believe the reason for 555 was because that is a dead number. No matter what you dial, (555-1234 or 555-5678) you will not get connected. The Telco would set aside certain numbers for testing. There use to be a way where I could dial 550 plus the last four digits of my home phone and then hang up. The Telco equipment would send back a signal that would ring my phone. This was one way the Telco would check to see if the phone worked properly. There was another 551 or 552 plus the last 4 digits to check for rings, busy signals, etc. Now with all the new modern stuff, I amnot sure if all this stuff works anymore. By the way, I was told that if you go to Google,com and insert your telco number, it will pop up your home address. WITH a map if you ask for it. Pretty scary huh!
Posted By: Bill Addiss Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 02:43 AM
Harold,

I've used the Reverse lookups for years, to verify Telephone #s with people and addresses.

Here's a Link to an Address Lookup. Enter an Address and it will tell you who lives there and the Telephone #.
http://www.streetaddresslookup.com/addrbody.htm

Bill
Posted By: Bjarney Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 03:39 AM
Another useful number 1.700.555.4141 spits back your LD carrier.
Posted By: Electric Eagle Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 04:18 AM
Whever someone who asks for my telephone number that doesn't need my number
(Radio Shack, Great Clips, etc.), I tell them 770 555-1212. You should see the funny look on their face when they realise that I just told them to call information for area code 770.
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 07:44 AM
Reverse Lookup is something quite useful. In Austria you can get a CD version of the white pages with reverse lookup. In Germany this is illegal.
Posted By: electure Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 01:12 PM
per Think Good's,
There actually was a poor elderly lady that had the phone # 867-5309...her name was Jenny.
Posted By: pauluk Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 03:40 PM
Wow, I seem to have started something here!

On the ring-back numbers, there was no standard code. The codes were assigned individually for each office, and in some types of switching equipment (e.g. step-by-step) the choice may well have been influenced by the ease or difficulty with which a certain number could be trunked into the selectors. Apart from the test ring-back numbers, there were also codes which were given out to normal subscribers to enable them to dial other people on the same party line.

Numbers seem to pop-up in songs quite regularly: There's a Chuck Berry record ("Promised Land") which quotes a Virginia number TIdewater 4-1009. I have no idea whether 844 was a valid prefix within the 703 area back then.

By the way folks, that PEnnsylvania 6-5000 number in NYC is long-lived! Go ahead and try it: (212) 736-5000. [Linked Image]



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 04-02-2003).]
Posted By: SvenNYC Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 03:46 PM
Paul, the PE6-50-00 number is still in service.

The reason for "Pennsylvania" is because the Hotel Pennsylvania is right across the street from the Pennsylvania Railroad station.

(SUgar Hill)1-57**

==

Electriceagle:

Radio Shack should not be asking you for any personal information anymore. They stopped that practice ages ago (although it's only recently that they're publicizing it).

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 04-02-2003).]
Posted By: pauluk Re: Telephone Trivia: Why 555 ? - 04/02/03 03:58 PM
Sven,
Yes, I've seen the hotel and traveled from Penn Station. [Linked Image]

Calling from here though, it's a rather expensive way to listen to a few bars of the song. Much chepaer to play my old Glenn Miller record! [Linked Image]
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