Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Thu, 9 May 91 16:08:51 GMT From: roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Old Phone Numbers Message-ID: Organization: Public Health Research Institute, New York City Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 351, Message 10 of 10 Lines: 29 Yesterday I found a fragment of a letterhead or invoice blank from a business my grandfather owned once. The telephone number is listed as "9305-R" (I'm not sure of the digits, but the -R is right). To put this in context, the place was undoubtedly Norwich, Connecticut, and the year was probably around 1940 or so. I assume the -R means it's the ring side of a party line, but it seems odd to me that a business would list that as part of their phone number (this was a small business, just my grandfather with a truck he owned, maybe one other partner, and it's likely it was his home phone number). Didn't each party on a party line get assigned a different last digit? If not, how does one dial a phone number like "9305-R"; do you have to ask the operator to connect you? I suppose it's likely that at this time, all calls were completed manually, so that may not have been anything out of the ordinary. Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy [Moderator's Note: Prior to automatic switching, a letter on the end indicated one leg of a party line. After automation started, the letter was dropped and the seventh digit was the deciding factor. He probably had a party line with the other 'party' being himself at his residence. PAT]