WHAT DID phone numbers look like in the 30s?

Standardization

WHEN DID phone numbers change from 4 digits?

In December 1920, as the phone company prepared for direct local dialing, all numbers became four digits.

HOW DID phone numbers work in the 40s?

With manual service, the subscriber asked the operator to connect the call via her switchboard. [1] With dial service, a customer would dial the number, ranging from 4 or 5 digits in small places, to 6 or 7 digits in larger cities, in the format of MAin 9970 or ADams 3–9971.

HOW DID phone numbers work in the 20s?

The first telephone sets with rotary dials had only numerals on them. In the 1920s letters standing beside numerals came into use. In the USA on a telephone dial three letters of the English alphabet used to stand beside each numeral (but 1 and 0).

When did 7 digit dialing end?

The scheme relied on the second digit of an area code being 0–1 and the second digit of a local exchange being 2–9. This dialing plan was incompatible with the introduction of area code 334 and area code 360, and was therefore eliminated by January 1, 1995 in the United States, and by September 1994 in Canada.

Were there phones in 1940?

Rotary phone – 1940s A typical 1940s rotary phone.

When did we start dialing area codes?

1947
The initial 86 area codes were assigned in 1947 as routing codes for operator calls; the first cross-country Bell System direct distance dial call was made in 1951. The system was based on fixed-length numbers; a direct-dial long-distance call consisted of a three-digit area code and a seven-digit local number.

WHEN DID phone numbers stop using letters?

Over the course of telephone history, telephone numbers had various lengths and formats, and even included most letters of the alphabet in leading positions when telephone exchange names were in common use until the 1960s.