Jackson Heights Life
Get Connected => Jackson Heights of Yesteryear => Topic started by: 20th Century Boy on March 10, 2010, 11:27:39 AM
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Named telephone exchanges are relics of a bygone era; then again, so am I. The Jackson Heights exchanges I remember from the period before the conversion to numbered exchanges in the 1960's are: DEfender, HAvemeyer, HIckory, ILlinois, NEwtown and TWining. Can anybody remember any others?
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There's some discussion on the topic of telephone exchanges at the following thread:
You know you've lived in Jackson Heights a long time ... (http://www.jacksonheightslife.com/community/index.php?topic=3717.msg24256#msg24256)
It's been a while since the last post there, so am now wondering if anyone has any more fun information to share on the topic.
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Curse my aged memory, I was thinking Ihad read this before, then realize I posted in that first thread.
Ah senilty, welcome to my world. Next is repeating myself in public ...
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Ah senilty, welcome to my world. Next is repeating myself in public ...
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My friend's number began with "NR 2 -****" We never knew what it stood for so our running joke was "No Reason"
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Mine did as well .. still does, as it at my mom's house. All I could figure was the N was Newtown, still not sure on the R.
In fact, my phone number, which I first got for my 14th birthday, has followed me to 4 apartments in Jackson Heights.
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the NR AS IN 672 exchange was for " North Ridge" a co op compex from 88th to 92 on the north side of northern and even though we lived south of northern blvd we had our 672-4073 forever ...........my old old number wonder who has it now???
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My aunt in Woodside had the 672 exchange. My mom in Woodside had the 639 exchange.
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Yeah I had the 672 at my folks ome on 76th Street, and and then as my own that amea ddress that followed me around. And my mom had her original NR2 in the building on 81st before ours.
Also an ex-girlfriend in high school had 672, just a few numbers above mine, and she lived across from the Jackson Theater ...
I think NR meant something else, or else North Ridge means more than the complex??
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How about Illinois with the exchange being IL. Elmhurst/Newtown HS area.
Named telephone exchanges are relics of a bygone era; then again, so am I. The Jackson Heights exchanges I remember from the period before the conversion to numbered exchanges in the 1960's are: DEfender, HAvemeyer, HIckory, ILlinois, NEwtown and TWining. Can anybody remember any others?
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I don't get the Illinois bit .. is there an avenue or something in Elmhurst named that?
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No one remembered, OLympia 1.... been around almost forever it seems! :smiley6600:
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How about Illinois with the exchange being IL. Elmhurst/Newtown HS area.
In 1946, when we got our first telephone, our telephone number was IL-8-4528 and it stayed that way until 1954. One night, only a year or two ago, I decided to dial that number. I was bored and it was a ridiculous thing to do but I did it anyway. The female voice which answered spoke to me in a foreign language and so I apologized -- in English -- and put the phone down. Silly of me.
Anyone else ever do such a stupid thing?
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In 1946, when we got our first telephone, our telephone number was IL-8-4528 and it stayed that way until 1954. One night, only a year or two ago, I decided to dial that number. I was bored and it was a ridiculous thing to do but I did it anyway. The female voice which answered spoke to me in a foreign language and so I apologized -- in English -- and put the phone down. Silly of me.
Anyone else ever do such a stupid thing?
No, but back in the pre-caller ID days, boys of my generation did the call-loseyournerve-hangup a lot ...
By the way, the fact that IL8-4528 had a foreign owner doesn't neccesarily mean it wasn't still right here in Queens.
Although in 1946, I'm betting your area code for here was 212, not 718. That didn't change until I was in high school (mid 1980s)
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Wow, I went to look up to see when 718 actually began, and discovered this:
An additional area code (929) has been assigned to the existing 718 and 347 area codes that serve the outer boroughs of New York City - namely the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The dialing pattern, which is already in effect in the New York City area, requires all local calls within and between the 718 and 347 area codes and the new 929 area code to be dialed by using 1+10 digit dialing. Existing 718 and 347 telephone numbers will not change.
NeuStar Inc., which serves in the capacity as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), has forecasted that numbering resources in the 718 and 347 area codes will exhaust by 2012.
http://www.askpsc.com/askpsc/page/?PageAction=renderPageById&PageId=3c3e4c3956f92d9c1515975795cea0e1
If it's old news for some, I didn't know anyway.
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One final area code factoid:
Area code 718 is a New York City telephone area code (overlaid by area codes 347 and 917) for four out of five boroughs of New York City: the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island; as well as the Marble Hill section of Manhattan.
At the time of its creation in 1984, the 718 code was assigned only to Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; the Bronx joined 718 in 1992. Manhattan cell phones may also use the 718 area code.
The 347 area code became effective October 1, 1999[1], as an overlay, which meant that telephone lines which previously had a 718 or 917 area code maintained their number, while the majority of new numbers in the area onward were assigned the 347 area code. The addition of 347 to New York City brings the number of area codes to five: (212, 347, 646, 718, and 917).
On December 16, 2009, the New York Public Service Commission approved an additional overlay of the 718/347 area code region[2][3].
On January 22, 2010, NeuStar-NANPA issued a press release (through PR-NewsWire) that 929 is to be the new area code to further overlay the New York City "outer boroughs" 718 and 347 area codes[4]. The effective dates for new numbers assigned out of the new 929 area code is still to be announced, but it is expected to be during the first or second quarter of 2011. Ten-digit or 1+ten-digit dialing is already mandatory throughout all of the five boroughs of New York City, so there is no dialing transition phase to go through for this and all future overlays for New York City.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_718
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There was also Olympia. By the way 20th Century Boy, from reading your other posts, I'm sure we went to school together. I graduated 145 in 1966 and Newtown in 1969.
I never moved out of the area and am now in one of the Northridge sections.
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Prior to All-Number Calling in the 1960s, these exchanges served Jackson Heights from the telephone building on Broadway in Elmhurst.
DEfender 5
HAvemeyer 4, 6, & 9
HIckory 6
ILlinois 7 & 8
NEwtown 9
TWining 8 & 9
OLympia 1
These still exist as three-digit exchanges. Between the change from exchange names to all-numbers, the company created "Selected Letter" exchanges (like NR) which had no meaning. LT was in Manhattan, XX in the Bronx.
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My number was NR (New Richmond) My parents had the same phone number for 49 years until they moved to NJ!
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My childhood phone number was Illinois 7-0434 from 1951 to 1968. Around that time, they moved away from the name exchanges to all numbers 457-0434. Same difference. I found it slightly ironic that I moved to Chicago (Illinois) in 1972 and stayed there until I moved to Florida in 2009. At least I learned to say 'Illinois' (Ill in noy - "There is no 'noise' in Illinois").
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I was TW, my BFF was OL for Olympia.
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OL stood for Olympia, the exchange we had in the late 50's.
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I still remember my father’s Rauch Furs phone number. HA42170
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My father had a store on 37th Ave from 1950 through 70’s called Rauch Furs. Phone number was HA 4-2170