Charlie Self wrote:
CW writes:

The four digit phone number is a while back but not that far. Living in
Manassas VA in about 1973, local phone calls still used a four digit number.

It was still in use within its own calling zone in Bedford, VA in 1988. I think
it was '89, maybe '90, when we got a lot more convenience...I could dial
England directly, but could no longer dial my up the road neighbor with 4
digits. Had to use 7.

Somehow, that never computed, particularly since it had been 30 years since I
knew anyone living in England.

This is one of those "old time" things I can't really
relate to. Growing up in New Jersey, the home of
Bell Labs, our phone system got all the latest and
greatest stuff early on. I remember "Direct Distance
Dialling" in the early 60's. We could dial our own
long distance, even overseas, without any operator
intervention or even dialling a "1" first. To the
best of my knowlege, you still don't dial a "1" for
long distance in New Jersey. Maybe that's changed. We got
"TouchTone" a few months after I saw it at the New York
Worlds Fair in 1964. I never even heard of 4-digit
dialling until I was an adult, and then it was in
an historical context. I had heard of, but not
experienced, a party line until I moved to Virginia
in the late 1970's. After 25+ years I've finally
gotten used to the "1" for long distance.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.