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Old School phone calls
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:07 pm
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:07 pm
I know that most people here grew up in more Urban places probably, but I seem to remember only having to dial 4 digits for my town. The next few towns over we had to add the prefix, and calling up the road was long distance then. Local was a life changer for me when I went to Shaw and most of my friends lived up there. It was still a local call for me, but still long distance for them. We had pagers at that time and our pager numbers were local for up the road. I was born in '78. Anyone else remember 4 digit dialing?
This post was edited on 12/25/24 at 5:17 pm
31
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:08 pm to Guess
What temp is it in your house right now?
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:10 pm to wasteland
72
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:10 pm to wasteland
I was born in 81 and grew up in Mississippi and don’t remember any four digit numbers. I do remember party lines. That could be interesting
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:11 pm to Guess
quote:
I was born in '78. Anyone else remember 4 digit dialing?
Same age and I don't remember that. I do remember BR being in the 504 area code and it being long distance to call Ascension Parish though.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:12 pm to Guess
1878?
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:13 pm to Guess
I dont remember 4 digit but I remember country phones had party lines.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:13 pm to Allthatfades
Don't remember party lines unless you mean same number with mutiple phones in one house. That could get a kid in trouble 
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:14 pm to Guess
quote:
Don't remember party lines unless you mean same number with mutiple phones in one house
Party lines were one phone #, different phones, but each had a unique ringtone.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:15 pm to fallguy_1978
quote:Same. My gf (now wife) lived in Ascension and had “local optional service” so I’d have to call her, hang up, and she’d call me back so it would be free.
I do remember BR being in the 504 area code and it being long distance to call Ascension Parish though.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:15 pm to fallguy_1978
In the 80s, Baton Rouge was 504, but it was still a long distance call to New Orleans. And for reasons I never understood, it was a more expensive call than calling many areas with different area codes.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:17 pm to fallguy_1978
I'm from Port Sulphur. It went from 504 to 985 back to 504 with all of 504 becoming a local call at some point. Cell phones basically made long distance calls obsolete.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:17 pm to SlackMaster
quote:
Same. My gf (now wife) lived in Ascension and had “local optional service” so I’d have to call her, hang up, and she’d call me back so it would be free.
My mom lived in AP, and I'd beep her if I needed to speak with her because she paid for the 30-mile-radius local calls or whatever and we did not
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:17 pm to Guess
i think the 4 digit thing was only possible in places small enough to have a single prefix, so most likely only people who grew up in rural areas would remember this...
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:25 pm to pussywillows
quote:
i think the 4 digit thing was only possible in places small enough to have a single prefix, so most likely only people who grew up in rural areas would remember this...
To this day Bootheville, Buras, Port Sulphur, and Jesuit Bend still have a single prefix each. Multiple prefixs didn't start until you got to Belle Chasse which was also tided to parts of Jefferson and Orleans for numbering.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:28 pm to Guess
“Hello, is this duck cleaning? Yea, I got some ducks for you to clean.”
“No sir, this is duct cleaning. You know, air duct”
“Yea, they were flying through the air!”
“No sir, this is duct cleaning. You know, air duct”
“Yea, they were flying through the air!”
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:28 pm to Guess
quote:
but I seem to remember only having to dial 4 digits for my town
Never heard of not dialing prefixes anywhere other than a place of business.
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:29 pm to Guess
where i grew up there was originally only 1, and we had 4 digit calling then...then they added a second which had the same first 2 digits, so we had to dial the last 5 digits for a time, then they changed it and required that you dial the full 7 digits...
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:32 pm to Guess
New Iberia was still using 4 digit dialing in the late 70s, early 80s
Posted on 12/25/24 at 4:37 pm to Guess
My town was 5 digit - for instance my parent's phone number if dialed locally was 7-6823. Was that way pretty much until I left home for college in the mid-80's I believe. I grew up in a small town with population of about 5,000 at the time.
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