HIckory 3-1912

Here's a trend I can get on board with: the attempt to resuscitate telephone exchange names. Back in the day, before touch-tone and even rotary dialing,

An exchange name is a word that is used to represent the first two letters of a 7 digit telephone number (exchange names have nothing to do with area codes or country codes). The first two letters of the exchange name are the first two digits of the phone number, when they are spelled out on a telephone dial or keypad. So for example, the exchange name "SYcamore" means that the first two numbers of the telephone number are "79", and SYcamore-4-3317 would be 794-3317, (my friend's old phone number 30 years ago).

The site also has a page that reprints Bell's officially recommended exchange names, circa 1955.

So, from now on, I expect both all of my readers to join me in bringing back exchange names. That, and party like it's 1936.