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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheOLdGuy, post: 173190, member: 878&quot;]SBSVC. I actually thought area codes were later, too. Had to look it up. I think it had a lot to do where you were and how populated. One of my friends, in 1950, still had a box in the kitchen closet with a crank. You got a live operator (until midnight, if she was still awake) and she had to manually click you through. Population about 2,500.</p><p><br /></p><p>I was in an adjoining city of about 80 or 90,000. The phone I remember in the 30s to mid 40s was a candlestick with a rotary dial. Then switched to the &quot;modern&quot; one piece &quot;speak and listen.&quot; Do remember some long distance with such as your ID and #.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Bing -</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4"><b><b>When did area codes first come into use? </b></b></font></p><p>The area code system was developed by AT&amp;T and Bell Laboratories in the 1940&#039;s, and went into effect in 1947. It was called the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and included the United States and Canada .</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4"><b><b>How were the original area codes distributed? </b></b></font></p><p>In 1947, states and provinces that had a single area code we assigned three digit codes with 0 as the middle number, such as 203 for Connecticut and 305 for Florida . There were 86 area codes at that time.</p><p><br /></p><p>States and provinces that had more than one area code distributed to them were given three digit codes with 1 as the middle number, such as 916 and 213 for various sections of California , and 212 and 518 for various sections of New York .</p><p><br /></p><p>The first and third digits were allotted according to population density in the city or region the area code was going to, with the most populated areas getting the lowest numbers. The New York City area, for example, was assigned 212, while the surrounding suburbs were assigned 914.</p><p><br /></p><p>The rationale for this “low number/high population” scheme was based on the fact that phones had rotary dials in those days. Lower numbers resulted in shorter “dial pulls” so it was reasoned that the regions with the most people in them should require the least “work” to call.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0059b3"><b>I&#039;m NOT one who says, &quot;If it&#039;s in print it&#039;s factual.&quot; </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0059b3"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0059b3"><b>Let me know what you think of the above copy and paste.</b></span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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