At the time, it was explained that the change was necessary because the 216 area code simply could not handle the influx of new numbers necessitated by the growing popularity of cell phones.
Well, could you imagine a whole town suddenly getting new phone numbers at the same time? Apparently that was the case with Vermilion back on May 1, 1954. Every subscriber to the Lorain Telephone Company received a new number as a result of the dial equipment being replaced. A new supplemental directory was printed and distributed to Vermilion subscribers.
That was one of the stories on the above page from the May 1, 1954 Lorain Journal. Elsewhere on the page are ads for many eateries and nightclubs previously covered on this blog, including the Showboat in Downtown Lorain; Lorain Diner (located west of town on Lake Road); and Gartner Inn.
Perhaps of interest are the want ads, broken down by sex. A saleslady was needed by O'Neil's to run the company's record department, "which includes classical and modern music." That's one job that is never going to come around again, at least in this millennium. Home Dairy was looking for a female clerk.
Fruehauf Trailer Co. out in Avon Lake was looking for a senior typist and stenographer. I wonder if that position was to replace my mother? Mom had been working there as a secretary at the time she married Dad in 1950. She didn't have my sister until September 1954, so she might have still been working there.
Notice the small blurb in the Showboat ad about Vicki Leigh, "America's Most Beautiful Model" and her Trio. We'll see Vicki herself in another ad later this week.
We changed our (4-digit) phone number sometime in the early 70s when our system went to 7-digit dialing.
ReplyDeleteMum stayed with that number, despite being on a party line, for the rest of her long, long, long life. The only way she could get off the party line was to change her number, which she refused to do. I remember her saying "Eff 'em. I'll just outlive the rest of them."
'Cept she didn't say "eff".
Ah, yes - I remember the days when any self-respecting department store had a record department with classical music. And a book store. Halle's in downtown Cleveland even had a stamp and coin department.
ReplyDeleteThe exchange was at the corner of Liberty and Perry st. Grandmothers house was 5 houses away. She never had a phone in her house. She would get a call at he exchange and a passerby would answer and go to her house as she had a phone call there and she would go to the exchange to take it.Again an easier time to reflect on.
ReplyDelete