"Beginning November 6, you will have to dial seven digits instead of five when making local calls within the Lorain Telephone Company system," the article notes.
"The Lorain Telephone Company is switching to all-number dialing. The new system affects 54,000 telephone subscribers in Lorain, Avon, Avon Lake, Amherst, South Amherst, Vermilion and Birmingham exchange areas.
"Now, for example, when dialing Cherry 4-1101 you need only dial 4-1101. Under the new system, you will have to dial 244-1101. The "C' on the dial is 2 and the "H" is 4.
"The program is part of a continuous development of the Lorain Telephone Company, officials said. The firm spent $6 million between 1963 and 1965 and plans to spend another $5 million this year and next for expansion.
"Officials explained that the shift from the two-letter, five-digit dialing system was due to increase in telephone subscribers."
It's funny, but I remember specifically asking Mom when we were about to move in late 1965 from W. 30th to E. Skyline Drive if our phone number was going to change. The last four digits of our phone number was 5687 – easy for a little kid to remember because they were almost in ascending order. As it turns out, as Mom explained, our number didn't change, we took it with us to our new house.
Nowadays, many people can barely remember their own cell phone number. And the days of a directory where you could look up somebody's number are gone forever.
