Hi I am looking at a copy of my Grandfather's Malitia Attestation Paper's. He lived at 2237 8th Avenue East, and for Phone # it looks like Wm. Farmer 8th Avenue. Does anyone have access to a phone book from this time period, and can you tell me if there was a Wm. Farmer on 8th Avenue, or would this mean something totally different. My grandfather's name was George Graham, and he lived at the time in his parents home. His father's name was Peter. I also have a document for 1948 which gives the phone # as #891-W, Owen Sound. Can anyone tell me what this would mean. I know that as long as I can remember the phone # was 376-1566. My father told me the other day that this used to be Franklin 6 1566. I had heard of phone # being referred to this way, but never really understood it. If anyone can shed some light on this I would be very greatful. Thanks Cindy
In early years phones were in short supply and were expensive luxuries. It was not uncommon for people to share a phone with others in their neighbourhood to save money. People didn't phone each other very often, mail was cheaper and often faster to get a reply. - there were no answering machines or *69 auto call-backs. "Party Lines" where everyone on the same street had their phone ring as one was very common even in the 1960's 2 - 4 digit phone numbers were very common in the early part of the century with longer numbers being added as towns got larger and more folks got phones. After a while it was changed to 5 digits then 7 with the first two digits being letters FRanklin 61566 or PEnnsylvania-65000 instead of numbers so people could remember then easier. Now we're are up to 10+ digit numbers :-(( and Owen Sound is still Long Distance. Somewhere I have a very old business paper which list our company phone number as being "58" or some such 2 digit number. Way back in ~1910! Nelson Denton R. A. Denton & Son Pipe Organ Builders Sucessors to Walter and David Spencer Organbuilders and Furniture Makers Owen Sound ~1862~1870 Walter Spencer in Hamilton 1870-1910 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.483 / Virus Database: 279 - Release Date: 19-May-03