Up until the 1960s or so, it was common for telephone numbers to start with two letters instead of numbers. Those letters were abbreviations for words, called telephone exchange names, and they enabled operators to distinguish between customers that had the same telephone number. Remember Glenn Miller’s tune “PEnnsylvania 6-5000” (and Bugs Bunny’s “TRansylvania 6-5000”)? If you’d like to look up your old timey telephone exchange name, check out the Telephone EXchange Name Project where they’re keeping this curious bit of telecom history alive.
Link (via Michael Leddy’s Orange Crate Art)