While researching and writing my post about the Hello Girls, I ran across some interesting information about area codes in America. Some of the tidbits I found were surprising!
First things first… Have you ever dialed a rotary phone?
If so, then you know that it’s faster to dial smaller numbers than larger numbers. Here’s a fun video that shows how to dial a rotary phone. It even gives a peek into how the gears work inside the dial!
Based on that, you can see why area codes with smaller digits would be preferable! So much time saved when dialing!
US Area Codes Origin Story
The US area code concept was created in 1947 by the American Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T) and is referred to as North American Numbering Plan (NAP) codes. You can see a list of all area codes in numerical order on Wikipedia.
LincMad has created a map showing the original 86 1947 area codes and a current area code map! Who doesn’t love a fun map? Click through to see them.
There are two types of area codes – geographic and non-geographic. Codes that are easily recognizable and that have two identical trailing digits, such as 433, 355, etc, are called easily recognizable codes (ERC) and are reserved for non-geographic use (which means they can be used nationwide).
Running out of phone numbers?
A NY Times article from 2001 bemoans the exhausting horror of needing to dial the area code even for local calls (do you remember when this change happened? I do!)
Technology is supposed to make life easier, but the simple act of making a phone call is becoming more complicated.
More people means more phone numbers. In places like New York City, the phone company was facing “number exhaustion” and was forced to overlay new area codes onto places with an existing code. This meant you would have to dial the area code anytime you were calling someone in a different area code, even if that person was your new neighbor- gasp!
Well, unless you lived in the 212 area code. According to the Times, The New York Public Service Commission and the Consumer Federation of America took the Federal Communications Commission to court rather than force people with 212 numbers to add the area code when calling other 212 numbers. I’m pretty sure that’s no longer the case but it’s interesting how vehemently people were fighting the change. Fighting change and technological advances seems to be a constant in life!
The Cost of Upgrading the Telephone Number System
If we’re running out of numbers, then it would make sense to just add a digit or two to increase the number possibilities, right? A report from the Alliance For Telecommunications Industry Solutions says that adding one digit to the area code and one to the dialing prefix would create an additional 640 billion possible numbers!
It turns out, this would require new technology and equipment. The 2001 NY Times article estimates that it would cost $75 billion to reprogram software and acquire new switching equipment to route calls.
Then again… as technology continues to advance (that article was written 23 years ago after all!), we may have moved past telephone lines and switching equipment into a different communication method before we run out of area codes and phone numbers!
Area Code Trivia
- The very first area code was 201, which was assigned to the state of New Jersey.
- California currently has the most area codes, with a total of 36.
- The Alaska area code of 907 covers the largest geographic area.
- The two most prestigious and coveted area codes as of 2023 are 212 (New York City) and 310 (Los Angeles).
- The first direct-dialed long-distance call (without switchboard operator assistance) was made in 1951.
- When area codes were first created, there were 86 area codes used.
- One of the most famous phone numbers was written in a song – 867-5309/Jenny sung by Tommy Tutone.
- Area Code Day is celebrated on November 10 each year
More Phone Fun
You can read about how “hello” became the preferred telephone greeting, beating out Ahoy-hoy (and others) in my post, Ahoy hoy!
Find out how the Hello Girls helped win WWI and expedite women’s rights in America in my post about the Hello Girls.
Deep Dive into Phone History
Start with Once Upon a Telephone and then check out the latest telephone history in The Telephone. And that’s just the beginning.. there are a surprising number of books about the phone! The handful below barely scratch the surface!
Once Upon a Telephone: An Illustrated Social History
Phone Books (get it? phonebook?!)
The Telephone A New History by James Gleick
Bellwether A Telephone Operator, a Landmark Court Case, and the Women Whose Voices Connected a Nation by Kim Kankiewicz
The Phone Book The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads by Ammon Shea
And just for fun because we love Bad Kitty… Bad Kitty Gets a Phone
Phone Podcast
You know I love a good podcast episode to go with my posts so here’s one of the 100 Objects Series episodes all about the Western Electric 500 series telephone from 99% Invisible.
And another episode all about a specific area code… 800!… in this episode of 99% Invisible, 1-800-PODCAST
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