Telephone numbers

[C&S]

I've got to the stage with some of the structures on my layout where I want to add signboards to the commercial buildings. To add some life to these I'd like to add the firm's telephone numbers - but don't know in what format these would have been in small-town rural America in the 1940s. Is it likely they would just be a three or four digit number (or more), or should there be a two or three letter prefix for the town's exchange?

Is anyone out there with long enough memories, or the specialised knowledge, able to help me with the answer, please?

 

[beavercreek]

Hi Giles
I use numbers for Colorado with the three letter prefix COL and then hyphen and then a 5 figure number (you could get away with a four figure one for a small exchange). You could make your prefix up but by keeping the same format you would be in the correct era.

 

[C&S]

Hi Mike,

I thought it might be something like that - remembering the old tune PENnsylvania 6-5000. Just wasn't sure if all numbers were the same length or if small towns with smaller exchanges had shorter numbers.

I can remember growing up in the 1950s with a manual exchange where you asked the operator for the (four-fugure) number. Ten years or so later STD (subscriber trunk dialling) came in, and telephones suddenly got five figure numbers with another four digits for the town's exchange. With this in mind I wanted to get the size of the number right for the period I'm modelling.

Thanks for your input.