It’s December, 1956, and we just received in the mail the supplement to the Northfield-Macedonia telephone directory from the Western Reserve Telephone Company, Hudson, Ohio (postage- 3 cents). Let’s make some calls.
Do your banking at First National Bank of Akron, IM7-7127
Need flowers for the holiday? Order from Laubinger’s. Dial IM7-7300.
Thinking about a new station wagon? Fred Greve Chevrolet, Rts 8 and 82, IM7-7123.
Need to call the Macedonia Town Hall on Brandywine Rd? Dial IM7-7648.
Wait a minute… “Dial” a phone number? And what’s this “IM” business?
Before “touchtone” or “tel-touch” electronic buttons, phones had an actual dial (see picture above). Push-button dialing didn’t come in until the late 1960s. You spun the dial at the corresponding letter or number (“5” and “JKL” in the above example). There was a small metal bar that stopped your finger from spinning the dial too far. At the phone exchange, mechanical switches translated the impulses from your phone and connected to the phone at the location you were calling.
As for “IM”… prior to 1963 most telephone numbers consisted of 2 letters and 5 numbers (2L-5N in telephone lingo). The letters identified the prefix, or name of the phone exchange, the number was connected to. So, if you were in the Northfields, Sagamore Hills, or Macedonia, your phone exchange was IMperial. Twinsburg residents had HArrison 5. If you lived in Aurora, you were LOgan 2. Hudson telephones were OLympic 3. Bedford phone numbers were kind of obvious- BEdford 2. And if you had to call into Brecksville, it was JAckson 6. Phone numbers were usually abbreviated with the first 2 letters, that’s why these are capitalized.
You could direct-dial many locations in northeast Ohio, but almost all calls were toll calls. Only Twinsburg and Hudson were local calling without additional charges. And long-distance still needed the Operator to place the call between major cities. “9-1-1” did not exist either; for Police or Fire assistance you dialed the direct phone number.
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Members of the Longwood Manor Historical Society will be at the Macedonia WinterFest on Saturday, December 10th, from 6pm to 8pm. Look for us in Santa’s Workshop, we’ll be serving hot beverages.
The Manor House will be closed for December, January, and February. Open House tours will resume Sunday, March 26th from 1pm to 4pm. We look forward to seeing you.
Until then, we send you compliments of the season from Longwood Manor.
