Directory Assistance

While watching the return of Elementary last night I was reminded of the way we used to make directory enquiries. The specific sequence in the show involved a list of telephone numbers that a mobile had received before the owner was murdered. The ‘burner’ phone had a 555 prefix, which is Hollywood-speak for a fictitious telephone number.

In the ‘old days’ before mobile phones, the internet, and online directories, we used to need the operator’s assistance when we had to find a person’s telephone number. The number we ‘dialed’ is shown above in the title. The (XXX) was the area code for the location, the rest was always the same.

That was how I discovered my father’s address and telephone number in Sudbury.