TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Los Angeles Numbering, 1940s

Los Angeles Numbering, 1940s

Paul Coxwell (paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk)
Sat, 29 Oct 2005 13:21:15 +0100

Last night I watched an old 1946 movie set in Los Angeles,
specifically Hollywood and out to Malibu (the movie is "The Blue
Dahlia" for anyone who wants to look out for it -- Alan Ladd &
Veronica Lake).

Phone numbers were used several times, which I am assuming were of the
2L-4N format -- They were given as name plus four digits and I believe
from previous discussions here that Los Angeles never used 3L-4N
numbering.

One central office name used was Hillside, another was Michigan. At
least one such call within the area was placed via the operator. Does
anyone know if either of these exchanges actually existed in Los
Angeles at the time? Were there still many manual offices in the
city?

The Michigan office was used in reference to a local police
department, the number given being Michigan 5211. If a Michigan
exchange did in fact exist, does anyone know if this was a genuine
police number for the area? (If so, could it even still be around
today, possibly as 64x-5211?)

-Paul

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