Old School Telephone Numbers

Once upon a time, in a century far far away, a very smart man invented something called the "telephone machine." At first, like the later "mechanical television," naysayers said "It's a fad," and continued to use carrier pigeons. But eventually the telephone machine caught on, and is obviously here to stay.

Early telephone numbers were only five digits (unlike the standard ten of today). Words were used to identify the first two digits to help people remember the number. A famous example is the great Elizabeth Taylor movie, "BUtterfield 8." BU8, or 288, was a Manhattan exchange. I remember being so confused as a kid when my parents would recall their childhood phone numbers because this "BUtterfield" system was long-gone in the '80's. But I also felt like I had missed out on an important piece of useless history. So today I am reinventing the alpha-numeric phone number-- this time for area codes and with a pop culture twist. If you live in any of the following cities, check out my new way to say your area code.

Buffalo (716): "7, Sixteen Candles"
Cleveland (216): "21 Jumpstreet, 6"
Detroit (313): "thirtysomething, 3"
DC (202): "BOno, 2"
NYC (646): "6, HOosiers"
Houston (281): "28 Days, 1"
Boca Raton (954): "Nine to Five, 4"
Baton Rouge (225): "2, KAzaam"