In the early days of the Internet, there was this website with a list of payphone numbers from all over the United States. In my state, there were only three entries, and my home phone number was one of them. It was listed as being outside a publicly traded chain restaurant.
On occasion, radio stations would do bits where they would call a random payphone from the website. My house was called 3 times for the same bit by different radio stations. Within a month apart, I spoke to two different stations from New Zealand. MoreFM was one of them, but I don't remember the other. I do remember that that were very disappointed when I told them I had just spoken to MoreFM a month prior. Also MoreFM was the only station that didn't end the bit when I explained it was not a pay phone
> Curious what the purpose of calling a pay phone is? (wasn't possible in my country)
If you want to let somebody know you can't talk right now but you will call them back in 10 minutes, this makes it possible without having them use another quarter (coin currency in US) to call you back in 10 minutes, or requiring them to feed quarters in while you wait on hold for 10 minutes.
Also plenty of other reasons that we've all seen in spy movies :)
There was once an application, long gone and probably short lived, that let you ring payphones for free over the internet. Me and my mates had a great time phoning up times square, a pub in Australia and other places chatting to randoms.
> Curious what the purpose of calling a pay phone is? (wasn't possible in my country)
Mostly for the humor value for an on-air radio show. I’m sure were pre-arranged just to make sure they got something usable, but I can see the occasion where a random person walking by and hearing the pay phone RINGING would cause them to pause. As a teenager I would have picked it up in a heartbeat (even not having heard the radio shows).
As for other “purposes” I’ve seen some crime/drama shows where the bad guy tells someone to go to the corner pay phone and answer it when it rings at a specific time. Horrible idea now as the phone systems would easily record the number that called it, but up until the early 2000’s it would be one option. Today I would guess dropping a burner phone in an envelope for the “victim” would be a more likely movie trope…
(Source: I’m from the US and remember a few radio stations doing this in the 1980’s and 1990’s.)
I'm not sure how it came to be. My guess is typo. The restaurant in question was down the street from me and it did have a payphone outside of it. I can't recall if I ever went to check the phone number of the payphone.
They actually just demolished the building that formally housed the restaurant (a Friendly's if anyone is familiar). The building sat empty for years.
As a kid on school trips I would call my parents with one token (in my country that's what was used) and asked them to call me back. Sometimes at the end of the call your friend might ask your parents to call their parents and asked them to call the pay phone, and so on.
In the 1980's IBM had some marketing promotion in the US and distributed brochures and posters at different computer seller chains. The prominently displayed phone number had a typo and it was instead my parents' land line.
Surprisingly, they didn't get that many calls, and IBM corrected the number in the next round of marketing. So they never had to change their number.
I did win a Lord of the Rings prize pack from MoreFM, but it never arrived at my house. Either it got lost in transit or they just never shipped it.
The call with them was right around the time of the theatrical release of the first film, and the people on t radio show were excited because the movie was filmed in New Zealand. To win the prize I had to name two people from New Zealand. I couldn't think of anyone, and earlier in the call I had already looked up the stations website, so they told me to go to the staff page and name two people.
This was back in the days of dial up Internet, but we were one of the first houses to get DSL. I remember one of the people at the radio station was amazed that I could be online and on the phone at the same time.
There’s a fun scene in The Last Action Hero which plays on this convention: A kid who’s gotten transported into a movie and is trying to convince Arnold Scharzenegger’s character that they’re in a movie by asking a bunch of people what their phone number is and pointing out that all the numbers begin with 555.
Accordingly for a movie that showed aspects of phone phreaking techniques and culture, Hackers (1995) mentions at least three 555 numbers:
212-555-4240: The number of the modem at OTV that Dade social-engineers out of the security flunkie, allowing him to dial into the cable channel's systems
555-4817: Lisa Blair's phone number, which Lord Nikon recalls out of his photographic memory at the party.
555-4202: Kate's number, which Phreak connects to by rapidly pressing the prison phone's switchhook ten times (effectively pulse-dialing 0) and then asking the operator for help dialing
Given how stylized the movie is as a whole, the prominence of several obviously-fake phone numbers is the least of the things that break realism.
Yeah, it would be nice if the reserved numbers were random so that they didn't stand out. Sure, some nerds will still memorize the list but even with 20 numbers it would be basically indistinguishable to the average person compared to the xxx-555-xxxx for NANP.
I think the goal with 555 numbers is people know not to call it.
But it would be possible to register a number and put a promotion or easter egg on it. These days with virtual phone numbers it would be pretty cheap. The main problem is it lasting when rest of promotion disappears.
I think that’s at least in part because some 555 prefix numbers have been assigned for non-directory information uses (I have a vague notion of seeing this for some toll-free numbers).
This used to be the BBC number for call ins, particularly the kids TV show 'Swap Shop', but also for so much else during the 1970s and 1980s.
This number was retired in 1990 when the London ran out of phone numbers and switched to two different prefixes, 071 and 081. The former was advertised on TV as 'Inner London' and the latter as 'Greater London'. This bit of marketing kept everyone happy.
There was still a problem with numbers and the need to go for eleven digits. Hence, in 1995, the codes for London changed again, to 0171 and 0181. This was PHONEDAY.
But still, more numbers were needed, plus the tech behind the scenes was ever-evolving. Hence, in 2000, the numbers changed again for London, for everything to start with 020, so 0171 became 0207 and 0181 became 0208.
But then everyone got mobile phones and we no longer heard about how the economy was growing so quickly that we had this apparent incessant need for even more phone numbers. Furthermore, mobile phones had contacts built into them, so there was no need to remember phone numbers, which was just as well as eleven digits were not so easy to memorise, particularly when the prefixes had changed around so much.
Hence, my personal choice of fictional number. Apart from anything else, it enables me to see how well forms are validated, plus 01 811 8055 is only going to ever be recognised as a 'famous' number by Brits over a certain age.
To be pedantic, both 0171 and 0181 became 020, but with the 7 or the 8 moved to the front of the number, so 0171 222 1234 [1] became 020 7222 1234, with 7222 1234 being dialable in London without the area code.
There are also now London numbers that start with a 3 or a 4 as well as 7 and 8 so it's important to properly describe the dialling code for London as 020.
Growing up my home phone number was 4 digits for a local call, or at least so I was required to memorise it as a small child.
In the very late 90s I briefly had a rotary dial phone - very anachronistic even then - and discovered that dialling an eleven digit number that way is a huge ballache - it's so sloooow! Especially if the number has a bunch of 9s in it.
A little after that I was in the US but kept using my British mobile for a month or two as my contact - giving my number to people was even worse ... rattling off a 15 digit (international prefix plus country code) always confused people.
I too remember the Swap Shop number with some fondness. I certainly called it at least once or twice.
Last note - I realised recently that I still know the X29 address for nsfnet relay from Janet to the Internet (basically a Janet-to-telnet relay). That's a 14 digit number that I last used over 30 years ago. My memory's pretty average, but man, once stuff goes in it does not come out again!
In the US, there was a period when phone numbers were getting scarce in some locales as faxes/modems/etc. were coming in. Additional area codes were added, as was lampooned in a Seinfeld episode at one point; some people got rather hot and bothered when they got migrated from the "main" metro area code to essentially a suburban area code.
If youre watching an Australian show and see a mobile phone ring and it shows the callers number, ring it. You'll likely annoy someone who works on the show.
Why Australian shows? Do they happen to show real numbers more often, or get annoyed more often, or do you have some odd specific reason to want Australians who work on TV shows annoyed?
(edit: I see now the domain is .gov.au specifically)
If you shop at Safeway (Albertsons?) and need a member's discount, but don't have a membership/number, 510-867-5309 works. Staff members have specifically mentioned it.
Something burned into my brain is "call 836-7000 or visit transitchicago.com" which was an announcement that played seemingly every 30 seconds on CTA buses back when I lived there. I was in California once and tried 312-836-7000 as the loyalty card phone number at Safeway and it worked. So I guess I'm not the only one. (847- 773- etc. would probably also work. That's why I thought the message was so cool... they got the number in every Chicagoland area code!)
I have shared this story on Reddit before and I got banned from r/AskReddit for "doxing". That phone number is super secret and must not be publicized! Whoops!
There was a fairly large local grocery chain who just required the last 4 digits of the phone number to get a discount. I’m not sure who thought that was a good idea, but they’ve since gone out of business (I’m reasonably certain there’s no direct correlation between those facts).
One time I used 867-5309 at a chain store, the young male checkout clerk had an instant of a look of recognition, and promptly sang the number, really well.
(xxx)555-1212 works surprisingly often. I've used it more than a few times while traveling.
About ten years ago or so, Kroger finally integrated the loyalty programs across all their brands of stores (City Market, Harris Teeter, Kroger, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, and others, but those are the ones I have been in), so you can use pretty much any older area code you like to try it out.
Rumor also has it that in virtually any major grocery store in the USA you can put in any (valid) area code and 867-5309 and it will work as a rewards member number to get you the discounts. I have done it when traveling and have had success.
Seven is an important digit for the cadence because its the only one with two syllables. I guess you could double-up the last two fives and say "zero" instead of "0" to make it fit.
I was once on a bus and I could hear some teenagers talking. One asked a girl for her phone number and she told him a number starting with 07709, the UK's "555". I only knew that because a Doctor Who episode had recently used the same prefix.
Readit News
On occasion, radio stations would do bits where they would call a random payphone from the website. My house was called 3 times for the same bit by different radio stations. Within a month apart, I spoke to two different stations from New Zealand. MoreFM was one of them, but I don't remember the other. I do remember that that were very disappointed when I told them I had just spoken to MoreFM a month prior. Also MoreFM was the only station that didn't end the bit when I explained it was not a pay phone
Did you find out how this came to be, or just random typo?
Curious what the purpose of calling a pay phone is? (wasn't possible in my country)
If you want to let somebody know you can't talk right now but you will call them back in 10 minutes, this makes it possible without having them use another quarter (coin currency in US) to call you back in 10 minutes, or requiring them to feed quarters in while you wait on hold for 10 minutes.
Also plenty of other reasons that we've all seen in spy movies :)
Mostly for the humor value for an on-air radio show. I’m sure were pre-arranged just to make sure they got something usable, but I can see the occasion where a random person walking by and hearing the pay phone RINGING would cause them to pause. As a teenager I would have picked it up in a heartbeat (even not having heard the radio shows).
As for other “purposes” I’ve seen some crime/drama shows where the bad guy tells someone to go to the corner pay phone and answer it when it rings at a specific time. Horrible idea now as the phone systems would easily record the number that called it, but up until the early 2000’s it would be one option. Today I would guess dropping a burner phone in an envelope for the “victim” would be a more likely movie trope…
(Source: I’m from the US and remember a few radio stations doing this in the 1980’s and 1990’s.)
They actually just demolished the building that formally housed the restaurant (a Friendly's if anyone is familiar). The building sat empty for years.
Surprisingly, they didn't get that many calls, and IBM corrected the number in the next round of marketing. So they never had to change their number.
The call with them was right around the time of the theatrical release of the first film, and the people on t radio show were excited because the movie was filmed in New Zealand. To win the prize I had to name two people from New Zealand. I couldn't think of anyone, and earlier in the call I had already looked up the stations website, so they told me to go to the staff page and name two people.
This was back in the days of dial up Internet, but we were one of the first houses to get DSL. I remember one of the people at the radio station was amazed that I could be online and on the phone at the same time.
Dead Comment
I love when film has a real world tie in
Edit: more media should do this. Fun Easter eggs on IP or numbers from the film.
212-555-4240: The number of the modem at OTV that Dade social-engineers out of the security flunkie, allowing him to dial into the cable channel's systems
555-4817: Lisa Blair's phone number, which Lord Nikon recalls out of his photographic memory at the party.
555-4202: Kate's number, which Phreak connects to by rapidly pressing the prison phone's switchhook ten times (effectively pulse-dialing 0) and then asking the operator for help dialing
Given how stylized the movie is as a whole, the prominence of several obviously-fake phone numbers is the least of the things that break realism.
Eleven times; 1 was two clicks.
But it would be possible to register a number and put a promotion or easter egg on it. These days with virtual phone numbers it would be pretty cheap. The main problem is it lasting when rest of promotion disappears.
01 811 8055
This used to be the BBC number for call ins, particularly the kids TV show 'Swap Shop', but also for so much else during the 1970s and 1980s.
This number was retired in 1990 when the London ran out of phone numbers and switched to two different prefixes, 071 and 081. The former was advertised on TV as 'Inner London' and the latter as 'Greater London'. This bit of marketing kept everyone happy.
There was still a problem with numbers and the need to go for eleven digits. Hence, in 1995, the codes for London changed again, to 0171 and 0181. This was PHONEDAY.
But still, more numbers were needed, plus the tech behind the scenes was ever-evolving. Hence, in 2000, the numbers changed again for London, for everything to start with 020, so 0171 became 0207 and 0181 became 0208.
But then everyone got mobile phones and we no longer heard about how the economy was growing so quickly that we had this apparent incessant need for even more phone numbers. Furthermore, mobile phones had contacts built into them, so there was no need to remember phone numbers, which was just as well as eleven digits were not so easy to memorise, particularly when the prefixes had changed around so much.
Hence, my personal choice of fictional number. Apart from anything else, it enables me to see how well forms are validated, plus 01 811 8055 is only going to ever be recognised as a 'famous' number by Brits over a certain age.
There are also now London numbers that start with a 3 or a 4 as well as 7 and 8 so it's important to properly describe the dialling code for London as 020.
Misconceptions about telephone dialling in the UK are so commonplace that they merit their own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptio...
[1] a real number that will get you through to Transport for London enquiries
In the very late 90s I briefly had a rotary dial phone - very anachronistic even then - and discovered that dialling an eleven digit number that way is a huge ballache - it's so sloooow! Especially if the number has a bunch of 9s in it.
A little after that I was in the US but kept using my British mobile for a month or two as my contact - giving my number to people was even worse ... rattling off a 15 digit (international prefix plus country code) always confused people.
I too remember the Swap Shop number with some fondness. I certainly called it at least once or twice.
Last note - I realised recently that I still know the X29 address for nsfnet relay from Janet to the Internet (basically a Janet-to-telnet relay). That's a 14 digit number that I last used over 30 years ago. My memory's pretty average, but man, once stuff goes in it does not come out again!
(edit: I see now the domain is .gov.au specifically)
I have shared this story on Reddit before and I got banned from r/AskReddit for "doxing". That phone number is super secret and must not be publicized! Whoops!
About ten years ago or so, Kroger finally integrated the loyalty programs across all their brands of stores (City Market, Harris Teeter, Kroger, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, and others, but those are the ones I have been in), so you can use pretty much any older area code you like to try it out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEnnsylvania_6-5000