When there was an operator, she would ask, "Number please," and the number would be something like 649J. Then they got the dial phones, and even into the push button phones, the numbers started with a word, I remember ours was LIberty 3-5479. You only used the first two letters when dialing. O was for operator, and you still got a live person, and they would help any way they could. I remember we wanted to call someone that lived way out in the pucker brush in Nevada, and I had no idea of the number. Dialed O, told the operator the problem, gave a brief description of where they lived, and of course the name, she called an operator in Reno, I'm listening, that operator called another in the county she thought they lived, and that operator came up with the number. I got the son of the fellow I was trying to call, but he was a Jr. so couldn't expect more than that. Son gave me the proper phone number. All for free. Times are changing, and not necessarily for the better.
