Did people really memorize phone numbers...?

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SnooChickens9974@reddit

My granddaughter is in first grade and she knows her mom's phone number. And in our area, we HAVE to dial the area code first, so she's memorized a 10 digit number. It's required in her class that each child knows a parents' phone number.

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SeenSeenAgains@reddit

Yes and it was an almost effortless skill that everyone had.

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War-Square@reddit

yep

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Dpgillam08@reddit

You couldn't start kindergarten where I lived unless you were

1) toilet trained

2) able to say (and spell) your full name, full address, and home phone number

3) Say (and spell) the names of your parents

4) say the name, relation, and phone number of a alternate contact (usually your grandparents)

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NeutralGoodAtHeart@reddit

But some of us are old enough that we had a cheat code. My first phone number was only four dgits.

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Just_Browsing_2017@reddit

True story:

About 15 years ago my son invited several classmates to his 8th birthday party. The party ends and one of the kids’ parents hasn’t shown up yet.

We ask if he knows his mom’s phone number, and he says: “it’s… I think it’s… no, it definitely is: 3”

That must have been the speed dial on their home phone.

And yes, this is partly on us for not bring sure we had everyone’s number at drop off.

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Kindly-Might-1879@reddit

We celebrated my daughter’s 12th bday at home 15 years ago. I made her friends write down on a sheet of paper a parent’s name and phone number lol. I recall only one parent came in to meet us and ask questions; the other girls were just dropped off.

The kicker was this was a sleepover party.

I went to bed with 6 girls hanging out in the living room. The next morning I discovered a 7th friend had been dropped off in the middle of the night and I had no idea who she was!

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Olderbutnotdead619@reddit

Read & write cursive Count change back+ no calculators Do math on paper We also knew all our friend's & classmates first and last names and usually where they lived

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tilt-a-whirly-gig@reddit

       E
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Yeah, the school made an allowance for the kids with "alphabet" last names; that was when I first heard the joke

I still remember the number of the girl I was dating 35 years ago.

For the most part you only had to remember seven numbers, unless it was long distance.

Hahaha. I’m in the same boat.

I’m 50. I remember my grandma’s number and my home number from when I was six. It helps that they were only 5 digits. Something about turning that mechanical wheel on the phone etched them into my memory.

Yeah. We just did that. For a few maybe.

I remember my first phone number when I lived in Georgia as a kid. (Land line)

Told I had to know it.

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Simon170148@reddit

Yes because we dialled them regularly. Tbf, nowadays I know my credit card details due to online purchasing and not wanting them stored online - a feat that me of 30 years ago would have been impressed with

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Ok-Limit-9726@reddit

Absolutely

I recall the internal rhythm of evening the numbers too, like it has a beat to accompany the dialing.

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ComprehensiveAd8815@reddit

4291

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GelatinousGoober@reddit

Of course

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Objective-Holiday597@reddit

I still memorize phone numbers and I encourage my offspring to memorize at least two numbers as well, in case they lose their phone or get arrested.

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Thatstealthygal@reddit

Yup.

I used to remember my grandparents' number because it was a palindrome except for the first digit. 381-0018. My grandma still had the number sticker on the kitchen phone with the number back when it was partially alphabetic...DAWson 0018. (Actually, I don't know if those were the letters since I came along way after that.)

My wife is really good with remembering numbers.

Phone numbers, Credit cards, SSNs, whatever.

Yep, remember my childhood number and the neighbor kid i hung out with. Then later on my exes phone number when we were going out.

timberwolf0122@reddit

I still remeber my best friend’s parents number and an ex girlfriends parent’s number.

Also 867 5309 And 0118 999 881 999 119 725…..3

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ChocolateFruitloop@reddit

Well it was the new emergency services number

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micros101@reddit

Yep. And I still remember the code to fight Mike Tyson

Not Gen X but went longer without a cell phone than most people.

Memorizing phone numbers actually wasn’t hard if you called the person a lot.

Absolutely

I can still tell you the numbers of my two best friends in high school

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ezgomer@reddit

of course - I still remember my phone number from the 80s

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Pretty-Care-7811@reddit

I still remember my childhood phone number and a bunch of my friends'. These days, I'd be lucky to be able to tell you anyone's number that I've met in the past 20 years.

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Myeloman@reddit

I can still recite to you my phone number, my mom’s, my dad’s, my grandparents… even my old driver’s license number from a state I haven’t lived in for 15 years.

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PAPAIZ1970@reddit

212-356-9662…..my number in NyC from 1974-1984. Today, I don’t even know my wife’s phone number. I’m 55.

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We had to physically dial every number that we called each time so that led to remembering the numbers we called often.

Also, when you're looking at the keypad and pressing each number you'll start to see sometimes the numbers make a little pattern and you can remember the pattern.

Also sometimes we would just commit a number to memory in case we needed it that day or whatever. Locally when I was growing up, there were only so many ways that a phone number would start meaning, the first three digits would be only a handful of options.

One little town I lived in for a while had the same first three digits for everybody and so essentially we were only remembering the last four.

I mean, how else would we be able to call people when we weren't at home? Kids don't carry address books with them. We weren't going to call information every time we needed to call someone. There wasn't always a phone book handy -- and we might not have know the last names anyway. Memorizing phone numbers was expected. Required.

007 373 5963

No, but Mike F'n Tyson is!

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ted_anderson@reddit

I use this number for the 7-11 Rewards. Right now Jenny has over 40,000 points.

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dworkylots@reddit

Which area code

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ted_anderson@reddit

240

I don't know who owns that number but in another post someone suggested using Jenny's number if you didn't want to put your own number out there. If nobody owns it I'm going to try to get it.

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gt0163c@reddit

When I travel for work instead of getting a rewards card for every local supermarket I try the local area code and Jenny's number. Works about 75% of the time.

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Legitimate_Ocelot491@reddit

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AndroidColonel@reddit

I can recall probably 125 phone numbers that I haven't dialed in decades.

I don’t dial from contacts, I just key the numbers and hit send.

At my 30th class reunion, I exchanged contact information with a guy, then realized we had met in 1996 when I saw his number, since I remembered a simple alliteration I had associated with it.

I AM the reason that you change pin codes and key codes when employees move on.

Last year I visited an employer from 2 decades ago. I don't know any of their current employees, but I remarked on the alarm keypad being unchanged since the Nineties.

I jokingly asked the manager if they still recycled the passcodes for new employees.

He remarked that he had just taken over and that he seriously doubted it, but they were waiting on a password reset because the original master code had been misplaced.

"It's 723914. Call them and use *3761 to verify with initials DC."

He glared at me, thinking I was just making shit up and clowning him.

I said, Hey, you can't just get a tip like that and not do your due diligence. I just had a feeling about it.

wyohman@reddit

I don't understand your question. You ask if people did this and then you tell us that you did.

How else would someone call if they didn't memorize numbers?

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Blubbernuts_@reddit

Yes. Lol, I still remember a bunch of them. Today people remember passwords that they use a lot

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Willing_Freedom_1067@reddit

I remember my childhood phone number for a very specific reason - it was one digit off from a popular local movie theater and people were always calling for what was playing and/or show times (which was the only way to find out back then other than a newspaper). It drove us all bugfuck so we started being smart asses when we answered.

Phone numbers, addresses, street signs, all of it. I had a map inside my head of damn near all of OC, LA, and San Diego.

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Oh yeah. I can still remember my home number as a kid and a handful of my childhood friends numbers but I’ll be damned if I can remember my wife and kids phone numbers now.

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Spicyg00se@reddit

Part of it for me was remembering the design it made on the phone. I like my current phone number because it’s just a rectangle going around the same numbers lol

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Dear_Tangerine444@reddit

I can still tell you the phone number we had in the 80s, and hasn’t been in use for over two decades now. On the other hand, I have to think… sometimes quite hard… about my current phone number (I’ve had it for about a decade).

I still remember my house, grandma/grandpa's house, my cousin's, my college girlfriend, my wife's home number, and probably some others if I really thought about it. The most recent would've been my wife's number, and that hasn't been active for almost 20 years.

On the flip side, I have no idea what happened 30 seconds ago.

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Januszek_Zajaczek@reddit

I still remember my old home number. My friends numbers. I memorized some numbers from my mobile phone in case I get arrested lol

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VastusAnimus@reddit

Yes! 867-5309!

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Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit

I still remember my childhood number, my best friend's number, my local childhood Dominos, and my dad's work number.

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BlownCamaro@reddit

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Komaisnotsalty@reddit

Yep, and I still remember most of them.

Historical_Chip_2706@reddit

My Mom text me this week to tell me the turned off their landline. That cut deep

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Avasia1717@reddit

i still remember two of my friends’ numbers and my mom’s office number. and the movie theater.

i remember my childhood number too but when my dad got rid of the landline i had the number moved to my cell phone so that’s kind of cheating.

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Antique-Show-4459@reddit

Yup and I can still tell you some from 50 years ago!!$”

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OGMom2022@reddit

We also carried around tiny address books for numbers we didn’t call as often. Also, phone numbers didn’t move with you. The first 3 digits indicated what area you lived in so that also made it easier.

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worstnameIeverheard@reddit

90% of the phone numbers I know are for people who died years ago.

I also still have my MCI calling card number memorized.

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Rootin-Tootin-Newton@reddit

I bet I had over 100 memorized

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doejart1115@reddit

As a kid in the 70s, absolutely. Still know some of them.

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PrestigiousWeb7862@reddit

I remember all the phone numbers and addresses from my past

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SeismicFrog@reddit

897-9796

PhilMeUpBaby@reddit

Yep.

I still remember numbers from the late '80s.

Yes! We did. I still remember many of my friends phone numbers.

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stuartcw@reddit

Back in the day, we had these paper based PDAs. They had an initial page where you wrote down all your private information in case the book got lost. Then, there were squares where you could put in your monthly schedule. Then, there were individual pages for each day. At the back was a section for addresses. Each year, in December you copied the addresses from the previous year’s book by hand into a new book. The address section this included a line or two for telephone numbers.

When you met a new person and exchanged numbers, you would take the book out of your pocket with the pen, that you always carried, and write the name of the person and their telephone number in the back of the book.

Some people carried special little books which only contained the address section. If these were small and had a black cover they were known as little black books.

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beeedeee@reddit

Yep. I can still remember lots of them.

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glendon24@reddit

I had all my friends numbers memorized. And my parents calling card number for long distance.

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AdGold205@reddit

How else was I gonna call anyone?!

I had dozens of numbers memorized (mom, dad, mom’s work, grandparents, best friends…) and for classmates and other people I didn’t call often in a small notebook but mine had Snoopy on it rather than being black.

Now I’ve off loaded that brain function to my phone.

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AdGold205@reddit

Today I have my husband’s number, and my old work number memorized. I don’t even have my parents numbers or my kids numbers memorized these days.

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Ok_Push2550@reddit

Not only that, but one of the first things to do when you joined a club or sport was to get the phone list - a sheet with everyone's name and phone number, so you could call people.

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7LeagueBoots@reddit

Is this a question about memory loss? Have you forgotten your childhood to teenage (or even 20-30 something) years?

My first cell phone was in around 2003 and it was turned off all the time as it was for emergencies for me to use when calling other people. I was 31-32.

I didn’t get a cell phone with a proper memory storage until around 2011 or 2012 (39-40), when I needed one for work and smart phones were a thing.

That’s about when I stopped memorizing phone numbers.

Prior to that all of the phone numbers I regularly used were memorized.

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MusicalScientist206@reddit

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One point. Most of the people in the town that you lived in had the same first two numbers after the area code. And those were often represented by a word (that part predated us but the letters remained until well into the 80s).

Example: the song “Pennsylvania 6-5000.” That’s a phone number. PA6-5000.

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rohrschleuder@reddit

Yes, I still remember the 5. My house #, both neighbors #, both work #s. Don’t know how as I can’t remember where the fuck I put my keys but those 5 numbers are etched in to the grey matter.

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Hippy_Lynne@reddit

When I was growing up I had a friend named Art who had a little brother named Chris. Art and I lost touch after I switched schools in 5th grade. About 15 years later I had a roommate named Chris who was working somewhere where the phone number was one digit off of Art's. One day I go to call Chris at work and when I asked for Chris the person on the other end replies "This is Chris" but I knew it wasn't my roommate's voice. At that point I realized they hadn't answered the phone "Chris's workplace" and figured out what happened. I explained to Art-Chris that I had dialed the wrong number and I was his brother's old friend. Being New Orleans we spent about 15 minutes catching up before I hung up and called my roommate. 😂

To this day I still remember my first home phone number and a few of my old friend's phone numbers. And Art's/Chris's old workplace, but I'm not sure I could remember which was which. 😂

But yeah, I had a phone book but I was always good with numbers and I memorized a lot of them without even trying. I've currently got three people's numbers memorized in case I end up in jail or get my phone stolen or something, but honestly I have to review them every few months because I never dial them.

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XerTrekker@reddit

Inquiring minds want to know, did you ever catch up with Art again?

I had so many phone numbers easily memorized back then, but now I can’t remember a single one.

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Sawyer2025@reddit

Not only that, but the area codes were a fine line. I could call 20 miles away for free, but if I called in the other direction 5 miles away it was long distance, required the area code, and costs $ for the call. Some who lived close to the line would call someone and in the first minute tell them to get on the CB Radio on a certain channel. They would continue the conversation over the CB.

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u35828@reddit

If anyone from the Chicago area remembers this: HUDson-3-2-700

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Charley_Ben_Freya@reddit

I lived in a remote area of Scotland with a small local telephone exchange. My home phone number was 333 and my grandparents number was 636.

Out of the 30-40 phone numbers that I memorized as a kid, I still remember about 30-40 of them now. LOL

Not just numbers of friends and relatives but even phone numbers of the local businesses in the area. The local mechanic, the pizza shop, the supermarket, the dry cleaner, the school.

It was definitely a skill. Even in the cellphone era, we all knew numbers. I had a friend who refused to put names in his cellphone phonebook - he was parnoid about someone finding his phone and "knowing" who his contacts were, so he just recorded everyone as their phone number *only*. Quirky bugger, he was.

Last 4 was what you remembered. And rooted for them not to have any 8 or 9 in their number to reduce the ponderously long return of the dialer.

I still remember quite a few. My Dad's, my Mom's, my BBS line, my girlfriend from high school, a couple friends.

I still remember 6-8 from our old homes or good friends. I use the last 4 digits of my childhood best friend’s number from the 4th grade as a pin #. We made our kids memorize our cell #s, too. I have 4 active #’s memorized that I use regularly now. It’s easy is to remember them when you’re dialing them all the time.

Now I can't even remember my own number.

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