When I was a kid, my parents had an old-fashioned rotary phone in their bedroom (I genuinely miss that thing!), and a looooong corded phone in the kitchen. It hung on the wall but could be strategically stretched into a nearby bedroom if someone needed privacy (though we all picked up other lines to eavesdrop now and then). And I remember when they got a brick-like cordless phone and thinking it was a Very Big Deal.
At the time, I knew a lot of phone numbers: all my friends’, and of course our home phone landline.
But now it’s a little horrifying how few I remember.
I know my own (though I have to stop and think about it).
I know John’s.
I know my parents’ home phone.
I know 911. Does that count?
That is it.
I don’t know Belle’s cell. Or my parents’ cell. Or Joy’s. I don’t know the numbers for either of the kids’ schools, or any of my siblings’. It feels simultaneously unnecessary to clutter my brain with that information and wildly dependent. Without my phone, I’m practically cut off from my closest circle.
Yikes!
What about you?
- How many phone numbers do you have memorized today?
- Do you still remember any numbers from your childhood? My dad remembers SO many numbers from throughout his life.
- Do you remember rotary phones? Picking up another line to eavesdrop?
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I used to know so many numbers. I can recite my childhood phone and the neighbors (562-7474!) , which I haven’t used since I was 10. Current #’s I know are the home phone, my cell, husband’s cell, the attendance line at the high school, the elementary school, doctor and dentist, and a few miscellaneous ones. None of my kids’ cells. ( maybe vaguely but nothing I’d be comfortable with dialing.)
I grew up with rotary phones ( and payphones were 10 cents a call!). Dialing a rotary phone was very satisfying. I can hear the sounds in my head, and the action of my finger twirling the dial.
I can’t even remember childhood numbers anymore which makes me sad (I could for a long time), but my dad remembers numbers from throughout his life. I wonder if he knows my current number, though?
I’m very impressed with the long list of numbers you know by heart. Wow!
I don’t think my kids have ever seen a functional payphone let alone used one. Though I see that rotary phones are coming back. But do people have landlines? I’m not sure how it works now that most everyone simply has cell phones/cell plans.
Same! My parents’ landline (841 12 22) that hasn’t been in use for over 10 years. My own mobile, which is super easy to remember. Other than that, nada. I don’t even know Kai’s number. Outsourcing my brain to a machine has made me lazy!
Do your kids know any numbers by heart, or is that a completely lost skill for this generation?
My kids know both our cell phone numbers by heart. It was important to us they could call us in an emergency (or have someone with phone access call us). I’m not sure if Belle knows her friends’ numbers, but I doubt it since everything is added into cell phones now, and you search by name, not number.
I’m like you, I used to know a heap of phone numbers for my friends. Now I know my dad’s, G’s and my own, although there was a stage when I struggled to recall my own mobile because I never rang it. I still remember my home phone from when I was a kid, and my dad has a variation on that for his mobile phone, which is why I can remember it. And I also remember the home phone for G and my first house which we took with us when we moved because we only moved 2km away. I also used to take the phone from our living room into the lounge room when I wanted some privacy. I did not pick up and listen to other people’s conversations—you are very naughty Elisabeth.
It IS hard to remember your own number since you call it the least. I do have to think about it carefully because my number and John’s number have some overlap.
I know – so naughty. *hangs head in shame*
My kid and I were just discussing this yesterday! I still remember my childhood home phone numbers, my dad’s old office phone number and the number of the hospital, my best friend’s home phone number, my dad’s cell phone number, and – oddly – the number of my middle school crush. (But not the number of my high school boyfriend???) The only cell phone numbers I know by heart are mine, my husband’s, and my dad’s – because his has been the same for thirty years!
Okay, remembering the number of your middle school crush is NEXT LEVEL!! Colour me impressed.
I know mine, my mom’s, ben’s, my brother’s, the pediatrician… and my dad’s cell, my best friend from elementary school’s landline, my grandparents’ landline, my parents’ landline– not super useful anymore…
Maybe not helpful, but it is a sweet note of nostalgia!
Oh yes, I’m right there with you! One time visiting my folks in the States my daughter and I were out shopping and couldn’t get our car to start to go back to my parents’ place and I had left my phone behind since we don’t have cell coverage in the US (we can do most important things with wifi and occasionally borrow a phone if we need to). I realized in that moment that there was no way for me to contact anyone even if I borrowed someone else’s phone because my husband’s phone was also in airplane mode to avoid cell charges and I didn’t know a single phone number for anyone local, including my parents who had upgraded from a land line to new mobile numbers in the past few years. Thankfully the car ended up starting but I take my phone with me when we go out now!
Eeks! I can, unfortunately, see myself being in a similar situation. I hate being tethered to my phone BUT not enough to memorize numbers.
The days of having phone numbers memorized is long gone. But you bet I remember my childhood phone number! My mom made up a jingle to help me learn it “359-one nine oh eight! Our phone number is awfully great!” Until pretty late in high school we only had one phone, and I also remember it like it was yesterday. It was a red rotary dial.
Today I know my parent’s landline but not their cells. I don’t know the landline for my own house, but in my defense the landline was here before I was and I never use it. I have no idea what the kids’ cells are because that’s my phone’s job.
I still know the cell number of the owner of the first company I ever worked for, because I was 22 when I learned it, and it was one digit away from another cell number that the business used and I dialed both frequently in the 15 years that I worked with those people at two different businesses. And I also know my husband’s cell number by heart, but that’s mostly because 4 of the 7 digits are the same number. I didn’t notice until we were a few dates in when he said the number out loud to reserve a table at a restaurant. Once I heard it I couldn’t unhear it.
I got to hear you sing that jingle on the hike to Cape Split! Very handy, indeed. I don’t actually remember my childhood landline BUT I know my father does and I bet as soon as I heard it I would remember.
It’s so handy when the numbers are easily rememberable. Some numbers naturally have a nice rhythm!
It’s funny how things have changed, isn’t it? I still remember my childhood phone number, and my best friend’s (which, to be fair, was still her parents’ phone number until this year), and Grandma’s, which my aunt got rid of a couple of years ago.
Now I know my own cell number, and my mother’s land line (I can never remember her cell #), and … that may be it? I don’t know my best friend’s cell number, or my brother’s.
I like to think I’m freeing up brain cells for other things, thought that might be overly optimistic. But, I mean, I can still rattle off the dozen-plus numbers of my Dad’s calling code that I memorized when Mom went to stay with Grandma for a few weeks while she had surgery, in about 1980, and just think what I could have used those brain cells for in the years since!
That calling code!! Clearly your brain thinks it’s valuable information to hold on to.
Landline numbers could be generational! But now I know so few people with landlines. It makes me a little sad, to be honest, as I find myself increasingly missing the clear distinction between being home and “reachable” and being out and not.
The only phone numbers I know are my own and my husband’s. I don’t even know my own kids’ phone numbers, and that is so wrong!!! I wonder if it seems weird to our kids that when we were their age, we had all our friends numbers memorized.
The only number I remember from my childhood is our own phone number.
I’m right there with you!
I think talking on the phone was a bigger deal. Belle almost always texts or does a video call. And, she’s only communicating with them from her phone which has all the numbers stored. I do remember the phone in our kitchen had speed dial settings and that was a big deal. Not that we didn’t remember the numbers, but that you could just push a single button and it would auto-dial important people. It seemed to forward-thinking and futuristic. HA!
I remember Jenny’s number (867-5309)! lol
I do remember my parent’s and grandparents (now aunt’s) landline numbers, I think both are still in service, but I always call cell phone’s now. I remember when I was little we could just dial the last 5 digits when calling a number in the same little town.
I know my mom’s cell number because it was originally her car phone number back in the mid-90s! Does anyone remember when car phones were a thing?
My grandparents had a rotary phone as their main phone until at least 2000.
Same with being able to dial just the last 5 digits in certain places!
I didn’t ever know anyone with a car phone (does Seinfeld count??).
I love that your grandparents hung on to their rotary phone. I wonder if my parents still have theirs in storage somewhere? It’s a relic now, but they’re coming back into vogue again. There is something so satisfying about the tactile nature of a rotary phone.
Oh yes, I do remember rotary phones. But I honestly don’t miss them! They were tough on my fingers. I also can’t remember phone numbers anymore. I know my own and my husband’s, and that’s it. My husband has an incredible memory for numbers. He can probably remember any number he’s ever looked up! It’s wild! He remembers other numbers too. I can’t remember anything involving numbers. Ugh!
That IS wild! What a memory. I can think of things I’d like to have a photographic memory for; phone numbers likely isn’t what I’d choose, but being married to someone like that really frees you up to not keep numbers in your brain.
My dad is a bit like that. He has an INSANE ability to remember dates. Major political and world events for millenia and important things that happened in our family. It’s crazy how much he remembers. But when it comes to math he’s utterly hopeless. My mom is the opposite. A math whiz, but she probably couldn’t tell you when the War of 1812 happened…
Even though I am a numbers person, there are only a few phone numbers of friends/family that I remember. BUT I know the phone number of multiple departments here at the hospital. I used to work at a billing company so I know a lot of NY zip codes. I can remember our old land line and sometimes (I’m looking at you telemarketers and spam calls) wish I still had it.
I actually like my cell phone for telemarketers because if I don’t recognize the area code and/or number (my cell phone displays the town the call is coming from), I just don’t pick up and let it go to voicemail. I find most telemarketers never leave a message. I used to always pick up and felt so bad about cutting them off and shutting down the call but I was very much NOT interested.
Your memory of NY zip codes reminds me of my sister who worked at a grocery store and can still remember dozens of produce codes all these years later!
I AM old – not only do I remember rotary phones, I remember party lines. We had I think 3 neighbors on ours; my mother never allowed a long phone conversation with my friends because someone else might want to make a call. And I will play the old card and admit that the only phone number I have in memory is my own. It takes a minute to call it up, though.
Party lines! I’ve never had one, but my husband knew people when he was growing up (rural Prince Edward Island) that did!
My grandma had a rotary phone. I actually think my beloved Uncle Kevin STILL HAS IT and uses it for his landline. I’ll have to look the next time I am over there. We always had cordless phones as far back as I can remember, although we had corded phones when I was in college (pre-cell phone!).
I’m right with you. I know my number and my husband’s number. On a good day I know both our office numbers, too!
Yet another reason Uncle Kevin is the best!!
I used to have a whole host of phone numbers memorized back in the day. The only one I can still recall with ease was our home phone number. Today, I’m lucky that I know my husband’s and, in a pinch, could probably remember my son’s; but that’s it.
Well, it’s good to know that I have company in being so wholly reliant on my phone to keep track of contact information!
This is a fun walk down memory lane. Literally. I know some of my kids’ cell numbers. Plus my folks number, my in laws, the pediatrician, the library, the pharmacy, the high school, Coach’s office, his cell, my sisters’ and one SIL cell, and my childhood phone number. I also remember my grandparents’ phone number. Back in the day, phone numbers in Chicsgo started with letters. My GPA’s was GA4-3239. When my youngest brother got a concussion in a bball game and my parents were out of town (and my other brother and I were supposed to be st the game- but went out with friends instead), my concussed brother told the ER doc to call the GA4 number bc it was all he could remember. My grandma was a worry wart- so that did not end well (she did not live nearby).
Eeks! What a scary story. Also, I had no idea any area codes were arranged as letters! Fascinating.
We had a rotary phone growing up and I always found it so satisfying to dial each number and watch the dial spin back.
Let’s see, numbers I know:
-My number
-My husband’s number
-My mother’s number
-Our landline number
The number of the house I grew up in and the house that I lived in when I was a tween
The number for the rehearsal department at work.
The number for the security office at work (When we work past midnight we have to call to get let out of the garage.)
My work number. (Though we don’t actually have phones anymore… the thing with work is that now that we just use Teams, no one really has a number anymore.)
I think that’s it.
There are numbers I recognize if they come up – the pediatrician, my doctor, my sister in law – but I don’t have them memorized.
I feel like I should learn my 13 year old’s number. Maybe that will be another project.
(Okay, funny story – our landline number used to be the Husband’s cell phone number and I had this weird hang up when I was first dating a guy that he would NEVER go into my phone. It was just bad luck or something. Like the moment they went into my phone, they would stop calling. So every time I dated a guy, I would just write their number on a piece of paper in my wallet and either I would just hit “return call” or dig up that piece of paper if I wanted to call them. And if we dated long enough, then I would eventually memorize the number. So I memorized this first phone number because it was the Husband’s cell phone number. And then he decided that he didn’t want a cell phone and ported the number to a landline and we’ve had it ever since as our landline. Anyhow, I still have a hang up about putting people in my phone – I have a few good friends that still aren’t in my phone and whenever they call, my phone says “Maybe: [NAME]” because that’s what technology does now. And the Husband still isn’t in my phone. Well his work number is, but when I need him, I usually just dial his number or pull up a text message and dial from there.
Yes! Wasn’t the rotary phone such an incredibly tactile experience. Also, it forced patience. It was hard to truly “speed dial” on one of those.
It’s a sweet little superstition and, hey, it means you have to stay on top of memorizing numbers better than the rest of us which will probably put you in good stead!
A few months ago, I typed every phone number on my cell onto a multi-page list and printed it. Being completely dependent on tech just doesn’t sit right with me. I try to memorize passwords and phone numbers, but there are too many. Now every single individual has a phone number instead of a single number for an entire household.
I have a sheet of paper with a lot of numbers written out, but in case of an emergency/being away from my phone, I would be up a proverbial creek unless my husband was answering his cell or my parents were at home monitoring their landline.
What a good point! We didn’t use to have nearly as many numbers to manage because every household generally shared a single line. (And now some people have work cell phones, home cell phones, AND landlines.)
Yeah, so many phone numbers that I don’t know anymore. Any of my siblings. My step mom. My in laws. I know my husband and daughter’s numbers, but maybe that’s it. I may know my BFF’s landline if I think about it, but not her cell, which is how we talk. Why would we need these numbers? We don’t. But if our phones died…maybe I need to put all of my numbers into a spreadsheet, right?
It’s such a longshot that I’d ever be in a position where I desperately need to contact someone and wouldn’t have my phone but still…I feel like I could make an effort to memorize my parents’ cell #, Belle’s, and Joy’s!
This is a problem without a solution….why would we clog our brains when our phone can hold that information?
HAHA!
Of course, I remember rotary phones. I remember when you didn’t need to use an area code. I remember when you had to wait until a specific time to make long-distance calls because they were exponentially cheaper during off-hours.
I remember getting my first (still corded) phone for my bedroom when I was about fifteen and I thought I was the bomb.
I know my husband’s, my kids, and a few of my lifetime friends’ numbers, but that’s about it. For some weird reason, I remember three of my past home/landline phone numbers.
YES! We only made long-distance calls in the evenings or on weekends. And even then, they were timed. It’s crazy to think about it. Long-distance is one thing that HAS gotten cheaper with time. Sadly, nothing else seems to…
Same, Elisabeth. I could tell you the phone number of our house phone when I was growing up, but I could not tell you even one family member’s cell number today. It is scary. And I miss our old rotary with the mile-long cord too 🙂
There was something…grounding (?) about rotary phones. I miss them, too!
Have fun:
https://www.timesgazette.com/2024/08/14/here-are-15-sounds-you-dont-hear-anymore/
Prompted by the references to rotary phones, and my memories of the sound… 🙂
ANNE. This article is pure gold. I am bookmarking it and will incorporate it into a post someday soon.