h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If the song was indeed released in the mid-80's then it cannot have been the inspiration for the 555 prefix, which existed long before that.

Roger that. I'm told the prefix was created for use in movies and TV shows. But I saw it used in Marvel Comics in the early 1980s (when it became established that 1-800-555-4444 would get you the Fantastic Four's toll-free line).

Actually, I should correct this article: 857-5309 was released in 1982, which most people would consider the early 80s, not the middle.

Can anyone direct me to an example of the 555- sequence being used earlier than this song? I'd appreciate it, and I'll give you credit on the page if you can correct me.

Thanks, all.

[bows respectfully]

--Caledonian

The 555 exchange is not totally fictious, but the only real 555 numbers are owned by the telephone companies. For example, from anywhere in the US, dialing 555-1212 will connect you to the local directory information operator.

Since there are very few actual phone numbers beginning with 555, the phone companies and the media companies agreed that it (or the alpha-equivalent KL5) be used whenever a phone number appears on film or TV.

I'm not sure just when the 555 exchange came into use, whether for phone company numbers or films, but the song, although one of the more famous examples of people getting crank calls because their number was published, was certainly not the only one. An old song from the Big Band era was 'Pennsylvania 6-5000', or 736-5000 in todays all-numeric numbering scheme.

There were probably people in places other than Pennsylvania who got calls stemming from the song, as any given 7-digit number may occur in any area code.

Are there any other places besides the US/Canada where this practice of creating special numbers for entertainment media exists? I remember moving from the UK to the other side in 1981 and finding it rather strange that on TV all the numbers start with 555 (I am now so used to it it didn't cross my mind until now) - Why? Is this necessary because:

a) There are so may people with nothing better to do and have the compulsion to do it.
b) There are so many people that really believe what is on TV that they might be able to call a number and talk to someone they "know" from a show.
c) Somebody is likely and able to easily find some lawyer to sue the TV company for some huge amount if someone calls a number randomly chosen on a show - and causes them untold mental stress.
d) All of the above.

If this is a unique phenomena in the English speaking part of the N. American continent, why?

Sure:


Ever noticed that phone numbers given in American movies and TV shows invariably start with the 555 prefix? Ever wondered why 555 and not something else?
The answer lies 30 years ago or more when the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. An example might be CENtral 78978. You dialled CEN 78978 or, using all numbers, 236 78978.

It so happened that 5 on the dial corresponded with J K and L and you can’t make any English place names using any combination of J, K and L as the first 3 letters. So the 555 code was allocated to service levels such as Directory Assistance, Operator, Repair Service, etc.

Due to the "low fill" of the 555 code, Hollywood was encouraged to quote 555 numbers in their productions to prevent real subscribers being harassed by members of the public trying out the numbers quoted on the screen. Generic and satirical advertisements and commercials often used 555 numbers. In the early days of exchange names the prefix KLondike-5 was used as this exchange did not exist.


From http://atcseditor.freeyellow.com/code.htm

But why? Is it really necessary - I am not aware of a similar practice in any other country. If a drama is supposed to give the viewer a feeling of realism would not using 555-xxxx seem a bit silly, rather than some random real-sounding phone number (that might be auntie Mabel's phone just by chance)? Just curious. Is it forward thinking on behalf of Hollywood - If it is then I think I know what the "8th Wonder of the World" would be.

Well, consider the disclaimer that appears after every movie: All characters, places and institutions are fictitious and no resemblance to persons, places or institutions living or dead is intended.

Given that they claim that, and that it's well known that *any* phone number mentioned in a movie or TV show *will* get called, it's not surprising that the studios take the easy way out and use 555, just to avoid the possibility of litigation.

lived in a small town once where you could dail anyone else in town with 555 followed by the last four didgets only worked on the island

The big band number "PEnnsylvania 6-5000" was named for the actual phone number of the Hotel Pennsylvania, 32 Street and 7 Avenue across from New York's Pennsylvania Station. The hotel was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad sometime around 1880 and has about 2500 rooms in it. Glenn Miller, whose band played the Pennsylvania in the early 1940s, commissioned the song, which was written by two of his band members and recorded in April 1940. It became the Glenn Miller Orchestra's theme (though "In the Mood" is their best-known song).

The Hotel Pennsylvania (which was a Best Western last time I looked) can still be reached to this day at 212 736-5000.

As for 867-5309, New Jersey Bell disconnected the number in the 201 area code when Tommy Tutone's hit came out (at the customer's request) but then reassigned it about a year later -- to someone living in Union City, N.J., who apparently spoke no English. I tried it one day in 1984, and the person on the other end of the line said "No comprende", and meant it.

Radio station WHTZ (Z-100), which serves the New York area from a base in Secaucus, N.J., has a main number of 201 867-5000. I still think they missed the boat by not requesting the then-inactive 867-5309.

The Marvelettes had a big hit with "BEechwood 4-5789" (234-5789) in the late 1950s; Wilson Pickett scored with the extremely similar title (but completely different song) "634-5789" a few years later. In the late 1980s, the syndicated oldies show "Solid Gold Saturday Night" took the request line number 800 634-5789.

-- Charlie

This then is option c) as I listed above. Still I would like to know if anyone knows that this practice is followed outside of the US. Considering the unusual situation with civil lawsuits in the US, option c) probably explains this as well.

So, why is the prefix 555 necessary?

The answer is "D" and "None of the above"

a) There are so may people with nothing better to do and have the compulsion to do it.

You have a poster above who says he called the number and found someone who did not speak English. You would be amazed at what a couple of six packs and a boring Saturday night will do some people. And, you would be really amazed at the great multitude that don't need a six pack and a boring Saturday night. Else, why do so many people ask busy CSRs to page Anita P. Noww?

b) There are so many people that really believe what is on TV that they might be able to call a number and talk to someone they "know" from a show.

I think it was P.T. Barnum who said that nobody ever went poor underestimating the stupidity of the people. In his museum, he had a sign, "This way to the egress." People would follow that sign, wondering what the "egress" was. Shortly, they would arrive at a door which proclaimed something like, "The egress lies beyond this door". They would go out and then have to pay to get back in after seeing the egress.

There's an old joke about two people sitting in a bar watching the t.v. news. One man looks up and notices that someone is about to jump off the ledge. He turns around and bets the other man $100 that the person on the ledge will jump. The other man takes the bet. Sure enough, the person on the ledge jumps. As the other man reaches into his wallet to pay the bet, the first man says, "Look, I can't do this to you. I saw this story earlier on the news and I knew the man was going to jump." The second man said, "I saw the same story. I just didn't believe he would jump a second time."

There are a lot of people like that second man who are looking for the egress. They see a number spoken by an actor, and perhaps even see the phone ring on the studio set, and immediately they want to call the show.

c) Somebody is likely and able to easily find some lawyer to sue the TV company for some huge amount if someone calls a number randomly chosen on a show - and causes them untold mental stress.

You may not have a case that can win, but some lawyer somewhere is willing to pay. There's a particular type of legal predator that will sue major corporations for two or three thousand dollars. Now, that may seem like a large sum to us, but for a major corporation, it really costs much more than that to fight the lawsuit, since large corporations tend to hire expensive lawyers. A lawyer at $200 an hour eats up $2,000 in 10 hours. It takes a $500 an hour lawyer only four hours to eat up $2,000. And, these lawyers charge for researching the case law, researching the facts of the case, researching the jury selection process, researching every little thing they can. So, someone will go into a W.A. L'Mart, take a slip in Aisle 5 and sue. The company is more than happy to settle for a few thousand dollars -- it's cheaper than taking it to court. The next week, the same guy goes into K-Mart and slips again in Aisle 5. Again he files suit. Again the settlement. It can be fairly lucrative.

Now, add invasion of privacy and other charges and someone might could put together a fairly good lawsuit. I've had more than one attorney tell me they felt better at predicting the outcome of the lottery than they did when 12 peers got together behind closed door and discussed what this rich media company/singer/actor was doing this poor fella.

d) All of the above.

And, none of the above. As far as I know there is no law mandating the use of 555 in fictional phone numbers. But, it is a great service when folks use that exchange.

Maybe think of this as an ethnological or anthropological study.

Why? I would like to know if this is a unique phenomena here in N. America, and not in other countries with many telephones and a population that watches a lot of TV, etc. I would think in countries where this practice is not followed it is because no one thinks it is of any importance.

If it is unique - Is it just because of fear of litigation implied by all the other things? Just because it is not illegal in the US does not mean that people are frightened of being subjected to some frivolous lawsuit, and at the other end someone else is looking to make any easy buck or million.

I wonder if Germans have an equivalent - Stuttgart 999-xxxx for example (nein, nein, nein... get it?). Although in Britain the emergency number has been 999 for decades rather than 911 - US/Canadian telephone exchanges use 911, 411, etc. for special services. I guess in Britain the thought was the emergency number should be as simple as possible, except trying to dial 3 nines on a rotary phone during an emergency will take longer than dialing any other 3 numbers - precious time.

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