Maybe one of the sources at this site could help? Also, if you live near a branch of the National Archive, they'll have a microfilm archive of city directories.
Some local public libraries and historical societies have archives of old city directories--I know the ones in my home town both have them. Honestly, you could probably just look up the Memphis historical society, give them a call, and ask.
Seconding what scarywhitegirl has said--at the Central branch of the Memphis Public Library, they have a special reading room for primary-source materials about Shelby County and the City of Memphis:
Memphis & Shelby County Room holds a wide variety of material providing information about the development of the city and county. The local history collection includes books, photographs, maps, newspaper clippings and pamphlets, Memphis periodicals, manuscript collections, and oral history tapes. Some of the most frequently requested materials are old city directories, telephone directories, high school yearbooks, and photographs.
To contact them, start here. For detailed information, they charge a fee of $25/hour, but I should think a question like yours could be answered so quickly that they'd charge very little, if anything.
I don't have specifics for Memphis, but I can reiterate the way the number would look/sound. Part of my day job involves looking at old city directories for some of our projects. You'd definitely be looking at something in the format XX#-####, where XX is two letters and the #'s are numbers. So I guess you'd need to figure out what the various exchanges (letter codes) would have been for that era. Maybe find a Memphis public library or a county library and send them an E-mail inquiry?
As an aside, this practice must have persisted well into the 60s or 70s, because whenever I asked my dad what my aunt's phone number is, he used to tell me "Wood(something)" and then the rest of it in numbers. The "Wood(something)" (I can't recall, because it's not the name of the suburb she lives in) was for WO, which corresponds to 96. Since my aunt got married and moved to that house in the 60s, it must have been the number she always had!
As an aside, this practice must have persisted well into the 60s or 70s, because whenever I asked my dad what my aunt's phone number is, he used to tell me "Wood(something)" and then the rest of it in numbers. The "Wood(something)" (I can't recall, because it's not the name of the suburb she lives in) was for WO, which corresponds to 96.
People were definitely still using it in my old neighborhood in 1970-1975, because when we were taught in first grade about the importance of remembering your name and address, ours began "WI-7" which stood for "Wilson 7."
(We were taught a song that began
"Remember your name and address! Your telephone number too!")
I tried googling "newspaper advertisement" and got hits like *jackpot* Hemlock 831 (1924) and 9-1511 and 3-1111 (undated, but they sell coal, msut be old *g*) and 7-7700 (1949) from the Lost Memphis blog. Sadly, most early advertising does not list phone numbers. Perhaps you could ask the blog owner?
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Some local public libraries and historical societies have archives of old city directories--I know the ones in my home town both have them. Honestly, you could probably just look up the Memphis historical society, give them a call, and ask.
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Thank you for your assistance and especially the link :-D
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Memphis & Shelby County Room holds a wide variety of material providing information about the development of the city and county. The local history collection includes books, photographs, maps, newspaper clippings and pamphlets, Memphis periodicals, manuscript collections, and oral history tapes. Some of the most frequently requested materials are old city directories, telephone directories, high school yearbooks, and photographs.
To contact them, start here. For detailed information, they charge a fee of $25/hour, but I should think a question like yours could be answered so quickly that they'd charge very little, if anything.
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As an aside, this practice must have persisted well into the 60s or 70s, because whenever I asked my dad what my aunt's phone number is, he used to tell me "Wood(something)" and then the rest of it in numbers. The "Wood(something)" (I can't recall, because it's not the name of the suburb she lives in) was for WO, which corresponds to 96. Since my aunt got married and moved to that house in the 60s, it must have been the number she always had!
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Thank you, I believe I will. You have been quite helpful :-)
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People were definitely still using it in my old neighborhood in 1970-1975, because when we were taught in first grade about the importance of remembering your name and address, ours began "WI-7" which stood for "Wilson 7."
(We were taught a song that began
"Remember your name and address!
Your telephone number too!")
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In larger cities, post WWII, three letter prefix codes assigned to four digit numbers." http://www.privateline.com/TelephoneHistory3A/numbers.html
My phone number in the early sixties (western NY) was GRant 3190
Here's a list of some of the exchanges used in TN from 1928 to 1958:
http://rcrowe.brinkster.net/tensearch.aspx
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