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'ADVERTISE ON FIFTH AVENUE COACH'

 
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:47 am    Post subject: 'ADVERTISE ON FIFTH AVENUE COACH' Reply with quote

Found this very interesting 1930 ad on eBay (hope they don't mind that I'm borrowing it for educational purposes only!) touting the advantages to advertising on Fifth Avenue's Coaches.

The blurb, which probably appeared nationwide, boasts an impressive ridership of 41 million fares per year which was undoubtedly record setting for a bus company in that era.

Judging by the fact that the driver's area is completely isolated from the passengers (which is the way it should be!), I would say that the pictured interior is that of a rear entry double decked coach which, in the time frame, would have been a custom body by Fifth Avenue mounted on a Yellow Model 'Z' chassis.

I particularly like the company phone number '0260 Caledonia' which was probably the system they used before dial service (that's when you actually spoke the number to a live operator!).

I remember Eldorado 5, Riverside 9, Murray Hill 6, Klondike 5 and Pennsylvania 6 (they wrote a song about that one), but the 'Caledonia' thing must have been way before my time!

Enjoy.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY

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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. "L" -

Fascinating! In read of the copy, and striving to learn from the past: Do you suppose the City might be ready for a new "Civility Contest"? <G>

.................Vern...............
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

H. H.,

I don't even know what a 'Civility Contest' is!

Maybe you can clue me in!

It's a great ad though, isn't it?

Mr. 'L'
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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. Linsky wrote:
...I don't even know what a 'Civility Contest' is!...


Mr "L" -

Beats me! Just noting it from the print ad! The activity somehow reminds me of a possible activity in a Woody Allen movie! <G>...

I continue to wonder how that works on a packed IRT train?

................Vern.............
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N4 Jamaica




Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 858
Location: Long Island

PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Caledonia telephone exchange appears on this list of New York City exchanges in the three-letter four-digit era:
http://phone.net46.net/nyc/earlynumer.html
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The exchange is probably still around as 212-225-xxxx.
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A link to a discussion of phone exchange numbers in other cities is here:

http://www.ourwebhome.com/TENP/TENproject.html
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Verizon just assigned a 367 number to a friend who moved to The Bronx, near Fordham Road. Sure enough, it is an old FORdham number. In my youth, signs in phone booths reminded callers to note the difference between the number zero and the letter O, which was with MNO 6 under the dial.
Thanks, Mr. Linsky, for the great photos!
Joe
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

N4J,

Really really great find under telephone number nostalgia! thanks so much for the input.

Some interesting telephony facts.

Because Bell Laboratories (the equipment development arm of American Telephone and Telegraph a/k/a ATT which, incidentally, started out as American District Telegraph Company a/k/a ADT) used Manhattan, New York as its proving ground, dial service came to that borough as early as 1937 - far ahead of not only the other boroughs but the rest of the country.

However, dial and area code equipment were nothing new and were used by telephone operators as early as 1918.

B.D. (before dial) you picked up the phone and waited for a voice to say 'number please' (from someone sounding just like Lilly Tomlin's character 'Ernestine') and she would connect you.

If the call was long distance, the operator dialed the area code for that city and through that local operator the number was finally connected (that used to take a few minutes).

BTW; the area code assignments that were used by the operators back when were the very same as the original area codes we were given in the early sixties (ie; NYC 212 and L.A. 213).

Regards.

Mr. 'L'
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