Which film or TV-Show was the first to use a '555-' phone number?
Using a fictional '555-' phone number is not uncommon in American films and television shows.
Which film or television show was the first to use a '555-' phone number?
Best Answer
From the wiki page for 555:
The phone companies began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers, roughly during the 1960s. One of the earliest uses of a 555 number can be seen in Panic in Year Zero! (1962), with 555-2106.
In the 1942 film: "Eyes in the Night", starring Edward Arnold and Donna Reed, the telephone number, "Rossmore 555" was referred to. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5" or "KLamath 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters and numbers in phone numbers.
Depending on your point of view, it could be Eyes in the Night or Panic in Year Zero!, but I will keep digging to see if something else turns up.
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Who started 555 numbers?
555 was introduced as a way to curb prank callers dialling numbers seen in movies way back in the 1950s, those specific digits chosen because the combination of J, K and L, the letters assigned to the number 5 on a phone, are not associated with any major American states.Why is 555 always used in movies?
Since the 555 exchange was for many years dedicated to Directory Assistance (dial 555 and any four additional numbers and you will get the information operator), any number beginning with 555 was safe to use in a TV show or movie.Who has the phone number 555?
555-1212 is still used for directory assistance and 555-4334 is reserved for assigned national use. But a set of 100 555 numbers have been officially designated for use in Hollywood, 555-0100 through 555-0199.Where did the term 555 come from?
Telephone companies began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers by the 1960s. Two early examples include The Second Time Around (1961), which used 555-3485, and Panic in Year Zero!Most Popular TV Series 1986 - 2019
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Answer 2
Here's some I found from searching Subzin.com:
Eyes in the Night (1942):
00:20:32 ROSSMORE 555.
...
00:26:01 I WANT ROSSMORE 555.
...
00:26:08 HELLO, ROSSMORE 555?
The Second Time Around (1961):
00:29:59 The number is 555 - 3485.
...
00:30:35 That's right. The number is 555 - 3485.
KL5 and 555 can be found in a list of (presumably fake) telephone numbers in an advert by the Western Electric telephone company in Life magazine (15 Dec 1961), with a KL5 number chosen as the main example:
AreaCode Telephone Number
214 RI1-3199
311 551-6123
918 LU5-0599
415 KL5-3742
502 898-3499
516 IV5-9970
901 555-6255
305 355-1199
311 579-7892
607 RA2-4099
914 M08-6098
404 KL5-7722
606 734-9599
311 TW5-8242
405 CE6 -6690
212 555-6426
713 JA7-4199
311 KL5-2368
315 GR2-2399
512 CE4-3499
311 FR6-5428
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: George Milton, Liza Summer, George Milton, Liza Summer