Mr Digit and the Battle of Bubbling Brook (1961)

[Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] on the trip we took everything with us but the kitchen sink oh honestly I would didn't you tell a paper boy not to deliver the newspapers for 3 weeks Albert newspapers no darling I thought you were going to you know that front lawn of ours is so high I could hardly find the walk didn't you tell that Benson boy to keep the grass cut while we were going eth uh no oh dear you said you take care of it I did well I guess I didn't Marion Jones has had her baby my goodness it's a boy 8B and 6 oz isn't that wonderful they're going to name him Henry isn't that wonderful dear huh oh yeah yeah it's great I tell you the nice thing about coming home from a vacation is the nice big pile of ma you waiting to be opened such fun now what is this Albert Albert dear they're going to change our telephone number from from from bubbling brook 32 4682 seven numbers yeah look all numbers and no name yeah I heard about that at the drugstore when I stopped in to pick up the linament but we've always been a bubbling brook always I mean they can't just change us to seven numbers like this I mean why sounds like a lottery ticket or convict or something well I don't know what difference it mate what difference why we have been bubbling brook dear since I mean we've had a a bubbling brook number ever since the name was chosen in honor the Battle of bubbling brook and my great-grandfather I know darling but after all times have changed heck even the brook has dried up besides the telephone company must have a good reason I bet it's quite a job changing all those numbers I can't think of any reason well maybe they ran out of telephone numbers how could they run out of numbers must be millions and millions of numbers well why don't you phone them and find out after all that's what uh telephones are for look I'm going to put the car away I'll be right back wait a minute who would I ask for I don't I don't know why don't you uh ask for the Vice President in charge of numbers I bet they got one [Applause] too I think it is outrageous to change the telephone number no I don't want to think that I'm a person who's always complaining because I'm not but if you knew how much this means to no I want to speak to the Vice President in charge of numbers numbers numbers numbers numbers num number [Music] numbers always more numbers more telephones more numbers next it'll be International numbers and then maybe interpace numbers who knows numbers Department digit speaking well you just can't change my telephone number like this why it's it's like changing my name yes I understand how you feel but and with hardly any warning I certainly can't understand that we have tried to tell everyone about our new old number calling plan and well the time when your own number has to be changed is still some time away well maybe you did send me notices that I threw out without reading but you see we've been away on a vacation Mr what did you say your name was digit has in seven digigit telephone number yes well uh Mr digit I I simply can't believe you do way with our bubbling brook why belongs to our little boy Vern and when he has a son it will belong to our grandson the bubbling brook prefix belongs to your grandson yes well I hope it will when we have a grandson I mean this may sound silly or sentimental to want a phone number to be traditional but my great-grandfather was the only casualty in the Battle of bubbling brook ah but this is our whole point like your little grandson there will be millions of others in the years to come and we're trying to plan ahead this new all number calling plan is taking place gradually throughout the country to provide everyone with enough telephone numbers for the future you don't mean to tell me you're running out of telephone numbers what is that ticking noise oh that that's the sound of new telephones every time you hear a tick another new telephone has been added to the 80 million now in use in the United States and [Music] Canada all over the country people are demanding more and more telephones 13,000 a day that adds up to 65,000 by the close of business each week and over 280,000 by the end of each month a total of almost 3 and A5 million new telephones a year that's a lot of new telephones isn't it and almost every one of them will need a new number but I have a number a nice number that starts with be you for bubbling brook I just can't understand why you want to change it to all numbers oh that's because letters are stunting our growth are Heming Us in tying Us in NS won't let us get ready to give you and all our customers including little van the telephone service you'll need and want for the future Mr digit please slow down what do you mean letters are hemming you in it's really simple and fascinating too I think for example look at your telephone dial there are 10 dial positions but only eight have letters you can't use one or zero for either the first or second dial pull no letters this cuts down the amount of telephone numbers and then too you can hardly make any words where both first letters come from the jkl and wxy places about the only word you can strain out of this combination is y Lang that's a fine name for a Philippine tree which is what it is but it makes a poor name for a telephone number letters and names cause confusion too zero is mistaken for o people dial BB for bubbling brook instead of Buu many names are easily misspelled is lindbrook l i or or ly or for that matter your friends from out of town May wonder if your own number is BU for bubbling brook or ba for Babbling Brook using no words but just letters like LL or XR would help some but not enough to get maximum use with selected letters we would have to simultaneously change every dial in the nation putting letters in all 10 positions besides think of the confusion between letters like uh B and P and T and V and E and d and who can tell the difference between AJ and ha a numbers on the other hand are fortunately less confusing and you do have quite a problem well the whole thing is the present letters and numbers system gives you such a limited quantity of central office names combinations like your uh bubbling all numbers and no letters you had one to 800 in each area across the land and every one of these Central officers can have thousands and thousands of numbers in it do you see the numbers you will be freeing Why million why I say we're being hemmed in and little ver will be the Lo these numbers are going to be needed in the future in direct distance Dialing for example direct distance dialing Oh you mean where a person can dial his own longdistance cause that's right more and more cities are offering this service to make it work the United States and Canada are divided into telephone areas each with a three number area code yours is 311 remember it's on your dial yes well when you dial a number out of your own area you first dial the three number area code this connects you with the right area then you dial the local number say 5551 1 2 3 4 the same local number can be used once in every area so can names of course but remember with names we can have far fewer Central offices in an area with yes yes I remember with all number calling millions of new numbers will become available yes the Public's demand for more telephone services is tremendous aside from more and more people and more and more homes there are many new business needs for example large companies which once had only one number and lots of extensions now have separate numbers for all their telephones you can dial right to each telephone also there'll be more direct diing to mobile telephones and the bell boy which buzzes to tell you to call your home or office yes telephones are going in everywhere more and more telephones more and more numbers it's overwhelming how do you ever keep up H well it's not easy because it means that more and more Central offices are being filled up and so areas are filled up in fact this has happened many times already and all because of the letters in the telephone number and so we have to split the affected areas into two smaller areas if this happens often more and more of our customers will have to dial the three number area code even on short distance calls so it's best to keep these areas as large as possible all number calling will provide the capacity to do this it will take care of the countries and your grandsons communication needs for years to come and all number calling opens the way for so many future improvements in your service such things as easier to read dials when sometime in the future letters can be removed the use of compact buttons instead of dials smaller handia more attractive instruments international dialing where all numbers will avoid the confusion of foreign alphabets and who knows outer space diing these things may seem far in the future but so did Earth satellites Only Yesterday well that's the story of all number calling the new look and telephone numbers it'll be coming to cities and towns all over the country in the next few years quickly in some gradually in others but all number calling is coming everywhere I really think you'll like it well Mr digit I might at that and thank you for explaining it to me it was a pleasure oh oh Mr digit about bubbling brook I I I do understand why it's being changed I hoped you would and goodbye number number number number number number Ethel Ethel what in Sam Hill you doing what's all this business what what is all this business oh well I I was just talking I'm thinking of calling the Vice President in charge of numbers oh darling I was just kidding darling there is no vice president in charge of numbers anyhow darling you don't need to bother calling the phone company I was talking to C next door you know after I put the car away and he gave me all the stuff that they got which we probably received too and you just threw away without even reading but look darling it seems that this new number system will open the way for all sorts of wonderful things like better service for homes and business and and international dialing maybe even space dialing someday yes I know dear I would dialing will be easy fast and and more accurate because there won't be all this confusion between uh letters and numbers it's actually the result of everything growing like man you I more industry more business more homes and they're all going to need more telephones and and more numbers you see look it it's all right here oh that's Mr dig I just talking to him you were just talking to Mr digit Yes dear that's how I knew everything that you were telling me on the telephone yes well I I think I was uhhuh you're tired oh no I'm not oh yes you are don't tell me you need another vacation maybe I do you know my grandfather wasn't the only one to lose a battle for bubbling brook come on darling after all it wasn't much of a battle anyhow [Music] 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