Mr. Digit and the Battle of Bubbling Brook

Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce return from a trip to discover that they are about to lose their Babbling Brook exchange to all-digit dialing; Peg imagines a telephone exchange with AT&T's Vice-President in Charge of Numbers in this mixed live/animation short subject produced by UPA for the phone company.

Miss Lynch and Mr. Bunce perform in the characters of Ethel & Albert from their long-running radio show "The Couple Next Door" and its TV spin-off. Those of us who remember named exchanges (I still remember our number from when I was a child and its FRanklin 4 prefix) recall the fuss over having to throw out the old numbers and memorize new ones. Nowadays, the eleven digits one must dial to call the people next door is made easier by telephones with memories. It does, however, lack charm and the arguments that Mr. Digit uses to convince the sentimental but rational Ethel probably didn't convince anyone; Seven years later, the movie THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST had the Phone Company in a conspiracy to control the world through all-digit dialing; today, it probably makes makes it easier for the NSA to record my conversations about old movies with other fans.