You see these two-letter old phone exchanges around occasionally—often on old signs off the beaten path, even though New York City phased out the letter exchanges in the 1960s.
In the East 80s of Yorkville, I spotted a mysterious one: a parking garage sign with a phone number that begins with “TW.”
TW? It’s one I’d never seen before, and I can’t figure out what local landmark or old neighborhood lent its name to a phone exchange that could be as old as the 1920s.
Of course, the garage door company that used the number might have been located in any part of New York City. If anyone knows or wants to throw out a guess as to what TW stands for, I’d love to hear it!
Tags: Old 2-Letter Phone Exchanges, old phone exchanges, old phone exchanges New York City, TW Old Phone Exchange NYC, Yorkville Two-Letter Phone Numbers
Ephemeral New York 
June 1, 2020 at 6:28 am |
Twining
June 1, 2020 at 6:30 am |
I think it was “Twining”
June 1, 2020 at 6:51 am |
I seem to recall TW as “TWining.” According to Wikipedia, AT&T put out a list of recommended exchange names in 1955. “TW” names included “TWilight, TWinbrook, TWining, TWinoaks.”
By the end of named exchanges, names were often arbitrary to extend their supply; they were given pronounceable words unrelated to geography. I grew up in New Rochelle, where post-WWII, NEw Rochelle 2, 3 and 6 were rapidly exhausted. The first newly added exchange was BEverly 5, a name with no hint of a connection to local history. “TWining” might have had a similar genesis.
June 1, 2020 at 7:22 am |
The list was AT&T/Bell’s publication “Notes on Nationwide Dialing, 1955”.
June 1, 2020 at 8:49 pm
Sounds pretty random.
My parent’s Brooklyn phone# from 1956 began with “RN”, which had no meaning, nor any link to the neighborhood of (old) Mill Basin. I have no idea why they didn’t use “RO” for the same 76 values, with a word like ROland, or ROmeo.
June 2, 2020 at 12:42 am
We lived in Flatbush and our exchange was INgersol
June 22, 2020 at 5:45 pm |
When we moved to Yonkers in 1960 our exchange was Beverly 7. There was no tie-in to the neighborhood either. Funny, I can tell you my Grandmother’s number and Aunt’s number in the Bronx from those days but don’t ask me my brother or sisters number today-Its in my phone.
June 1, 2020 at 6:56 am |
TW Isn’t it Twining
June 1, 2020 at 6:58 am |
I remember a “Twining”, too!
June 1, 2020 at 7:01 am |
Yes, I think it must have been Twining. Our phone number was ST which was Stillwell I Queens, NY
June 1, 2020 at 6:50 pm
Why is my comment awaiting moderation when it was among the eaerlist answers?
June 1, 2020 at 6:58 pm
It’s up! Thanks for the quick answer.
June 1, 2020 at 7:08 am |
Twining-4 was a Queens (Flushing/Maspeth) exchange.
See: ‘Ringing up some Queens telephone history: Our Neighborhood, The Way it Was’
In 1959, the Fairview Avenue building in Ridgewood, with 10 dial offices, was serving 56,000 telephones and handling about 250,000 calls per day. The telephone company decided to expand the building in 1959 by adding a fourth story to the three-story structure. The “Empire 6” exchange was added in December of that year.
The Ridgewood office was one of the first to handle direct dialing. By 1959, the following exchanges had been added to local phone service: “Evergreen 1,” “Evergreen 2,” “Evergreen 6,” “Glenmore 6,” “Hyacinth 1,” “Hyacinth 7,” “Twining 4” and “Vandyke 1.” Thirty-three operators handled “operator-assisted” calls.
https://qns.com/story/2019/06/29/ringing-up-some-queens-telephone-history-our-neighborhood-the-way-it-was/
June 1, 2020 at 1:53 pm |
From the TEN Project:
June 1, 2020 at 1:54 pm
“Both the 1957 and 1959 directories show a TWining 1 exchange, but the 1957 directory has it in a Queens zone, while the 1959 directory puts it in a different zone, located in Brooklyn. A communication from Anthony DeFabritus confirms that the exchange was in fact in use in Brooklyn in the 1960s. My suspicion is that the 1957 listing is another case of a prediction, and it was listed there in the same zone where all other TWining exchanges were located; the 1959 listing reflects actual fact.”
June 1, 2020 at 7:11 am |
718-894-6184 belongs to Tierney & Courtney Overhead Door Sales Co., Inc.
“Tierney & Courtney Overhead Door Sales Co., Inc. was established in 1958 with the motto First In Quality ~~ First In Service and we thank all of our loyal Customers for thier (sic) patronage thoughout the years.
“Tierney & Courtney is expert in the installation and repair of commercial and industrial garage doors and related products serving the business to business market.
Industrial Buildings and Warehouses
Office Buidlings (sic) and Malls
Fire Departments
Apartment Houses and Condominiums
Super Structures and Stadiums
Auto Dealerships and Service Stations
Etc., Etc.
Emergency Repairs
New Installations and Retrofits
Preventive Maintenance
Service Contracts
Electric Operators and Access Controls
Specialty Projects
Long Island Office – 355 Willis Avenue – Mineola, NY 11501
Tel. 516-747-0447 Tel. 631-210-0032
NY Office – 58-42 Maspeth Avenue – PO Box 780539 – Maspeth, NY 11378
Tel. 718-894-6184 – Tel. 212-697-3530
http://www.tcdoors.com/
June 1, 2020 at 9:05 am |
That was my exchange in Jackson Hts.! It’s Twining.
June 1, 2020 at 9:44 am |
Twining is correct.
June 1, 2020 at 10:47 am |
I think I remember “Twining” exchange.
June 1, 2020 at 10:56 am |
When my grandparents lived in Forest Hill, their phone no started with TWining6
June 1, 2020 at 12:17 pm |
A 1955 list of Bell-approved names has TWilight, TWinbrook, TWinoaks, and TWining. You can find the list at the Telephone EXchange Name Project:
http://www.trbo.org/pub/tenp/TENproject.html
There may be more details in their discussion pages.
True confession: I “collect” exchange names (in screenshots) from movies. So I check that site often.
June 3, 2020 at 12:48 am |
I understand the appeal of these exchange names, thanks for the link!
June 1, 2020 at 12:29 pm |
Twentieth police precinct? Bob Ross
Get Outlook for iOS ________________________________
June 1, 2020 at 12:57 pm |
Twining
June 1, 2020 at 12:57 pm |
Twining
June 1, 2020 at 1:32 pm |
This is a stretch, but – in Bergen County, NJ, Wyckoff and surrounding towns, our phone exchange was TWinbrook.
June 1, 2020 at 1:46 pm |
maybe it’s one of these 4 all but twinning came up as a place in NY.
🙂
>
June 1, 2020 at 4:20 pm |
On UES we had Templeton. TW? Good question.
June 1, 2020 at 5:32 pm |
Our number in the South Bronx was DA (Dayton) 3-2168. In Manhattan UN 5-8955.
June 1, 2020 at 6:26 pm |
When I lived on the Lower East Side in the 60s 70s 80s my phone was LF34314, never could find out what the LF meant. A phone clerk once shrugged and said, How about Left Foot? so that’s what I told people.
June 1, 2020 at 6:54 pm |
I’m guessing Two Bridges.
June 1, 2020 at 7:00 pm |
Thanks to everyone for the good memories and sleuthing. I was hoping Twining would be the name of a long-forgotten local landmark or business, but alas.
June 1, 2020 at 7:01 pm |
To Mykola, I recall that for a brief time two meaningless letters were used where a name couldn’t be created. However, numbers for “LF” could have been created as “LE” and had numerous real words as exchange names. Trying to divine meaning for some anomalies at this late date is fascinating but also a bit like “Digging the Weans” (google it).
June 1, 2020 at 8:35 pm |
Twining
June 1, 2020 at 8:54 pm |
Tewilliger?
June 1, 2020 at 8:56 pm |
Twining is a very good guess
June 2, 2020 at 12:33 am |
well when i grew up here mostly we were REgent.
why i still remember my first phone number: RE7-XXXX (X-ed out in case anyone has that number)
an aunt of mine not too many blocks away actually had the famous BUtterfield prefix.
June 2, 2020 at 12:48 am |
Mine was VI: Virginia. As a child, since I lived in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY; I thought that was related to Richmond, Virginia!!!
June 2, 2020 at 1:29 am |
Itâs a QUUENS, NY number.
TWining 4-
https://qns.com/story/2019/06/29/ringing-up-some-queens-telephone-history-our-neighborhood-the-way-it-was/
June 2, 2020 at 1:35 am |
Go to TCDoors.com
See phone number at bottom. TW4 became 894
June 2, 2020 at 3:55 pm |
TW stands for TWINING. Among the other telephone names in New York way back when were Butterfield and Jamaica Estates where I grew up. The Subway line stop there was 169th Street. As I recall there was a large white enamel sign that read NO SPITTING.
David Silverstone. PS: I get your Ephemeral New York notices every day. They are terrific. I forward many of them to a few close friends. They enjoy them immensely as I do.
>
June 3, 2020 at 12:48 am |
Thanks so much, glad you like ENY!
June 2, 2020 at 6:40 pm |
TW4 is the TWining 4 exchange.
June 2, 2020 at 6:58 pm |
TW- Twinning
It was our number in Queens.
June 3, 2020 at 4:53 pm |
July 27, 2020 at 4:02 pm |
TW was my exchange in Forest Hills, Queens NY
July 27, 2020 at 8:22 pm |
Ok, but what was the name of the exchange? They had names like Templeton, Butterfield, Murray Hill, etc
July 27, 2020 at 11:21 pm
Twining
July 28, 2020 at 12:21 am
TWining – but these days might it be “TWitter”?!?
July 27, 2020 at 11:42 pm |
Wasn’t TW Twining?
August 10, 2020 at 3:54 pm |
I lived in Rego Park until 1967, and our telephone exchange was TW7. I definitely remember the TW was “Twining,” and now I’m trying to figure out if that was completely arbitrary or if it meant something?
September 6, 2020 at 1:53 am |
I lived in Middle Village Queens and my phone # was a TW4 number. Not sure what the TW stood for.
February 9, 2021 at 5:48 pm |
TW – Twining
February 27, 2021 at 9:33 am |
Twinbrook!
March 8, 2021 at 4:13 am |
[…] getting harder to find these two-letter exchanges, which were replaced by numerals in the early 1960s. But they’re out there—especially in […]
March 28, 2023 at 8:37 pm |
As it happens this sign is from my dad’s company started in about the 1950’s. Tierney and Courtney Overhead Doors. Located in Maspeth, Queens. And the exchange was Twining. They still have the same number today! Can you tell me where this photo was taken exactly or if it is still there. I would love to go see if.
Thanks,
Maureen