This is a pretty amazing picture on all its merits, in addition to the PEnnsylvania Telephone Exchange Name it contains. This shot of Times Square in 1942 comes from my collection of amateur slides and found photos, and appears to have been taken by a Coloradoan visiting Manhattan in 1942. Print and film media of the day make it tempting to think that the 1940s literally existed in black and white, but Kodachrome slides like this give the lie to that assumption. Full color steps from the past, in this case showing the PEnnsylvania Telephone Exchange Name advertising empty billboard space over a bright blue Ruppert Beer sign. There is a lot of other amazing detail in this picture, but for the purposes of this discussion the PEnnsylvania 6-5300 phone number that towers over Times Square is today assigned to the Block, O’Toole, & Murphy law firm under the modern formatting of (212) 736-5300. I wonder if that law firm is aware that its phone number once soared over the crossroads of the world, and how much more they would have to pay for the privilege today compared to 1942?

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