I guess this dates me. It was a New York City telephone exchange -- the
expanded form of "BU-8". The combination of two letters and a number,
before the 4-digit main number, was later changed to three numbers as it is
today. The two-letter symbol was usually referred to in conversation by the
full name (often based on a New York City neighborhood). Chelsea was CH,
Gramercy was GR, etc., and BU was Butterfield, though just why Butterfield
was picked I don't know.

Hugh C. MacDougall
Secretary/Treasurer
James Fenimore Cooper Society
8 Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326-1016
<[log in to unmask]>
<http://library.cmsu.edu/cooper/cooper.htm>

----------
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: upstate ny films
> Date: Tuesday, February 23, 1999 10:43 PM
>
> Here's a New York trivia question (inspired by the movie list) for the
list;
> All of us know the movie >Butterfield 8<.  What is the significance of
> "Butterfield 8"?  Where does that term come from?
>
> Jim Maguire
> [log in to unmask]