Houston's 'secret' area code class warfare OR The lost art of actually remembering a phone number

Houston's secret area code class warfare

This coming week marks 18 years since the Houston area was introduced to the 832 area code. Yes, we know it's an anniversary we all celebrate annually.

See the area codes that represent other areas of the state in the following slideshow... less Houston's secret area code class warfare

This coming week marks 18 years since the Houston area was introduced to the 832 area code. Yes, we know it's an anniversary we all celebrate annually.

See the area ... more Photo: JoyHey/Getty Images Photo: JoyHey/Getty Images Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Houston's 'secret' area code class warfare 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

The Houston area was introduced to the 832 area code about 19 years ago.

On October 19, 1999, the new 832 area code went into effect, joining 713 and 281 as local area codes. 281 itself was just instituted in 1996, becoming the area code for suburbanites.

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(Take a moment to marvel at the fact that 1999 was 19 years ago.)

A new need for fresh phone numbers thanks to pagers, cellphones and fax machines turned Houston’s world upside down.

We were reminded of Houston’s area code history this week when a 2013 Chron.com piece about the International Space Station’s area code resurfaced on Reddit.

Soon enough, cultural lines were drawn. Houstonians say that they could define a person by the area code in their phone number, a la “Seinfeld.” In Jerry's New York City The 212 area code ran out of numbers, and 646 was utilized leading to typical Seinfeldian situations of existential dread.

Yes, area code superiority is a thing in some circles.

It was just in the summer of 2014 that yet another area code, 346, was also instituted. We’ve yet to dial a 346 number ourselves. When we do we’ll let you know how it felt.

713 was established in 1947, as the population began to boom and more people and businesses became phone owners. 409 came in the early ‘80s.

346 is an ugly number. 281 is dumpy, to some. 713 is sleek, like a sports car. Maybe it’s the 7.

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A 409 or 979 area code means that the person is probably adept at a number of farming tools and maybe raised an animal in high school.

The 832 area code is vanilla, and not Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. It's store-brand, freezer-burned vanilla ice cream. Where the heck do you come from? Did you grow up dealing with harsh Midwest winters or did you grow up sweating on Christmas Day like us native Houstonians?

Some snobby, lifelong Houstonians saw 281 as a dumpy scarlet letter which meant you lived outside the Inner Loop and beyond. The dividing line was the outline of Beltway 8, give or take.

Now with an influx of Newstonians, the locals have to learn about the exotic area codes from all over the country like 205, 312, 612, and the wily 214.

These days some of us can barely remember our significant other’s phone number, not to mention our own, thanks to smartphone programming.

Seriously, try to remember a close friend’s phone number by heart. It’s not so easy anymore.

Sadly Houston rapper Mike Jones’ 281-330-8004 is no longer a working number, but can we still hit up Paul Wall at the 8-3-2?