Telephone Operators in 1966: I came across this photo and messaged it to my grandkids to show them phone technology when I was their age and even older than they are.
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| from Montreal Golden Oldies Facebook group |
Although most of us were never really in the presence of a telephone switchboard, the photo depicts how it was back then. Just a year later than the above photo, in 1967, I personally became somewhat familiar and reliant on a smaller, one-operator switchboard. I was at university and away from Sue. We would write regularly, but long distance calling was expensive back then. However, I found a work-around.
My residence was in an old building. My room was on the fourth and top floor of the building shown below, but the ground floor had offices and housed the telephone switchboard for the whole university. I also remember that there was a barbershop in the basement, but I don't remember much else.
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| Johnson Hall, then called Admin (Administration Building), was my first residence at University. I was up on the fourth floor. (photo by Bill Badzo*) |
Once I learned that the university had a direct telephone line to Toronto and that it was just downstairs in my residence, I would periodically head down in the evening to see if the line was available to make a phone call to Sue. I'd make my request and wait around for the line to become available. Then, milady and I would have a brief conversation with me in the presence of the operator.
It only 50 years ago, but I think it must seem like almost prehistoric times to my grandkids.
Now I am thinking of other realities of that time, for although long distance was expensive, some things weren't.
I would take the bus home from university on most weekends. The fare from Guelph to Mississauga was only three dollars. Even as a poor student, I could afford that.
I am also thinking of the frequent letters that I wrote to Sue. I could afford the few cents postage cost and would write almost daily. Now that I am as a senior, a letter stamp costs more than a dollar here in Canada, so I avoid sending mail as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Sue and I still don't have a proper long distance plan for our cell phones, but with email and messaging, we very seldom need it. If we do need to contact a business by phone, there is almost always an 800 number. Frankly m'dear, no one in our family likes being on the phone. We message each other in almost all cases. On most mornings, for example, Sue and her sister text back and forth at some length.
* I found the photo of my residence via a Google search. Oddly enough, it is by one of Flickr contacts although I don't remember seeing it in his photostream. It's a small world after all.
A timely post, as I just saw a "meme" that said when phones had cords, people were free. What a great work around to ensure you heard your beloved's voice during school.
ReplyDeleteMy husband’s aunt was a switch board operator. The stories she can tell!
ReplyDeleteOur first year teaching, Rick was on the south coast of Newfoundland and I was in central. We used a radio telephone on a public service band. Lots of privacy there!
Although my cellphone plan allows me to call anywhere in the country at no extra charge these days and talk as long as I want, I find myself rarely talking on it. More and more, communication is being done by texting. About the only long conversation I get is when I talk with my younger brother once every couple months or so.
ReplyDeleteI have a monthly FaceTime call with my sister in Florida. Other than that, I don't use the phone much at all, either.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandparents were on a party line at their house. I'd often walk over in the summer to see my Grandpa listening in on the area gossip. He'd put a finger to his mouth to signal me to be quiet.
ReplyDeleteOh those times! How far have we come?
I enjoy my cell phone but also loath it.
Those were the days! I prefer messaging for short topics but I do like to talk to people I know. I use my phone to listen to books more than anything else. Also as a camera. I FaceTime with a friend in Denmark once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those great Lily Tomlin skits with Ernestine the telephone operator, one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy, would be baffling to a generation with only cellphone experience?
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing those switchboards in movies but never saw a real one.
ReplyDeleteI remember growing up in the 1950s when we had a public line. We could eavesdrop on other people's phone conversations!
ReplyDeleteI also remember when I had a job manning the switch board. It was very difficult for me.
One of my first jobs was learning to use a switchboard. There weren't that many people working in the school administration building, but I didn't know all their names, so was very frustrated at times. At other times I read a novel. I was maybe 15. My mom worked for our private school where my sister and I attended, and eventually my dad also worked there.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law worked at a switchboard. My grandfather was on a party line. I remember how expensive it was to call long-distance, even places that weren't very far away. Now I take for granted that I can call anywhere in the country on my cell phone. I still like writing letters and sending cards although I only do so for special occasions.
ReplyDeleteIn the dark ages when I was in high school my best friend's mother ran a one person switchboard for a big apartment house near the University. We would bring snacks and go sit with her. It was pretty quiet.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to look back on our life and times!
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the retro old photograph on the telephone centre during this time.
ReplyDeleteHah! I remember at least one university who had that type of switch board into the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find so remarkable with current technology is how kids now can go to universities anywhere and still “call home” on their cell phone or computer basically for free no matter the distance….. and see who they are calling visually! Of course this also is available to anyone pretty much globally.
But, it is something I never imagined possible back when I was in college and I would feel lonely for home and the best I could afford was a 5-10 minute call once a week because long distance charges were so damn expensive. The current phone technology would have alleviated so much homesickness for me.
PipeTobacco
This reminds me of Lily Tomlin, haha. However, I do recall the very very long phone card attached to our landline phone which allowed me to leave the kitchen and go into the basement to talk to my friends. The 1980s were fun times too.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful story!
ReplyDeleteWhen I tell my kids stuff like this I can hardly believe what I'm saying.
ReplyDeleteMy husband Grandma was an operator.
ReplyDeleteMy first job was as a keypunch operator. Try explaining that one to the kiddies. Mine thought I was making it all up. "Why did you need to type cards for the computer to read? Why didn't you just type the information directly into the computer?"
ReplyDeleteCool photo. My aunt worked for Ma Bell her entire life. I remember party lines, and having only one phone on the floor in my all girls dorm in Oklahoma, even in 1973! Interesting old times. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteOur next door neighbor when I was a child was a switchboard operator. She had the perfect voice for it, very clipped and clear.
ReplyDeleteWe use the phone to call friends and family a lot. Guess we West Virginians like to hear each other's voices! I have almost daily calls with one of our sons, and frequent long calls with friends. Our service is free in the US, pricey to call internationally. Between 1976 and 1982 we had no phone. Living where we do, it was difficult to have no way to contact anyone. We finally paid the $600 cost to get it put in; the line had to run a mile to get here. That was a huge expense for us back then.
Charming post. I look back fondly on low-tech days too, and I have always hated talking on the phone! Texting suits me just fine. xoxo
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