michaelman2
Well-known member
This is a video created by AT&T in 1969. Technology has totally changed the human interaction that was so common place in years past.
Loved the cordboard.
Loved the cordboard.
The Life of a Telephone Operator in 1969
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funktionalart
Well-known member
Loved seeing that! My mom was an operator for PacBell back in circa 1964-5. No young person today would have the patience or composure required to do this job if it still existed...
Those switchboards would have to really expand!
--That, and with more phones out there, I think you would need another pair of hands, plus how would this work with non-land line phones?
-- Dave
--That, and with more phones out there, I think you would need another pair of hands, plus how would this work with non-land line phones?
-- Dave
toploader55
Well-known member
That was amazing. True Customer service.
I forgot all about that. : )
I forgot all about that. : )
My mom worked as an operator for Southern Bell (now BellSouth) in 1944 & 1945. This was in Hattiesburg, MS, and she worked both the local and long distance boards. I remember her saying that even though all calls went through an operator, that her L.D. switchboard had a dial on it. This was used to dial calls to certain areas.
She went back to work for Bell in Hattiesburg in the early 50's when my dad was away for the Korean War. However, this time she was not an operator, but rather worked in an office for Western Electric. They were installing a new phone system there that was one of the first areas to have "intertoll" dialing, where customers could dial local and many long distance calls.
I kept in touch with one of her former co-workers she knew from the 40's until the lady passed away last October. Marguerite was 92, and lived about 30 miles from here.
She went back to work for Bell in Hattiesburg in the early 50's when my dad was away for the Korean War. However, this time she was not an operator, but rather worked in an office for Western Electric. They were installing a new phone system there that was one of the first areas to have "intertoll" dialing, where customers could dial local and many long distance calls.
I kept in touch with one of her former co-workers she knew from the 40's until the lady passed away last October. Marguerite was 92, and lived about 30 miles from here.
There is some interesting stuff in YouTube about the operations of the Bell System, including a detailed film on long distance dialing for the operator.
My mother was an operator for MA Bell in the 40's. Money was good thru her Union, stress was not good, she said. I came along in '54 and she was adamant I never work for the phone company ever. But I got a very nice job with Verizon, it swapped to Fairpoint, then the layoffs happened and last in, first out, thanks union dues for not doing anything to help me.
I think Allen is exactly right. The public is a different critter now.
When I grew up there wasn't anything for us other than Southern Bell Telephone.
There was NEVER a problem with our phone service either at home or at the "office" that I ever knew of.
After de-regulation, it all fell apart. Cellphones don't even come close to the service level we got from Bell Telephone. I always thought the Operators were awesome!
When I grew up there wasn't anything for us other than Southern Bell Telephone.
There was NEVER a problem with our phone service either at home or at the "office" that I ever knew of.
After de-regulation, it all fell apart. Cellphones don't even come close to the service level we got from Bell Telephone. I always thought the Operators were awesome!
if all operators were like this....
gusherb
Well-known member
Ernestine
Is my favorite!
Is my favorite!
I explained the process of using telephone operators to make long distance calls to my nephew's kids (6th grade) and he looked at me like I was from the stone age, LOL.
Today's system is faster and more convenient, but, as with nearly everything else, you rarely have contact with an actual human being on the other end of the line.
I don't have a home phone anymore, but can you even get an operator if you press '0'? And remember when you could call 411 (I think that was the number) and get Information service to find a phone number?
Today's system is faster and more convenient, but, as with nearly everything else, you rarely have contact with an actual human being on the other end of the line.
I don't have a home phone anymore, but can you even get an operator if you press '0'? And remember when you could call 411 (I think that was the number) and get Information service to find a phone number?
My mom's great-aunts or second cousins (can't remember which, I think cousins is right) were the operators in a small town in east central Nebraska. The switchboard was in their living room. This would have been in the 30's-50's period. I think the last time my mom visited them would've been in the late fifties and they were close to retirement.
"The switchboard was in their living room. "
In some small towns, it was in the operator's bedroom for 24-hour availability.
And everyone's acting like work-from-home is a recent invention. Oy.
In some small towns, it was in the operator's bedroom for 24-hour availability.
And everyone's acting like work-from-home is a recent invention. Oy.
Interesting! I never experienced an operator. The Netherlands was the second country in the world after Switzerland that had fully automated telephone traffic. That was in 1962.
iheartmaytag
Well-known member
Locally our phone system was automated by the time I came along in the 60s, but I do remember my mother making a long distance call to my grandmother in Missouri. It would have to go through several operators before the connection was finally made, and it was expensive in comparison to todays unlimited rates.
I did have to dial the "0" Operator a year or so ago when I was having a problem with my phone service. Local calls to certain areas weren't going through or were getting cut off, so I had to ask the operator to complete the call. I live in an area served by Frontier, which used to be Verizon, and GTE before that. Where I live is just over the border from the Cincinnati Bell area.
