Ep 16, Telephone Operators

Albert and Colleen explore the history of telephone switchboard operators. This is a job that no longer exists like it once did. The "Hello Girls" connected hundreds of calls each hour. There are some wild parts of the history, like...

• how WWI operators connecting calls near the front lines,
• that an undertaker invented the automated switchboard because he was convinced business opportunities were being stolen from him,
• and how a measles outbreak led to the phone number system.

In this episode we hear snippets of two copyright free songs:  "Hello! ma Baby" by Arthur Collins and "Over There" by Arthur Fields.

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