Number Please - How may I connect your call?
The switchboard was marked with numbers and jacks on a party line were marked with paints of different colors.
- Red paint = Disconnect
- Yellow paint = Change
- Green paint = A new number
- No paint = Straight-line number, not a party line.
Party lines also had a number. On a four-party line, all four parties would have a different letter. Each party line also had a different ring. “Hello Girls” had to keep all of this straight.
New Milestones Reached
John Rust began to prepare for a growing community in 1928 by laying underground cable to accommodate a city of one hundred thousand people. Underground cable was not widely used until the 1920s.
In 1927 commercial transatlantic telephone service to London, England began with a two-way radio. These calls cost $75 for five minutes.
Phone Location in the Home: During the 1920s companies began to locate a telephone inside a house anywhere the customer requested. The kitchen or master bedroom became common choices for the location of the telephone instead of the noisy, open central hall that had been used for years.
How the switchboard Works
How it works: When a customer turned the crank on a magneto telephone, a drop, showing the caller’s line number, fell down just above the caller’s line. The operator took any black cord, plugged it into the caller’s line, pushed back the front key which was in line with the cord, and said, “number please.” She then took the cord which was directly in front of the back cord, plugged it into the called number, and pulled the back key toward her to ring the party’s telephone. When the party answered the connection was complete, and the operator closed the talk key, not listening in - if she was honest.
Phones of the Period
Dial telephones began to appear in the larger Texas towns by 1921. Three Dallas central offices converted their technology to dial switching.
Two-piece desk set used in magneto or common battery exchanges
The three coin slot telephone remained a fixture until the 1960s.
This device was used to time long distance calls.
How it works: To start timing, the right lever was pushed back, then pulled forward. The left lever was pulled forward to mark call completion time.