Here is all the information I have at this point.
Pacific TelLibrary13 Jan
The images came from a box filled with negatives from 1964 -1966.
I searched the microfilm for a clipping in January 1964 and 1965 but this story is proving elusive.
One story has pictures from the old library on Morro Street, now the home to the San Luis Obispo Little Theater. Next door to the old library is the former home of the operators for Pacific Telephone.
It used to be that a local operator answered when you dialed for information. You could talk to a live human who could help you remember the name of the mechanic on Monterey Street, because they lived in the area.
Today we wonder when we dial the phone if the person on the other end of the line is even in the same state, same time zone, or same hemisphere.
Now a mechanical voice gives us a number we after a stopwatch driven consultation with someone who sounds like they have 57 other phone calls to answer.
Today it is a good thing to have a blue tooth.
Lily Tomlin had a great comedy routine that often included the line, “One ringy dingy…”
Does anyone have a story to share with the readers about working for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., or Pacific Bell, Pacific Telesis, SBC, or AT&T?
UPDATE – Thought you might enjoy seeing an ad from this era.
This is from the Oct. 4, 1966 paper suggesting that phone booths were like a second home when the rains came.
Back in the 1960′s it rained.
Back before cell phones they had booths where you could make a local call for a dime.
No related posts.
I spent a number of years at these boards, working my way through college. PT&T offered women college students seasonal work as telephone operators, and I was thrilled to get the job, as the money was really great for an 18-year old freshman in Spring 1966. We worked summers, spring and winter breaks, and probably some weekends. We learned a skill called “overlapping,” in which we learned to plug and unplug cords, pull cards that timed the calls, and various other tasks all at once (today it is called “multi-tasking”). It was a really nice group of women of all ages. One day a few of us wondered if the customers even heard us as we answered “Operator,” so we began to answer with “Alligator.” Not one person questioned us. But most of the time, it was work, as the boards in front of those women in the photo were lit up with lights, indicating a customer waiting. When I graduated from Cal Poly, I continued to work there because over time, you continued to get raises, and it was hard to walk away from that. It was fun to work downtown, where (usually just on payday) you could run out for lunch if you had a long enough break. Coming back into that windowless building, you had to call at the door and give your name and number before you were “buzzed in.” I remember when PT&T no longer hired jobs by gender, and we heard that a man was being hired as an operator. A number of operators were uneasy and a few felt they could no longer work there. To everyone’s delight, the young man was quite good looking, and fun to talk to. He fit right in. There were some wonderful supervisors, such as Pearl Turner and others whose names I have forgotten. Eventually, I tired of it and moved on, but I have fond memories of that big monolith of a building.
Thanks for the great entry Hazel. I loved the Alligator story.
The Vault welcomes reader comments, readers often know more than I can find in my research.
I’m still having trouble finding the clipping, if anyone knows the date or folks in the photo it may help turn it up.
Good Morning David
In reading your artical in Sundays paper about the Telephone office On Monterey Street.
I worked there in the late 1940′s.
and remember some of the people who worked there. The Chief Operater was Mrs Edna Leland, and the night Chief Operater was Mrs Amelia Garner.(My Aunt) Supervisors Mrs Pennell, Mrs Leitner,and Mrs Donati. The information clerk was Mrs Mabel Anderson.
At that time you had your choice , you could work on the long distance or,(local board). It depended on seniority and what was the better hours.
I was still in high school, so choose the hours 5pm to 11pm, went to school and still got paid for 8 hours.
The two men who worked in the back on the telephone lines were Al Cannon and Carl Lownes.
Thanks for letting me add my comment
Lucile (Serpa ) Ferraro
David,
My mom was Chief Operator in Atascadero at the time we went dial here. She started in the late ’40s early ’50s.
She has her original headset and B & W photos of the last day of pullin’ plugs when we went dial.
My mom is now 89, I’d love to have a local paper do a story on her and the telephone office in Atascadero.
Rick.
My first job after graduating from Roosevelt High School was for Pacific Telephone as an operator, the rules were very strict, you had to weigh a certain weight, because of the small space between operators and when you releived an operator it was with percession as you plugged in she unplugged and moved out to her left as you moved in on the right. So no calls were missed or disconnected. Was located in Los Angeles on Hill Street, had securtity going in and out. With that experience I moved on to become a Dispatcher for 911…..
My father; Robert Kirchner, worked for Pacific Telehpone and Telegraph in the 50′s & 60′s. He passed away in 1969 with cancer. He was a resident of Sunnyvale, CA.
In the mid 1950′s, when the first Princess phone was introduced, there was a publication that featured the new phone and my father, mother and brother were on the front cover. My father was also awarded the highest Medal of Valor from PT&T for saving the life a teenager about to drown in the Stanislaus River in the mid to late 1950′s. Do you have any record of any of that?
Loreli Scott
Hi Loreli,
Thanks for he comment.
Our files from that era are not indexed so the only way to find it on the microfilm is if you know the date and have time to scroll through it. The city/county library and Cal Poly library have microfilm of the then Telegram-Tribune. If your dad worked outside of San Luis Obispo county your best bet would be to research the newspapers from the community he worked in or where he made the rescue.
David – I really enjoyed Lucille (Serpa) Ferraro’s very accurate memory of the PT&T exchange office and wish to extend my best wishes to Lucille and her husband from Louisville. Mrs. Edna Leland and Amelia Garner were very important to the telephone operation. On 14 February 1913, the telephone company established their operations in part of the Masonic Building at 865 Marsh street. On 28 November 1947, plans were announced for a new telephone building at 872 Morro street and was scheduled for completion circa November 1948.
i worked for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph in 1957/58 at 583 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. My Aunt, Clydena Lorenz, was a chief operator at the time. I worked as a stenographer in a routing office. The long distance operators went on strike, and all the office personnel were required to man the switchboards. I hated walking through the picket lines and being called a scab. We were given about fifteen minutes of instruction and then went live. I couldn’t sleep at night because the large board of flashing lights played over and over in my mind all night long. I lost 10 pounds in a week even though the cafeteria fed us very well. I am doing my life history and would like to know the exact dates of this strike. My Aunt Clydena stayed with the company and eventually became an executive for AT&T. Does anyone out there know anything about my story?
Thanks Pat
I started as a local operator in 1958 in Los Angeles at 69th and Vermont, we then went to Coin Zone Dialing and then moved to Long Distance and eventually transferred to the Business Office as a service representative handling bill collections, transfers and new installations and sellign equipment. I too remember the “overlapping” it was truly a skill that helped me as I moved on to a job with Trans World Airlines. They always liked to get girls from the Telephone co because they knew how to talk on the phone to customers. Overlapping (multi tasking) really came in handy as I moved on to a job that was busy and you often needed to be able to do more than one thing at a time, most others could not do that. I loved the P T & T days and love all that I learned from it. I remember my trainer “Jonsey” Ernestine Jones, Chief Operator Ms. Horkey. Surpervisor Tina Logue and Juanita with her braids on top of her head. Thanks for this site!
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone remembered working with my mother Norma Arnetta Reed in Los Angeles CA between the years of 1956 and 1958. Please feel free to contact me at kbadion@aol.com or post any info.
So very interesting seeing the pictures of the switchboards of yesteryear! I began working for PT & T in Huntington Park CA right out of high school in Sept. 1952-Sept. 1953, as a long distance operator. It was an intriguing job & one I loved. Using your memory was mandatory & necessary, too. I still have the automatic pencil with the ball tip used for the rotary dial while working the “board”, & remember I was operator 144.I was loaned out for several weeks to the downtown office on Hill St., being transported to & from by taxi! Was a good company for whom to work & gave me skills for work in later life. Thanks again for the pictures-brought back sooo many great memories.
In 1978 PT&T hired me to work as a TSPS Operator at the Lakewood office. 34 years later although the building is gone, I remain in the business. It’s been a wild ride. Anyone have a picture of the old Lakewood building?
My Great Aunt, Lois Holly, worked for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph for 45-50 years. She retired in 1980. She would have been in the Los Angeles area, but I don’t know much more than that. I have all of her employee service jewelry….several charm bracelets full…that I would love to know more about. I am trying to find out if there are employee records anywhere for past employees for some genealogy research. I wish I had more info to share