"Number Please?"
The Old Bell Telephone Live Operator System, Scottsboro, Alabama
The replica phone plug key chain and the Sterling Silver award pin.
The old Bell Phone company was located across
the street from the Post Office in an upstairs office in Scottsboro,
Alabama. I am unsure of the “official name”
of the building, but the Scottsboro Florist was at one time located on the corner
of the block of buildings which would have been next door to the phone company. All
these buildings were two story offices/businesses. The rest of the building extended into the
stock room toward the store front of the old Kennamer’s clothing store building
which faced the Laurel Street side of the square. I am unsure of the exact
businesses that were located in this block during the time the Bell Telephone
Company was located there. I am using
these names to “place” the original building.
The old phone company was located in what
would have been the 3rd office building from the corner. I can’t remember what was located in the
street level part of that office, but the Bell phone/switchboard company was located in the upstairs part.
I
remember my mother talking about walking that flight of stairs every night on
her way to work. She, my mother Joycelyn
Dean Johnson, worked for several years as a switchboard operator for the phone
company. She, as an operator, would actually connect each and every phone call
that was made in the area using phone jacks and a rotary dial station which was
located at each operators “desk”. When
someone wanted to make a call, they picked up their phone and one of the
operators would pick up and ask, “Number Please?” and then the operator would
direct your call into the “wall” of connections that faced their desks. If someone wanted to call “long distance”
they would also direct the calls from the same station, only in a different
manner. I remember stories that were
told about how all this took place. I remember the number that I called to
reach my Grandmother Johnson at the old Johnson Plumbing and Electrical
company. When the operator asked “Number
please, I responded 244-0”.
The "live" switchboard operators in their work stations.
My
Grandmother would answer at the same time my Grandfather answered at the
plumbing office. I would state who I
wanted to talk to and the other one would hang up! This procedure was considered a “party line”
connection. This same procedure was also
offered in neighborhoods where for a discount on your monthly bill, you were
offered a “party line”. When you picked
up and someone was on the phone, you would merely excuse yourself and try your
call later when they were finished with their call. This process worked for the best most of the
time, but there was always a “customer” that would abuse the system and use
more time than their rightful share and would unfairly use more than their
share of time. All this sounds so complicated but it seemed
to work fine at the time! I do remember
hearing folks talking about how the “new system that was coming” would not work
as well and would not be “well received” as the old live operator, “number
please” system that was in place.
Photo was taken at a Christmas Party inside the facility.
Look at how far technology has come since
then! I do regret
not taking more notes and paying more attention on this procedure because there is so much information that I
don’t remember in detail. This phone
system preceded the actual home rotary system.
When the “live operator” system was in existence the operators dealt
with legitimate phone calls and a “mix” of many other prank type calls which
included calls made by folks that may have had a few too many to drink and used
the convenient live operator system as a “whipping post” for whatever
reason. After the new phone system was
installed, my mother and the other operators, of course, lost their jobs. Each of the operators were given a gift of a
personalized key ring ornament that was an exact replica of the plugs that were
used in the phone operation, a beautiful silver pin which was engraved with the
new rotary phone, and the actual headsets
that they wore while taking all those calls.
My mother kept her headset for many years but unfortunately they were
lost or destroyed in a home fire years later.
I still have the key ring replica and the lapel pin, (please see photo)
and many memories of stories that she told about the old phone company. My mother always worked the night shift but
the company, being in operation 24/7, offered many shifts for the different
operators. Years later after the “live
operator” Bell phone company closed, the “row” of businesses and offices on
that block were burned in a fire. I
remember the florist, and two beauty shops and a couple of office buildings
being completely destroyed. I am unsure
of the date of the fire. No structures
were ever built in replacement after the fire. Today it is used as parking for the
surrounding businesses including the Scottsboro Post Office.
