Remembering: “Number Please”

We are “embarking” into a new year - again! Where did 2025 go? We see our world changing fast. Every day we hear more about AI, and we don’t even understand the full implication of that.

I think of the impact the iPhone has had in all our lives! There is instant contact with anyone across the world. There is instant weather radar, and GPS maps that can guide you across a city, or across the country. And…there is the iPhone camera, oh my!

The younger generation would not know what to do if they picked up their cell phone, and an operator asked,”Number please?” That was an era long past that only the older generation will remember. What a revelation--the iPhone!

Back in the 1950’s and 60’s (and before) Olney was served by the General Telephone Co. The building that housed the switchboard operation was located just south of Main St. on N. Grand. The building is still there and is an Airbnb these days.

When I graduated from high school I did not plan to attend college. I went to work as a switchboard operator at General Telephone Co. in Olney. I worked there until after I married, and started a family.

A bit of telephone history: In the 1870’s the telephone was introduced to the world. In the early days, every call had to go through an exchange or switchboard. A person sat there and manually connected you to the person you wanted to reach.

It went this way: When you picked up the phone an operator would say, “Number please,” then “Hold the line, please.” They would plug and unplug wires to connect your call.

In the early1900’s the majority of operators in the U.S. were women. The job gave many women a new independence with better pay than factory or domestic work.

By the mid-1900’s automatic exchanges began replacing manual ones. By the 1970’s switchboards that required operators had mostly been automated.

So, there is your telephone history lesson for the day. We will all wait to see what changes come to affect our lives in 2026!