In 1915 the Carleton Place municipal waterworks system which was completed in the previous year, went into operation. Electric lights were installed in the town’s schools. The Hawthorne Woollen Mill, bought by Charles W. Bates and Richard Thomson, was re-opened and re-equipped to meet war demands.
War news and war service work dominated the local scene. There were many district recruits joining the armed forces, reports of heavy casualties, the furnishing of a motor ambulance and the making of Red Cross Society supplies, industrial work on government orders, increase in price levels and some food restrictions.
The Mississippi Golf Club was formed and acquired the old Patterson farm and stone farmhouse on the Appleton road.
The Goodwood Rural Telephone Company was organized. By 1915 it had installed 1,100 poles and had contracts for installing forty-four miles of lines in Beckwith and in the west part of Goulbourn township. It was initially done through the Carleton Place Board of Trade with various meetings held in the Carleton Place Town Hall with the villages of Franktown and Ashton.Quickly a rivalry between Carleton Place and Franktown arose (southern and northern Beckwith) and two telephone companies began. Good wood and the Beckwith and Montague Rural Telephone Company. They both sold out to Bell in 1961.It was not until the 1960s that telephone lines were run to serve the cottages along Lake Park.
The evil practice of listening in on the rural telephone seems to be increasing in this part of Lanark County. If certain people are called from town the busybodies, mostly of the fair sex, but not always, know the sharp ring of central and then down come the receivers like Niagara Falls.
People trying to hear what is being said on a rural line often wonder why the voice of the person in the country is so thin and faint. The eavesdroppers are to blame in 90 percent of the cases. Most people have experienced the shock of calling up some man known to have a voice like a foghorn and hearing him twittering away like a little birdie. If he has a temper he will probably let a few hearty cuss words out of him at his unseen audience.
Clickety click go a dozen receivers and then, lo and behold, the foghorn gentle man regains his normal voice. All jokes aside, cases are now known where people have spent a lot of money to call someone on a rural line. They have placed the call from Vancouver, Halifax, California, Florida or some other far distant point. Generally it is a very serious message occasioned by death or illness. And that is the very time when all the receivers will come down and make it impossible for the expensive call to be heard.
Quite often in such cases the nearest switchboard operator, through which the message passes, has to take it and pass it on the few remaining miles to the party of the second part. Nearly everyone is familiar with the old fable about the Peeping Tom who was struck with blindness in the offending eye. Rural phones were not invented in the days of fairy tales or else there would have been one about the busybody who went deaf in the ear which she applied to calls not her own.
The writer of this item had an old aunt out in Leeds County who used to do a lot of embroidery. She would sit in an easy chair near the rural phone with the receiver tied to the side of her head. It is no wonder that she was regarded as a walking encyclopedia of local information, not to mention scandal.
Sometimes, as her needle worked back and forth through the fabric stretched over its hoops, she lost track of the design. So interested was she in the conversations on her telephone, she took up knitting for creative and safety’s sake.
You always had to be very careful. “You had to put your hand over the mouthpiece or they’d hear you breathing,” explains Amelia Bretzloff. But it paid off. You could hear about so-and-so’s lumbago, that what’s-her-name was seeing what’s-his-name, or that you-know-who was going broke. “Of course, everybody listened in. If you wanted to know the news, you listened in.” It was the early 1920s and telephones were novelties. Nobody had yet heard of a private telephone. The party line linked the neighborhood as surely as if it were stitched together by the thin strands of copper wire on the poles. “You could tell by the ring who was being called,” says Bretzloff, who at 72 years of age now has a private line. Each ring was different: two long, one short; three long, and so on. “Suppose there was somebody with a serious illness in that home. Then you listened to see if someone died, or if they needed help. “Of course, if somebody forgot themselves or they were shocked, they spoke out and gave themselves away.” In those days there was no dial; the operator rang all the numbers. “Oh, and she could hear everything if she wanted to,” says Bretzloff.
The second photo (also found at almonte .com) is labelled as the “Telephone Central Office”. Switchboards were still in use in the 40s. Where was this office located? In that Mill Street space? The second photo may be older than the first, and the office was relocated to Mill Street later? The windows are hard to place in the second photo, but perhaps the building was rebuilt since then… Anyone have other details? Can confirm locations of the “central office”?The two women in the second photo are switchboard operators – manually connecting calls with cord pairs. If you zoom in, you can see these cords quite clearly #Almonte#EarlyTelecommunications#HelloOperatorDowntown Almonte–Unexpected Almonte
Almonte Gazette- 1951
District complaints have come, recently, regarding the shortening of telephone circuits as carried out by the Bell Company. Before the Bell took over the Lanark & Carleton Counties Telephone Co., these circuits were quite large in most instances and it was possible for a person on one of them to call a great many more patrons, without going through the central exchange board, here, than is now the case. Those who do not like the breaking up of these large—sociable— loops, say the Bell Co. is going right on with its policy and they complain, as stated above, that where they used to be able to call a friend many miles distant without ringing central, they must now go through the local exchange.
The only argument they use against this is that it causes them some inconvenience, and, for good measure they criticize the service given at the central switchboard here. Most reasonable people admit there are some very good operators in Almonte—and to put it delicately—some who are not so good. But even the operators who are accused of being a little slow or careless do not create half as much inconvenience as the gabblers on the rural lines. They are the real nuisances and their long visits may be discouraged by shortening the circuits so they will have to go through central to get a connection. If they camp on the line too long and someone else wants it for an important message, the local operator will have a definite knowledge of who is doing the visiting.
This photo is interesting not just because of the snowstorm & the two good-natured gents, one with a broom, sweeping the snow. Also in this picture is a hanging sign that states “Business Office” and has the old/original Bell Canada bell logo on it. This photo is from 1947.–Unexpected Almonte
Complaints are heard from many sections about well known bores on the rural lines. There are mammas who call up their daughters every morning and talk for half-an-hour on any subject from the best method of emptying a certain bedroom utensil to what subject is going to be discussed at the next meeting of the Ladies’ Aid. There are, also, the problems of pickles, preserves, picking apples, the state of the barn yard, the state of the garden, the state of the neighborhood, the state of the township and the state of the nation. There is the question of quilting quilts and many other topics too numerous to mention.
The gripe that many rural people have about these gossips is that they monopolize the lines and make them useless for the transmission of sensible messages or transaction of business. One method of getting these magnetic talking machines off the line used by quick tempered men is to damn whoever is holding up that line—damn her with great big words of disapprobation. If the adjectives are hot enough the receivers click up and a startled voice generally gasps: “Well, I never! How ignorant can some folks be?”
The people who camp on the rural lines generally make a habit of it, do it around the same time, and are well known to the exasperated neighbors and more distant patrons who would like to get a word in edgeways. As stated before, the shortening of the rural circuits by the Bell Co. may be a blessing in disguise because these people who have nothing to do but monopolize the service with their silly chatter will not have the face to go through central, every morning or afternoon, and keep everybody from using the line for the next hour or so.
In the above it is admitted that most of those who are opposed to shortening of telephone circuits are not influenced by the desire to monopolize the lines. They simply feel it is an inconvenience to call central in town to get someone whom they used to call on the longer circuit by giving a signal on their own phone. But, as pointed out to these and other people, the policy of the Bell may in the end have its compensations. It has on other rural systems because- people who use them have attested to th at fact. One real cause for complaint though, is the constant changing of rural numbers of people paying for business telephones.
Karen Dorman sent this photo in..The top photo is the girls at the Bell telephone circa 1953. Starting with the far left standing are Audrey MacDougall, Joan McKim Whalen, Thelma Dowdall, Louise Kerr, Margaret Kingston Billings, Shirley Nesbitt Sadler, Janet Arbuckle, ?(chief operator), Helen Smith, At switchboard Joyce Stanzel Saunders, Joan Ferguson, Velma Bryce, Rose McKittrick Seated Norma McKim, Phylis MacPherson, ? Horrick–Number Please? Carleton Place
Mary Cook is not only a local icon and author but she and her husband Wally also used to own Cook’s on Bridge Street in Carleton Place. She is a fashion maven, and Sunday I noticed a fabulous pin she was wearing. She told me the little telephone pin was once being sold on a dollar table at Cook’s in 1958 and she loved it so much she rescued it for herself.
I remember that old telephone and it was called a candlestick telephone that was common from the late 1890s to the 1940s. Living in a rural area in Quebec I still saw them being used as a child.
The phrase “Number please” will never be heard again from a telephone switchboard operator when making a phone call. At least that is what my Grandmother would tell me over and over again as she sat in her rocking chair on Friday nights. Every Friday night we would both sit inside the screened porch and watch the folks coming out of the South Street Liquor Store and Varin’s Pharmacy in Cowansville, Quebec.
Friday night used to be the time you cashed your weekly paycheck, did your groceries, and talked about the weather to anyone you bumped into. I would have rather talked about Ricky Nelson and Paul Anka, but the topics of conversation on that vernadah was always about something everyone loved, but had just disappeared. It seems the day the switchboard telephone operator vanished was something that should never have happened in my Grandmother’s mind, but in reality; it was probably because she never had the opportunity to have made the final decision.
I remember the day my phone number 1386 disappeared like it was yesterday. One morning I got up and was ready to tell the operator to call 32 which was my Grandmother’s number and all I heard was a dial tone. I guess I too was not happy that I had not made the decision either, as I immediately missed their kind and reassuring voices.
Thank you Mary for reminding me of the past with your gorgeous pin today.
November 1944- with Julienne Audette, Madeleine Phaneuf, Fay Richardson, Simone Grueenwood,E.L. Green, Madeleine Dover, Theresa Cody and Marthe Dandenault.Sue Bowles Hunter—191 Main Street Cowansville 1926 Photo-Ville de Cowansville with thanks to (Susan Bowles Hunter)
The phrase “Number please” will never be heard again from a telephone switchboard operator when making a phone call. At least that is what my Grandmother would tell me over and over again as she sat in her rocking chair on Friday nights. Every Friday night we would both sit inside the screened porch and watch the folks coming out of the South Street Liquor Store and Varin’s Pharmacy in Cowansville, Quebec.
Friday night used to be the time you cashed your weekly paycheck, did your groceries, and talked about the weather to anyone you bumped into. I would have rather talked about Ricky Nelson and Paul Anka, but the topics of conversation on that vernadah was always about something everyone loved, but had just disappeared. It seems the day the switchboard telephone operator vanished was something that should never have happened in my Grandmother’s mind, but in reality; it was probably because she never had the opportunity to have made the final decision.
I remember the day my phone number 1386 disappeared like it was yesterday. One morning I got up and was ready to tell the operator to call 32 which was my Grandmother’s number and all I heard was a dial tone. I guess I too was not happy that I had not made the decision either, as I immediately missed their kind and reassuring voices.
One Friday night a former telephone operator chatted with us how the town of Cowansville was going to regret getting the dial tone. This lady who shall remain nameless was carrying a recent purchase from the Liquor store and asked my Grandmother for a glass. I knew right then and there we were in for a long and vivid conversation.
Not only were these operators responsible for getting your call through but they also looked after telephone bill payments. Sometimes they even had to multitask and recognize the sound of coins being dropped outside in the pay phone booth. According to our guest she could hear a nickle being dropped a mile away and she still remembered who was always late paying their bills in town.
The volume of her voice went up a few octaves in anger as she said if had not been for the operators more places would have burned down when fire emergencies were occurring in Cowansville. I really wanted to interject at that point of the conversation that maybe the gals shouldn’t have given out random emergency information when every “Tom, Dick and Jean Guy” called asking what was happening. In my opinion these gals should have left their phone cords dangling with a “nevermind”.
But when those calls came in these telephone operators were actually the first responders calling the firemen and making sure they were on their way. Medical and family emergencies were high on the operators list too and they would have to track down the local doctor or any person needed in an emergency.
Of course at that point my Grandmother interjected with a story I had heard a 100 times and everyone had repeated this story since it had been published in The Granby Leader Mail in 1936. Each time I heard it something new was thrown in, or something was left out and it became the story that kept on giving.
The sun rose and shone on Cowansville’s Dr. Cotton and he could do no wrong even though his wife was thrown under the bus a few times by other women in conversation. I just think these local women viewed him as some sort of a rock star, and when my Grandmother mentioned his name our visitor put her bottle on the floor, wiped her forehead and let out a big sigh.
Dr. Cotton was one of the first local users of the telephone as when he was out of the office he needed to be located for emergencies. The story as far as I have pieced together was: one day an elderly woman came into his office and Dr. Cotton’s wife said he was out but would “ring him up”. Of course the elderly woman was not familiar with the telephone and immediately left in fright as fast as her feet would carry her.
Not knowing how to handle the situation the woman ran to her nearest friend’s home and said Mrs. Cotton’s mind was gone as she had been acting odd. She told her friend about the doctor’s wife who had a wild look on her face speaking into a wooden box that had noises like sleigh bells. Not only that, the doctor’s wife must be able to read her husband’s mind, as she had responded to the woman that “he would be right over”. Something needed to be done right away about Mrs. Cotton’s condition she insisted before she hurt poor Dr. Cotton.
Switchboard, Bell Telephone, rue Principale –26 Janvier 1920-Photo-Ville de Cowansville
What the woman did not know was that when you cranked the side of the telephone and lifted the receiver the signal went into the switchboard and the line would buzz. A plug would be then inserted into the line and a familiar voice would say “number please”.
Near the end of the story my Grandmother’s visitor would interject whatever she could in the loudest voice you have ever heard. My Grandmother told me later the woman had “a strong voice” as that had been her profession for years. You see nothing was done with a faint voice at the telephone company, and they often had to yell to make themselves heard.
Soon after the story ended the woman left quickly as heat lightening began to appear in the night sky. She admitted to us both that electrical storms rattled her. I can remember as a child hearing the crackles and pops on the other end of the telephone line and sometimes those poor operators would not only get those noises, but also get a blast in the ear from the thunder and lightening.
Sitting on the verandah Friday nights was one of the best times of my childhood with the many visitors who sat a spell and shared stories. I loved when an over-exuberant or perhaps an inebriated customer from the Liquor store would give my Grandmother an unsolicited lesson in profanity or worse. She would run outside and shoo them away with her hanky– but always politely with a personal touch.
Life now might be more efficient with cell phones and other time saving devices, but everything now seems to have lost its personal touch. Things are changing so quickly that soon charging your phone will become something you did last century, and one only wonders what new invention will become our new impersonal lifelines to the world. Dust in the wind…..
Robin D.Tyler-My Grandmother (Ruth Rexford Tyler ) was the Night Operator at the Bell switch Board in Ayer’s Cliff. When My family would come to visit. I would get up VERY Early in the Morning and go to the Switch Board. She taught me how to Answer the Board and direct a call to the right Person. I would man that station when she left the room from time to time. At the end of here shift we would walk home and she would make Breakfast for me. Nanny Died the summer of 65. Many years have passed But I have these fond Memories of being a Young Lad with My Nanny !
Bob Cathcart– In 1959 my dad; a Bell Canada foreman was transferred to Cookshire, to change the phone above, to the “new” dial system. Our number was 123. When change over was nearly complete one of dads crew called my mom to advise they would be “blowing out the lines” and she should cover the receiver in plastic. When dad arrived home she had placed a bread bag over it. Best prank ever.
David Hosking– My mom did this for a while in Bishopton
Bonnie Rolleston– My mom, Joan French, was an operator in Cookshire – I think 1955ish – have a great pic of her at the switchboard
Pauline Stone Bampton– I was an operator in North Hatley in the late 1940’s.Hazel Cinnamon was our supervisor.Rachelle? also worked there at that time. The office was above the Bank
Jean MacDonald– It was up at Tricotex Company Ltd in the old army camp on Drummond Road in Sherbrooke. It was PBX on the corner of the board. I don’t really know what it spells…in those days I suppose I was not interested in details of equipment. It was fun to use. I did when the person was not there at the desk.
Muriel Chute-Shaughnessy– I remember going to the Bell Office in Waterville with Mary Kydd I was just a little girl..wonderful memory
William Middleton— Had a sister who worked at the office in Rock Island.
Kerry L. Buzzell —My Mom, Roma Bonnallie worked in Sherbrooke, Quebec at a Bell Telephone centre when she was a young woman. My Uncle had a switchboard like the one above in his pharmacy in Oil Springs, Ontario in the early years of telephones.
Sitting from right to left, Patsy Taylor, pelagius bombardier, Merlyn Dougall, all of the main office and Jeannine Roy, one of our operators, employed to record the points of the team from the office. The cheering section. Waiting their turn to bowl, right to left, Patsy Taylor, fur bomber, Merlyn Dougall, all of the main office, and Jeannine Roy, one of our telephone operators– (Photo-Ville de Cowansville with thanks to (Susan Bowles Hunter)
Over the years, the relatively small “Farnam Telephone Line Co.” in Dunham had expanded several times; first in 1906 when Ernest Turner, who had become partner in the company, took it over and more so in 1909 after Oscar C. Selby became partner. Since the Farnams were not connected with the company any more, the name of the company was changed to Citizen’ Telephone Company, a name which was available after the liquidation of the earlier company with the same name in Waterloo. Under the leadership of Oscar C. Selby, the new company was so successful it was able to purchase in 1911 the Bell Telephone systems in Dunham, Cowansville and Frelighsburg. In order to accommodate the steady growing business, the Citizen’ Telephone Co. constructed in 1916 a new central office in Dunham giving service to their clients around the clock with 3 operators in duty. Brome County Historical Society-Telephone (Vol. 3, p. 166)-Ville de Cowansville
147- Employées du Bell Téléphone – shower de Pauline Loiselle.
De g. à d., 1ère rangée : Micheline Longtin, Madeleine Daigneault, Gisèle Renaud, Angéline Désormier.–Photo-Ville de Cowansville
2e rangée : Katherine Paquette, Lise Patenaude, Jeanne D’Arc Longchamps, Pauline Loiselle, Thérèse Laflamme, Gaétane Brouillard, Yolaine Paradis.
Bell Telephone Office, 191 Principale, Octobre 1936-Ville de CowansvilleSolange Bisaillon, Mrs. Call, Carmen Call, E.L. Green, Jim Seguin, Simone Marchand, Archie Burnet and Annie Vail.
Walrus moustaches and hair slicked with oil, high stiff collars and bowler hats characterized the young gallant of the middle eighties when the first telephone exchange was established in Almonte. Set up in the rear of M. Patterson’s drug store, the tiny, primitive switchboard created a minor sensation in those horse and buggy days.
It was not until August 1887, that the first list of Almonte subscribers was published in a small, pocket-size directory containing the names of practically everyone in Eastern Ontario and Quebec who had a telephone. Under Almonte the names of 29 subscribers were listed which reveals the progressiveness of the local residents of that time, for in these days this new means of communication was regarded in many quarters as little more than a silly fad.
In 1886 Almonte became an important long distance centre in the rapidly-growing wire network which the Bell Telephone Co. had begun to erect throughout Ontario and Quebec. That year an 82-mile pole line to Pembroke was completed, which meant that local subscribers could telephone many intermediate points.
At first voice transmission was limited to 20 miles. But Bell engineers and scientists steadily devised methods of improving the first crude instruments. Galvanized iron lines were replaced by copper and the loading coil, which boosts voice impulses, was invented. This invention was later followed by the vacuum tube repeater which, as its name implies, amplifies the voice currents at intervals along the circuit and makes it possible to talk across the continent.
With only 29 telephones in Almonte in 1887, subscribers were called by name, not by number. A notice in bold type in the directory advised subscribers that “The name of the party wanted should be spoken with especial distinctness to prevent mistakes.” Another footnote warned: “Do not attempt to use the telephone on the approach or during a thunderstorm.”
The initial list of Almonte subscribers recalls the names of prominent residents and businesses establishments in the community at that time: Almonte Knitting Company; Almonte Gazette; McLeod & McEwan; Almonte House; T. W. Raines; Bank of Montreal; Burns, Robert, M.D., surgery; Canadian Pacific Railway, Station; C.P.R. Telegraph Office; T. W. McDermott; Davis House; John Gemmill; Dowdall & Fraser, Barristers; Lawson, Walter, livery stable; Linch, D. P. , M.D., surgery; Macdonald & Skinner, Barristers, etc.; Mississippi Iron Works; Young Bros.; Munro, J. M.; Patterson, M., drug store; Rosamond Woolen Co., office; Rosamond, Jas., Jr., residence; Robertson, James, merchant; Robinson & Shaw; Shearn, C. H.; Windsor House; F. Reilly; Wylie, J. B. , merchant.
It is interesting to note that of the 29 telephones in service here in 1887, 23 were in business establishments.
With the title of “Agent”, M. Patterson supervised the local affairs of the Bell telephone Company whose switchboard and associated equipment occupied part of the premises of Mr. Patterson’s drug store on Mill Street.
Mr. Patterson continued as local manager until succeeded shortly after the turn of the century by the late “Tom” Armstrong, who, with headquarters at Carleton Place, served as local manager for more than 15 years.
In 1920, a territorial reorganization placed Almonte under the management of John J. Gardiner, whose headquarters were in Smiths Falls. Mr. Gardiner retired in 1937 following over 37 years’ Bell service.
As early as 1900 Almonte had more than 50 telephones. By 1911 the number passed the 100 mark. The 200th instrument was installed in 1920.
In 1947, when the exchange had almost 500 customers, the old hand crank type of telephone was replaced by a much more streamlined set. Common battery telephones enabled subscribers to contact the operator by simply lifting the receiver.
It was a great help to the operator too, because, as an editorial in the ALMONTE GAZETTE of Nov. 20, 1947, pointed out, “When the receiver is removed from the hook a light flashes on in front of the operator; when she makes the connection it goes out and when the receiver is replaced it comes on again, indicating that the conversation is terminated. She breaks the circuit.”
Under the old system, the editorial continued – “people neglected to ring off … the only way ‘central’ could determine whether the parties were through with the line was to listen in.”
Since that major renovation in the telephone system, the Bell has attempted to provide Almonte subscribers with up-to-date telephone service to meet their ever expanding needs. As the town has grown, the demand for service has grown with it, and the company has had to keep abreast and even a step ahead of local development to meet demands without delay.
The change to dial in March, 1966, and the introduction of direct distance dialing gives Almonte a communications system second to none. Subscribers here will be served by the same type of telephone switching equipment that now serve Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. They will also have direct dialing access to the same number of long distance telephones as residents of the larger metropolitan areas.
Photos by Linda Seccaspina-actual telephone table and bevelled mirror from my childhood
My very first telephone at the age of 3 was pink, and it was bought at the Ritz five and dime on Main Street in Cowansville, Quebec. I called many imaginary friends and had long conversations with them on that phone. Of course I never received any calls back, but I could bring it over to my sandbox and not worry about having to replace it from damage. The pink phone was replaced by a black one that was hooked into the wall with a fabric cord and my Grandparents telephone number was “32” and ours was “1386”. I talked to many a local town operator some days until they persuaded me to hang up. Cutting the telephone cord one day with my plastic scissors resulted in my mother being incredibly angry that her canasta club friends couldn’t call her. Amazingly enough, I didn’t end up in a corner with soap clenched between my teeth. Just a terrifying warning to stop messing around with the phone. Years later there was a new telephone that had a dial tone, and we now had 7 numbers to remember. The telephone had become a game some days as my friends and I would prank strangers and ask them if their refrigerator was running. We kids had no opportunity to venture into the cyber world via the internet as it had not been invented yet. Children then made their own fun, even if it was a bit misguided, but the telephone held much fascination to us kids. There was no voicemail or Caller ID then either. Just a ringing phone or a busy signal. Two options – it was just that simple. That same dial phone also gave out some bad news. I remember the day my mother’s friend called to tell us that Marilyn Monroe had died. My mother dropped the dish she was drying and grabbed the phone quickly to discuss her death. In 1961 we got an important call from Bousada’s appliance store to tell us that our new colour TV was being delivered. My parents in turn called most of the Albert Street neighbours inviting them over to see the NBC peacock appear in colour just before “The Man from Uncle” came on.
I can still remember sitting at that telephone table more times that I can count with the large oval bevelled mirror above it that would reflect my different hairstyles I acquired during those years. My family home was eventually sold on Albert Street, and the only thing rescued by a loving neighbour named Agnes was that telephone table and the large round mirror that I still have in my home today. After all, memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
I remember sitting at that telephone table more times that I can count with the large oval bevelled mirror above it that would reflect my different hairstyles I acquired during those years.
My family home was eventually sold on Albert Street, and the only thing rescued by a loving neighbour was that telephone table and the large round mirror that I still have in my home today. After all, memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
Some of the ladies who were the Bell telephone operators in Carleton Place. Photo- From Bonnie Tosh of Carleton Place– with Audrey MacDougall, Eve Gilhuly, Norma McKien, Helen Smich, Lois McGee, Norma Andison, Lous MacDougall, Inez Doucett, Retah Jennings Lalonde’s Real Estate Page, Mc Pherson, Phyllis – Mc Pherson Phyllis, Shirley F Nesbitt and Joan Whalen.
The telephone first came into public use in Carleton Place and nearby Ontario communities in 1885. The photo below shows the old telephone company building on Albert Street near the corner of Beckwith in Carleton Place that now houses Balance Within Yoga. The Bell building was (and still is) across the street from the old Zion United Church. It was built in 1927 and the interior was reported in the newspaper to be carefully finished. A glass partition separated the public space and the operating headquarters. Next to the switchboard there was an operator’s restroom and the chief operators desk along with a terminal rack at the rear. In the basement there was a new hot water furnace, coal storage space, a battery cupboard and a workroom for the parts man.
If you lived in the country it was much different. To procure a phone you needed to pay 40 dollars for the phone wire and anything else needed. Each person who wanted a phone outside the town limits needed to supply three poles and labour to build the line. Outside calls to Carleton Place just outside the perimeter were then considered long distance. Marion Giles McNeely started working at the Bell Telephone Exchange in Carleton Place in 1957 and met some of the best friends I’ve ever met. Phone numbers were three digits and we also had to transfer long distance calls.
Karen Dorman sent this photo in..The top photo is the girls at the Bell telephone circa 1953. Starting with the far left standing are Audrey MacDougall, Joan McKim Whalen, Thelma Dowdall, Louise Kerr, Margaret Kingston Billings, Shirley Nesbitt Sadler, Janet Arbuckle, ?(chief operator), Helen Smith, At switchboard Joyce Stanzel Saunders, Joan Ferguson, Velma Bryce, Rose McKittrick Seated Norma McKim, Phylis MacPherson, ? Horricks.
The new central switchboard they were installing in Carleton Place wasn’t going to be much different than the old one. But, it was necessary to have two boards to avoid interruption of service due to the changes in the new building. Back then calls could not be placed after 10 o’clock in the evening unless it was an emergency. After all, the women working at the telephone exchange also all had families to tend to. Imagine being an operator and having to remember numbers, as in those days you just told the operator who you wanted to talk too.
I remember as a child that it was common practice to listen in on the party lines when we went to visit my cousin. It meant that many other households shared the use of the telephone line. If anyone was on the line, then we had to wait until they were finished. Of course if there was an emergency, you just asked the person talking to let you make a call. Sometimes there might be a disagreement about what determined an emergency. Everyone knew everyone’s business, and if someone was sick or having a baby it was all over the phone wires in less than an hour.
I actually miss the old days of the phone that required you to know or look up the number of anyone you wanted to call. And if you decided to leave town for the weekend, your phone calls didn’t follow you.
lindaseccaspina 