Helen of Many Glacier Hotel – Portrait of a Female Indian Telephone Switchboard Operator in 1925

Telephone operators worked at hotels as well as at exchanges. Photographed here is Helen (last name unknown), an operator at Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park in 1925.

(Photo: Library of Congress)

At the time, park concessionaires often required their Blackfeet employees–including bus drivers and telephone operators—to dress in “traditional” clothing to appeal to eastern tourists.

Although female telephone operators may have been recognized for their abilities, they often worked long hours for very low pay. For example, in 1907 Rocky Mountain Bell operators’ wages were frequently as low as thirty to forty dollars per month for a ten- to twelve-hour day. That year, Butte operators struck for higher wages and an eight-hour day, and the company, in recognition of their united strength, almost immediate agreed to a minimum wage of fifty dollars per month, an eight-hour day, and a closed shop. That same year, the legislature enacted a law banning the employment of girls under the age of sixteen as telephone operators and in 1909 limited the hours of telephone operators to nine hours per day in cities and towns of more than three thousand people, except under special circumstances of illness or emergency.

Dorothy Johnson worked as an operator in Whitefish starting in 1919. She described her experience:

The board was a vast expanse of eyes, with, at the base, a dozen or so pairs of plugs on cords for connecting and an equal number of keys for talking, listening, and ringing. On a busy day these cords were woven across the board in a constantly changing, confusing pattern; half the people using telephones were convinced that Central was incompetent or hated them, and Central—flipping plugs into holes, ringing numbers, trying to remember whether 44 wanted 170-K or 170-L, because if she went back and asked him, he’d be sure she was stupid—was close to hysterics. It was every operator’s dream that when her ship came in she would open all the keys on a busy board, yell “To hell with you,” pull all the plugs, and march out in triumph, leaving everything in total chaos. Nobody ever did. We felt an awful responsibility toward our little corner of the world. We really helped keep it running, one girl at a time all by herself at the board.

24 Interesting Pictures Show the TV Programmes That People Often Watched From the 1950s and 1960s

What TV shows did people often watch in the 1950s and 1960s? Just check these interesting pics to see.

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33 Interesting Pics That Capture American People With Telephones in the 1950s

The 1950s were prosperous years for the United States and saw many technological and economic advances. One of these forward strides was the widespread adoption of the telephone in American homes and businesses.

By the 1950s, roughly two-thirds of American households had at least one telephone, with the percentage growing every year.

Take a look at these interesting pictures to see American people with their telephones in the 1950s.

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These Videophones From the Future Past Are Cooler Than Your iPhone's FaceTime!

Can you even remember what life was like before video technologies like FaceTime or Skype? Out of all of the fantastic tech that the Internet has made possible, video conferencing is by far one of the most impactful. Modern video conferencing and video chat technology allow both families and businesses, from anywhere in the world, to talk with one another face-to-face as though they were sitting in the same room.

Thanks to tablets, smartphones and high-speed Internet, video chatting is as simple as pressing an icon from your contacts. But there’s a dark history that led us to this point. Company after company failed over and over again in an exercise in insanity to make video chat technology what it is today.

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Found Photos That Capture People in the Early Days of Television

One of the most popular products in the 1950s was the TV. At the start of the decade, there were about 3 million TV owners; by the end of it, there were 55 million, watching shows from 530 stations.

A set of found photos that shows people and their TVs from the 1950s.

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Amazing Infographic of the Evolution of Television

The life changing technology that had families huddling around a box in their living rooms, bonding over Saturday night programs. However, the way television has been viewed and engaged with has changed over the years.

The television counts among a handful of designs that most dramatically changed 20th-century society. As this illustrated poster by Reddit user CaptnChristiana visualizes, the design has evolved mightily since the boxy retro contraptions of yesteryear, like the Emyvisor and the Marconi. With flatscreens and high-definition displays that can seem crisper and more colorful than reality itself, 21st-century viewers are comparatively spoiled.

The modern television’s earliest ancestor was the Octagon, made by General Electric in 1928. It used a mechanical, rotating disc technology to display images on its three-inch screen. While it was never mass-produced, it played what is widely considered the world’s first television drama: “The Queen’s Messenger.”

Soon, this primitive technology evolved into commercially available home TV sets, accessible, at first, only as fancy toys for the wealthy. Designers knew how revolutionary television would be, and advertisers milked the technology’s novelty in ways that may now seem kitschy and dated: as the 1936 Cossor Television was advertised in a brochure: “Radio–its thrills, its interests, increased one hundred fold by Television... Radio is blind no longer. The most exciting running commentary is made immeasurably more thrilling when you can SEE too!” The Cossor came in a walnut cabinet of sorts, its screen hidden by doors when not in use–a design feature that was largely retired in later designs, as were round screens, seen in 1949’s Raytheon TV, and the built-in legs seen on sets in the ’50s and ’60s.

The number of television sets in use in the United States rose from 6,000 in 1946 to more than 12 million by 1951. The infographic is missing some key moments in TV design–it jumps from 1973 to 1998, leaving out ’80s console TVs and the rest of the sets from the decade of excess, but it offers a visualization of how over the decades, buttons replaced knobs and dials, profiles got slimmer, and sleek black replaced colorful frames. TVs, in the natural progression of things, became smart. In 2011, 96.7% of American households own television sets. From its roots as an experimental, octagon-shaped viewing device less than a century ago, the TV has become a piece of furniture as commonplace as the dinner table and far more worshipped, with American viewers averaging five hours of daily devotion to their screens.

(Image by CaptnChristiana; this original article was published on Co.Design)

14 Historical Photos That Show the Evolution of Television From the 1920s Through the 1970s

Despite its status as a device that defines the modern age, the television has its roots in the 19th century, when scientists found ways to transmit images and sound. Even the word "television," combining Greek and Latin roots to mean "far-sight," stems from the 1900 world's fair.

Perhaps more than any other medium, TV has captured the hearts of people since first becoming available in the late 1920s. And while the power of television has only increased over time, its evolution over the past 80 years clearly illustrates how technology influences consumer behavior, while this change in consumption drives the TV industry to take on new forms that radically alter the way we experience the medium.

Dr E. F. Alexanderson of GE and RCA and inventor of the radio television process where a listener can see as well as listen to the broadcast, operating his 3 inch screen home television set, Schenectady, New York, January 14, 1928. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

People watching a television set at Waterloo station, London, August 1936. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Undated (circa 1940s) early family television time. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Early days of television in Sweden, 1953. The aerial is mounted by two men in white coats. From the Landskrona Museum Collection. (Photo by IBL Bildbyra/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A family watching television in their home, circa 1955. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

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36 Snapshots That Capture Teenagers Posing With Their TVs in the 1950s

Television is the first audiovisual device that changed the way people see entertainment. It opened the realm of recreation and mass communication. It made possible for people and families to watch live events in the comforts of their drawing room.

By 1950s, the aftermath of World War II had faded away. Economy was booming again and people had cash in their wallets. It was the popular period of television. Popularity of radio and print media began to fade away gradually, as television set its hold on people's life.

Here is an interesting collection of retro snapshots that shows teenagers posing with their televisions in the 1950s.

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Before Television: Interesting Photos of People With Their Radios During the Radio Golden Age

The old-time radio era, sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Radio, was an era of radio programming during which radio was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early 1920s and lasted until the 1950s, when television superseded radio as the medium of choice for scripted programming.

During this period radio was the only broadcast medium, and people regularly tuned into their favorite radio programs, and families gathered to listen to the home radio in the evening.

Take a look at these interesting photos to see how people used their radios during the Golden Age of Radio.

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Before Computer: Here Is What People Worked With Their Typewriters in the Last Decades

Before there were actual computers in most workplaces, there was a job simply called, "computer". The job involved converting figures and crunching numbers and often involved some basic translation and cryptography. These jobs were popular especially round WWI and WWII.

Take a look at these photos to see how people worked with their typewriters in the last decades.

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100 Years Before the Smartphone: 40 Photos of People Talking on Telephones in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Today, almost everyone knows and owns at least one smartphone. It is also very handy, and essential to us in our daily lives.

So how about 100 years ago? Check out these interesting photos to see how people used the telephones in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Moshi Moshi! Operator, Please Connect Me to the World!

"Hello, World? Yes, can you send us some Blue Jeans from America, and some Brand Goods from Europe? Great. We're going to be making a few changes around here..."

From circa 1905-10 collotype postcards. Colors added at the time by brush and stencil. Photographer / Studio unknown.

(via Okinawa Soba)