The Women Who Got America Talking

Early Telephone Operators, 1878-1922

Kerry Segrave

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English

McFarland & Co Inc
11 August 2017

History of the Americas; Postal & telecommunications industries; Communications engineering & telecommunications

When the need for telephone operators arose in the 1870s, the assumption was that they should all be male. Wages for adult men were too high, so boys were hired. They proved quick to argue with the subscribers, so females replaced them. Women were calmer, had reassuring voices and rarely talked back. Within a few years, telephone operators were all female and would remain so.

The pay was low and working conditions harsh. The job often impaired their health, as they suffered abuse from subscribers in silence under pain of dismissal. Discipline was stern--dress codes were mandated, although they were never seen by the public. Most were young, domestic and anything but militant. Yet many joined unions and walked picket lines in response to the severely capitalistic, sexist system they worked under.

By: Kerry Segrave
Imprint: McFarland & Co Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 12mm
Weight: 322g
ISBN: 9781476669045
ISBN 10: 147666904X
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 11 August 2017
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Table of Contents Preface delete Introduction delete 1. In the Beginning, Men vs. Women 2. The Hello Girl to 1900 3. The Operator, 1901–1922 4. Discipline 5. Health and Swearing and Love and Harassment 6. Strikes and Labor Unions 7. Goodbye to the Hello Girl Chapter Notes delete Bibliography delete Index delete

Cultural historian Kerry Segrave is the author of dozens of books on such diverse topics as drive-in theaters, ticket-scalping, lie detectors, jukeboxes, smoking and shoplifting. He lives in British Columbia.

Reviews for The Women Who Got America Talking: Early Telephone Operators, 1878-1922

"""A great resource...you will come away with a very real sense of the challenges these young women faced in the workplace and how they overcame those challenges.""--FGS Forum."