Flying X

It’s difficult to imagine today, but the first telephones didn’t have buttons or even dials. If you wanted to make a call, you’d pick up the receiver and turn the hand crank on a little generator. A light would come on at a switchboard somewhere, and the operator would ask you for the number of the party you wanted to reach. The operator would then manually connect you. Long-distance calls required at least two operators. The first switchboard operators were teenage boys who were notoriously impolite. (There’s a surprise.) On September 1, 1878 Emma Nutt and her sister Stella became the first two female switchboard operators. Within a few years the position was almost exclusively held by women. Like most female dominated jobs, the pay was notoriously low. Emma made $10 a month working 54 hours a week.