The more than 30 women gathered at the Masonic Temple Wednesday were looking to celebrate their present, full of grandchildren and bowling trophies. But to a curious listener the telephone operators' ...

Before smartphones, landline telephones were the way most people kept in touch. And until direct dialing became common, a switchboard operator's assistance was often needed to help with long-distance ...

HINES, Minn. — The earliest telephone systems connected people, eased some of the loneliness and isolation of homesteaders who lived far from other family members, provided alarms in times of ...

The first telephones were hard enough to use without the added harassment of the teenage boys who worked as the earliest switchboard operators — and who were, per PBS, notoriously rude. It was ...

Before smartphones, most people kept in touch using landline telephones. And before direct dialing was common, some calls were handled by switchboard operators. During the 1950s, more than 220,000 ...

There used to be a lot of telephone operators in America. And now hardly any. When there were hundreds of thousands rather than just a couple of thousand, it was the work of women — and demanding work ...

When Martians attack, who you gonna call? Actually, just the operator. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles (somewhat intentionally) created one of the great hoaxes in American history, broadcasting a ...