AT&T Archives: A Voice for the Farm

For more from the AT&T Archives, visit techchannel.att.com/archives
First, this film tells the story behind the story, of how Bell System engineers saw and studied the problems of communications on typical farms. The farm, at the time, differed from other businesses, as they are, it is spread out but managed by few. At the time, a family farmer sometimes had to dash back and forth to the house 20 times a day to answer the phone, call the vet, make arrangements for deliveries of supplies, or answer questions on prices.
Bell engineers came up with a farm system for handling calls and intercommunication from the house to the barn, shop, sheds, farmyard, and other locations. Most importantly, they tested it on more than 100 farms of all kinds for well over a year, and asked for comments. The farmers reported back, and their suggestions prompted further improvements. The film then shows how the system worked on typical farms, how it could be adapted to the needs of a particular type of farm, and how it saved the farmer and his household time, energy, and money.
Unfortunately, this effort was short-lived in usefulness. The number of family farms began to decrease drastically from the time this film was made, supplanted by larger-scale factory farms. Today there are about 2 million farms in the U.S., but their acreage averages 500 acres, as opposed to an approximate average 300 acres per farm around 1960.
Producer: Jamieson Film Company
Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

[@seanjuth]

Ah this would explain why i see speakers with a bell system logo on every farm i go to. Thank you for this video!

[@deltaboy767]

Yup by as early as 1968, almost every single farm in America had this system, my family's farm had this system when I was a kid in 63.

[@tgyr5]

@@deltaboy767 uh no they didn’t

[@deltaboy767]

@@tgyr5 Ours did in 1963, as did many of our neighbors. And this was in Texas.

[@isabelle317]

I learned my first phone number in 1966....... I still remember it to this day. I adore all of these films

[@thebestisyettocome4114]

There be a time, we're all have hand held devices to talk with. And it's going to show movies. Coming in the future. You mark my words boy.

[@Perktube1]

Yer pullin' my leg.

[@zagnit]

Yeaahhhh I think you be a joshin......

[@jjcoolaus]

Not on the farm. There are many farms in many countries, including the USA, where there is no cellular service and never likely to be.

[@nikkovalidor4890]

bullshit everyone knows beepers are the future

[@ohmusicsweetmusic]

Installation was complicated and expensive. Wires had to be run to all locations. Half the time they weren't in the proximity of a speaker, or the farm equipment was too loud to hear it and so they would end up doing what they always did: took a message. People back then knew that the best time to call was lunch time or in the evening and rarely was a phone call so important to stop work and lose daylight and money. Outside speakers were just speakers, not intercoms as the movie shows.

[@HobbyOrganist]

Yeah kinda hard to hear the speaker 100 feet away while runing a loud tractor! couldnt have cost much for the wiring, the wires were like 2 cents a yard, the real cost was the monthy BILL for it all!

[@newmoon54]

@@HobbyOrganist Sure, what you say is a negative thing,, but you're forgetting,, that the percentage of times that you may have distractions, noise, accidents, etc. is only at best 25 or so percent of the time, leaving 75% of the time covered by the intercom system! Better to have, than have NOT~!~

[@TheMaxx111]

@@HobbyOrganist I was wondering the whole time while watching this how much it cost?!

[@robsemail]

No, actually that horn speaker did the trick quite well. I believe that type of speaker was used in sports stadiums because it was so loud and clear and largely impervious to harsh weather and sunlight. You can see one being used on the old movie and TV show ‘M*A*S*H’. There was an old farmhouse in my family when I was growing up that had one as part of an intercom system that was a smaller version of what you’d have seen at a public school, and although I wasn’t alive when the big house was part of a working farm, I can attest myself that the big speaker on top of the pole outside was loud as a tornado. It went all the way to 11, I promise you. You are correct that people usually knew the best time to call, but in a large farm operation the unexpected is routine. A farmer who regularly waited until dinnertime to find out what was happening in town or on a neighbor’s farm would have been at a competitive disadvantage.

[@robsemail]

@@HobbyOrganist it was part of a foreman’s job to know who was on a tractor snd where. When an announcement came over the intercom that required the tractor driver’s attention, there were ways of signaling him from a distance. My great aunt’s farm did it with walkie talkies. All the foremen carried them, and I think only a foreman would have been driving a tractor. Good walkie talkies weren’t cheap at that time, but they were a one-time expense and I think a lot of farms, even small farms, used them.

[@JeffFrmJoisey]

Learned something new! Never knew this type of phone system existed until now!!

[@HobbyOrganist]

Probably was not all that popular after an initial run, which is why you don't see the vintage/antique equipment on Ebay and auctions

[@bennetfox]

Oh wow I love the Hoover constellation vacuum cleaner she's using!

[@jellyjordy1154]

Bennet Fox I know I love it too

[@c0t0d0s7]

It sucks!

[@HobbyOrganist]

They probably paid $4.99 for it back then, now it's an antique worth $4,999 and the fools threw it away when they got a newer model!!! LOL

[@dannygillingham7904]

I noticed the same thing lol ... they worked far better than what's out there nowadays

[@MarkMphonoman]

Good observation

[@stephenwilliams5201]

A farmer had a box he carried on his Jeep. He would clamp a wire to his fense and run his motor. And pick up a phone like out fit then call back some 15 miles to home and talk with his wife. For needed help or info. It had 3 tubes and was some way useful. 90% of the time. And it worked I'm the low end of am band about 500 .

[@benr7272]

Stephen Williams cool

[@cinerama62]

At least the farmers didn't have to climb a telephone pole to answer the phone like Mr. Douglas had to.

[@hankaustin7091]

My grandfather ran a huge landscaping business back in the '50s and '60s and he had this VERY SAME set-up! He could be way out in one of the fields and the outside ringer was so loud, he'd have no problem hearing it and would make a beeline to his tool shed to answer the phone.. saved himself from losing important business contacts!!

[@netking66]

Stayed in a shearers quarters once. To call the farmhouse you had to make sure no one was using the party line, crank short long short, tell the operator in the nearby town (40 minutes drive on back roads) when she said 'number please' that it was a party line call then wait for an answer from the farmhouse. Worked fine.

[@desmisc9911]

"Dorothy please tell Auntie Em to call Mr.s Gulch when she gets home, something about Toto again"

[@Michael_Livingstone]

This system is still very popular in Saskatchewan to this day.

[@zagnit]

I really like these old videos!

[@dianebrown4955]

Back in the 60ds that was a good idea the bell system had good product's back then

[@Cordovan]

I am a single male living in the 21st century and still I can relate to this 1960's housewife 😞

[@1964catt]

Yeah women where treated like crap back then

[@melaniexoxo]

This is my favorite phone show.

[@oprahwinfrey878]

Man we need this! I really like the "hands free" idea! They should bring this back -- AT&T, are you listening?!

[@HobbyOrganist]

I want the LOUD speaker outside so all the neighbors can hear my calls!!!!

[@AMacProOwner]

Haha. FaceTime tried that a bit. Listening at the recipient without answering, wasn't that popular. :)

[@marcfield6166]

Wow. This thing is amazing. It even helps Davey butter his toast.

[@HobbyOrganist]

But does it slice bread too???

[@Perktube1]

That was some burnt toast too.

[@user-ut2wx7jy6v]

*slaps roof of phone* this baby can butter so much bread

[@rah62]

Ed? Ed? Ed? ED? ED? ED!!! (I bet he rued the day that infernal interphone system got installed.)

[@andyblackpool]

What year did they invent extension phones with intercommunication? All seems very complicated to me, they'd never hear the speaker over the sound of the tractor anyway. Crazy system

[@unbiased1]

Ingenious use of the means they had back then.

[@allentoyokawa9068]

My Dad had a bell ringer style type

[@NorthernPhonePhan]

by gosh! sounds like the bull broke that latch again! LMAO cracks me up everytime, and the look on his wifes face

[@clemsonbloke]

Yep, that old bull was over there in the cow lot getting him some, LOL!

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

I'm sure there were some innovative farmers returning from WW2 that bought surplus reels of wire and field communications intercoms between house and garage. But noooo, Ma Bell had to intervene so they could charge more for their hardware. ;)

[@misterwhipple2870]

Just do it, string the system up and don't say sh*t to Ma Bell.

[@the_tux]

5:00 Just like myself between my desk and the coffee machine.

[@Arabhacks]

This is a "Modern" farm, things improved. The telephone and electricity started in the 30's with the REA. Farm radios were also introduced in this era. Some farms were a bit old fashioned, true, but the American farmer has become one of the most productive workers on the planet in part due the steady improvements upholding this wonderful America.

[@Tomajdafrytrix]

Wow this is so cool

[@jameswoods7276]

Now imagine what they would have thought of a cordless phone.

[@scottr3484]

Or better yet a cell phone. They had them in the 60"s

[@kerryincolumbus]

I sure has hell can't hear the phone ringing when I'm vacuuming (2:19)! either that's one mighty quiet vacuum cleaner or they have a super-duper loud bell on that phone!

[@jrmcferren]

The telephone ringers from that time were very efficient and very loud, when set to full volume you can easily hear them over a vacuum cleaner and this is from someone who can barely hear anything over a vacuum cleaner.

[@hankaustin7091]

I'm with you kerryincolumbus! I even have an old-fashioned rotary telephone that I keep hooked up through the local phone service, with the ringer on high and I'll be damned if I can hear the damn thing when the vacuum cleaner is going!

[@deltaboy767]

Oh Kerri darling growing up in this era on a farm, I can remember my mother would be running the vacuum phone would ring and she could hear it, and we only had 2 phones in the house, and we also had this system on our farm, brings back so many good memories.

[@jellyjordy1154]

The vacuum (a Hoover constellation) is very quiet and phones back then were super loud

[@HobbyOrganist]

Those were REAL metal bells back then not some crappy digital fake recording played over a pencil eraser sized chinese speaker!

[@dragonheadthing]

Pretty neat system they worked up.

[@marcfield1234]

Holy shit, this thing is fantastic. It even helps Davey butter his toast.

[@rickwallace1243]

So....with this new system pots don't boil over and peanut butter sandwiches never hit the floor?

[@MarkMphonoman]

Yeah, I think you are right. No more messy kitchens if you get this phone system. LOL 😂

[@seanjuth]

Sometimes when I go to local farms, I see pa speakers in the yards. When I ask the owner what it is they say it has something to do with the telephone system.

[@anotherhumanbeingblyat8935]

Yes. 1950/60s intercom systems

[@Janotes]

Yes many modern telephone systems are able to page through Public address speakers. You pick up The receiver dial a code or pre programmed button and make the announcement. These features were Prevalent in Key Telephone Systems Installed on site.

[@luisreyes1963]

Wonder if such a system is still used in parts of rural America. Not all farms may have access to 5G signals for smartphone communications.

[@HobbyOrganist]

Might have pagers

[@MaximRecoil]

They can use 2-way radios the same as police, firefighters, warehouse workers, etc. use.

[@the_tux]

You don’t need 5g for phone calls

[@tinasmith1391]

I was born and raised on a small family farm. There aren't many left today and it breaks my heart. Record high meat prices as the 4 meat processing monopolies force thousands more out of business.

[@rohnkd4hct260]

wonder what it costed?

[@1960sRICH]

I remember that Bell telephone logo

[@markarca6360]

They have been a great monopoly (colloquially called "Ma Bell"), but have been broken into smaller companies (colloquially called "Baby Bells") by the U.S. Govenment (through the Sherman Antitrust Act).

[@apl175]

This was the origin of the button labeled "HFAI" on AT&T Merlin systems.

[@JohnMichaelson]

Whoa, whoa, hold your horses! Slow down, now. It's going to take time to get our heads around this new-fangled "hands-free" futuristic ray gun/flying car sort of talk. It still takes ol' Frank down the lane two or three tries to get that dial working.

[@SDSpike]

Devious Davey from the Far Side cracks me up at 10:14

[@FlorenceSlugcat]

“Oh yes mr Jonson” seems like we found glados

[@Oncampus2k]

Florence Vallée Make life give you a refund on those lemons! Turn those lemons into bombs! Make them rue the day they ever gave Cave Johnson LEMONS!!!!

[@MendotaTech]

10:45 to 10:55 - The same actors as "The further adventures of Jim Cannon" - A Bell System Training Film

[@68wrko]

Imagine how the cows felt if it was the Vet calling...………….

[@junkdeal]

1:31 Junior and the Darwin Awards!!!

[@ronniedelahoussayechauvin6717]

I never saw a system like that.

[@luisreyes1963]

You must have never been to an actual farm. 🐄

[@lizzapaolia959]

Awesome video. Wish the USA was like that now. Far better times, morally sound people in the USA. Thank you for sharing 🙏

[@Kitsaper]

The vet is too busy to come over this morning when talking to the housewife so Ed talks to him and doesn’t say anything different and suddenly the vet is available. (10:41)

[@HobbyOrganist]

funny how that works!!! That calf didn't look sick though, he almost had to be held in place by Ed when he started to get up!

[@Perktube1]

The vet just had to hear it from a man.

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

LOL

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

Better let the Man O the house handle things! Dammit!

[@robsemail]

There were other solutions to these problems that were available, and I’m not sure this service from Ma Bell would have been the smartest way to go. I was a very little boy at this time. I remember my great aunt lived on what had been her farm; most of acreage had been sold before I was born but much of the farm infrastructure was still there. One of the features was a huge church-style bell outside the main house, which of course was rung to call the workers to lunch and dinner. My grandmother said the farm had a phone by the time the depression hit, and after WWII a public-school-style intercom system was installed, which provided similar features to this AT&T service but without requiring special phones nor an extra charge on the phone bill. The intercom was entirely separate, as it would have been in a public school. Me and my siblings and cousins would play with it when we went out to the old farm.

[@1964catt]

Well golly gee what a wonderful system 😂

[@rayfridley6649]

The Bell Operating companies didn't serve all farms. Many were served by non-Bell companies, known as independents. Equivalents of this system may not be available through these companies. Bell loves to advertise as if they are the complete monopoly in phone service- but they're not!

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

Surprised she didn't sit down at a desk start hammering out Morse Code. Then, single-channel 27Mhz CB walkie talkies came along.

[@matt9c1]

From sun up to sun down all day long all that Ed hard was "ED? ED ?" over that fucking loud speaker. Didn't Bell even think maybe Ed was a farmer to get away from that battle ax wife of his for some sanity ? And now Bell comes along and makes his life hell lol :)

[@markarca6360]

Now we can replicate this setup exactly using IP telephony.

[@luisreyes1963]

Rather intriguing. 🤔

[@joeyvanostrand3655]

0:54 - He got his little ass beat off camera for that. Mommy got the bottle out of the clothes hamper and then the beatings *REALLY* kicked in for the day.

[@oliverharris7366]

My grandfather said it was no fun living on a farm. His family were German immigrants but they had money. He inherited several gas stations and three apartment buildings and a grocery store. But he out lived every single one of his wives. He wouldn't own a farm he had a very strong hatred for them because he had negative memories of the hard work as a child he went through. He was was a hard working business man but wouldn't have a farm you give it to him.

[@misterwhipple2870]

My grandfather owned an 1,100-acre wheat farm in North Dakota. He was a grumpy old German b*st*rd and went through two wives, but he lived to be 96. The farm is still there; somebody else owns it.

[@anithamaheshwara2766]

🎇

[@carltonmasteur1]

Only $8.99 per speaker, plus inside wire charge and phone upgrade...around $250 per month in 2013 dollars. Still....Western Electric was the apex of American research and development.

[@jrmcferren]

These systems probably paid for themselves easily once a week if not daily in time and money saved.

[@kcgunesq]

@@jrmcferren For most farmers, probably not. For larger, successful farms, no doubt.

[@Perktube1]

Phone loudspeaker rings… Okrrrrrrrrrr!

[@Locutus]

They should have used mobile phones, it would have been far easier and simpler...

[@FanOfVintageStuff]

😂

[@roachtoasties]

The Farm Interphone System. What will they think of next? Where can I get mine? I need 'um that spankin new system on my farm. My wife is 'err getting um tired of walking back and forth to 'er 'um barn for me to get the phone when I'm milkin' them er cows. How come Oliver down on the Green Acres farm never got the system? He was always climbin' up that um telephone pole every time the phone rang.

[@brianarbenz1329]

The phone system was a great addition to farms -- but the problem is, who can afford a family farm anymore? :(

[@PeopleAlreadyDidThis]

You may remember that Oliver was served by an independent phone company, the Hooterville phone company, not a Bell operating company, who ran out of wire at the top of the pole. Not only did Hooterville not have the farm interphone available, they didn't have the resources to provide another 30 feet of wire.

[@Richardpasquinucci]

mmmm i wonder what they use these days

[@wettex60]

She was not cut-out to be a housewife, or a farmer's wife! My farmer family didn't have a dial phone, running water, or electric stove in 1960 - she needs to count her blessings!

[@wettex4816]

Why don't these people get cell phones???

[@jkvelasquez84]

It’s joke people

[@FanOfVintageStuff]

😂

[@c0t0d0s7]

That farmer called his wife a sow. #SexistPig #MeToo

[@newmoon54]

a MERE PITENCE of technology ........... compared to US HUMAN BEINGS~!~ We have beyond question, the fastest, smoothest, unlimited memory ~hard drive~ of all .............NEVER to be equalled!!! Did you ever wonder how we were designed?!?! And we're only flesh and blood~!~ There's one solid way of knowing GOD exists, and Albert Einstein, among many others, myself included,, said it when asked if he believed in GOD, a Creator!!! When asked by someone inquiring into his belief systems, (the question being very simple in itself, but the answer usually requiring much detail!) ,,, he simply replied: " ........... Of course I do (Believe!),, (because) I see Him ............ in the DETAILS"~!~ If you're not sure of how what he said proves that a Greater intelligence exists ..... I'll elaborate. Einstein, and virtually every scientist/physicist who ever lived understood, that ~engineering~ requires ~INTELLIGENCE~ , and intelligence only exists in INTELLECT, which can ONLY exist inside of A LIVING INTELLECTUAL BEING! Einstein rightly concluded, by experiencing the millions of living creatures, such as the humming bird, that has drone/helicoptor/plane abilities! That this ONE CREATURE possesses in itself ~ hundreds, and hundreds of absolute engineering features ~,, Einstein, like many people, asked , ""If matter can first, come into existence (Look up Maxwell Planck. true father of quantum physics, said, "matter can NOT come into existence randomly!! He won the Nobel prize in physics in 1918!!!), what forces are coercing, creating the living things on earth""?!?! And so again,, he was asking what laws of physics use engineering & functionality/purpose to bring into existence the hummingbird, the monarch butterfly, the blue whale, the elephant, the redwood tree(s), the cherry???? So,, here you have it!!! Maxwell Planck rightly said that matter can NOT be created, nor destroyed"!!! Einstein agreed with Maxwell Planck ....... and so he naturally came to his conclusion and said, and I paraphrase here,, ~ I SEE GOD in those details of existence which displays OBVIOUS pre-engineering and intention/intellect ~ !!!!!

[@garymckee8857]

Damn woman keeps blabbing over that speaker I can't get nothing done.

[@scottr3484]

Way to much trouble.