AT&T Archives: Good-Bye, Central

A film about the last few offices in the United States that, in the 1970s, had yet to convert to the dial system:
Catalina Island, California
Catalina Island has been an important little corner of the AT&T world. In fact, the link between Catalina and Los Angeles was the very first in the Bell System to be wireless. The island was linked to the mainland via a radiotelephony system all the way back in 1920. For having such a significant telephone technology first, it's ironic that this film chronicles the city's telephone technology "last".
Virginia City, Nevada
In the film, an operator - in fact, the only operator - who had been working in Virginia City since 1949 is interviewed about the prospective cutover (a cutover is a switch from one type of telephony system to another). She talks about the fact that they will have automation, and more than one operator. Virginia City hasn't grown much since then, however. The city proper still has a population of only around 850 people (2010 census).
St. Ignace, Michigan
As this city still used 1940s switchboards, the incipient electronic switching system was to completely change telephone operation in this sleepy summer tourist town. But towns with no dial service also had customers who couldn't get then-modern features like call waiting on their phones.
Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJFor more from the AT&T Archives, visit techchannel.att...

[@markkinsler4333]

I taught an electronic communications class in which the students learned the manual telephone system (with hand--cranked ringers) before anything else. That's because everything in modern telephone systems, including the jargon, derives from these original manually-operated networks. My town--Lancaster, Ohio--didn't get dial service until 1956.

[@atomsmash100]

AT&T must have had a very robust communications department. These old videos are a wonderful, first-hand timeline of the evolution of the company. What an amazing time machine.

[@neaxpete]

My Dad worked on designing the #3ESS that replaced the cord board on Catalina. They sent it there by barge!

[@DrLumpy]

My wife was a "cord board" operator in Denver in the 70s. She's carried one of those plastic marking rings on her keychain all her life as a momento. Lots of places in Colorado still had local operators as well as 4 or 5 digit dialing (didn't need the prefix) up into at least the late 90s. I don't know if they still do. It was like magic back then. The phone rang and you dropped whatever you were doing because you knew it was someone you wanted to hear from. No such thing as phone scammers or robo-dialer marketers. Phones weighed 10 lbs and had huge, machined brass bells inside. Not exactly like today where people in line in front of you at the bank can talk hands free to Japan or Antarctica, all from their pocket device. Thanks - Lumpy

[@hondah35]

5-digit dialing in the late '90's? 5-digit dialing was pretty much extinct nationwide by 1980 and 1+10 dialing was required by 1994 so not sure what phone system you guys had....

[@DrLumpy]

@@hondah35 Mountain Bell.

[@bsadewitz]

@@hondah35 I personally knew of some SxS exchanges in North America until around the late 90s. Miami, TX had one, I remember. There were some in northern Michigan, IIRC. Calling into one from the modern network was a peculiar experience. You'd dial the number, then, out of nowhere, you'd hear a zillion clicks as it routed the call, a THUNK, and then the old "BRRRRRR" with line noise etc.

[@kreuner11]

​@@bsadewitz those electro-mechanical systems were some beautiful works of engineering, any piece of logic now implemented by computer code could also be implemented by some spinning and endlessly clicking contraption. I found connections museum to be a nice channel about all that stuff

[@mharris5047]

@@hondah35 It might have been a General Telephone area. GTE had five digit dialing up into the early 2000's in some areas.

[@kerimil]

yup I agree totally... some dude out there thought it would be great to post this here and I am thankful

[@LMacNeill]

Fascinating -- I had no idea there were still "dialless" systems in place as late as 1978!

[@lohphat]

In California, Catalina island finally got dial phones in 1982 and the last town to be converted was Karman, CA in 1991. The last hand-cranked switchboard system was retired in Bryant Park, Maine in 1983.

[@James_Knott]

Back in 1975, I arrived in a small town in the middle of nowhere in Northern Ontario, where they had just upgraded from 2 digit to 4 digit dialing!

[@gnarlyvic]

This is what KZbin should be. Thanks AT&T for uploading these!

[@luisreyes1963]

Try telling that to PewDiePie. 🤣

[@NewAgeServerAlarm]

For those wondering, the last place in the USA to use manual magneto telephones and a switchboard was Bryant Pond, Maine. The system was removed in the early 80s, around 1983 and replaced with an automatic exchange.

[@lohphat]

Official NewAgeServerAlarm Yes but that was the last hand cranked magneto system. California still had a manual exchange in 1991 which used central office batteries. www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-08-mn-130-story.html

[@bsadewitz]

1983?! What?!?

[@saltyassassin]

I didn’t know all the history, or what I was getting myself into when I hired onto Southwestern Bell Telephone Co as an Outside Installer/Repairmen... 23 years later, I still work for (what is now) AT&T as a Maintenance Cable Splicer. I do miss the old days. There’s no personal touch anymore

[@jblyon2]

Nope, and if you try to go the extra mile for a customer you're likely to get reamed out by your supervisor for wasting time.

[@misterwhipple2870]

@@jblyon2 I worked the night shift at AT&T in Maitland, Florida, and wasted time on the customers all the time. The supervisor was asleep in her cubicle. I video-taped her one night doing it.

[@danielweir5867]

Being 62 years old, I -- barely! -- remember "Number please!" I also remember when phone numbers started with two letters, as in "PLaza 4-2100." I also remember the sitcoms from the 60s (Andy Griffith, Green Acres, etc.), where the operator was always named Sarah.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

Those were the good-old days when there was plenty of jobs for the American people. I am 67 years-old.

[@Brian791979]

At&t, thank you for posting these very interesting videos.

[@jamminwrenches860]

At the time this was an awe inspiring place. Just imagine the millions of connections a second we have today compare to the ways of the past.

[@brainfreeze44131]

"Sarah this is Andy. Will you call over to Floyd"s barbershop."

[@slave2live]

Agreed with many . Thanks AT&T for uploading it... I used to man one in the 1970's

[@Thunderchicken1997]

I miss the old days. I was a 36K MOS in the Army, utilizing the SB-22 and SB-86 switchboards. It was a really fun job. They never failed to perform flawlessly. They were EMP proof, so even a nuke couldn't take them out. Cellular technology will fall on it's face in an emergency. Keep your land line, folks. There may be a day when you will be glad you did.

[@chaoscleaner1288]

Good luck keeping your land line, they are (ATT) already planning phasing them out. Google it.

[@foolkillerphil121]

Chaoscleaner+ From my cold head manually dialing fingers!

[@RonJohn63]

+Foolkiller Phil Hah. You haven't *dialed* a phone in *at* *least* 30 years.

[@erra404]

Even my land line is fiber optic.

[@DrLumpy]

Not too many people I'd need to call if a nuke hit. But I'm sure I'd still get robo-call telemarketers. Thanks - Lumpy

[@James_Knott]

When I was a very young kid, back in the mid 50s, we didn't have a dial phone. When you picked up the receiver, the operator answered. A bit after that, one of my aunts was a switchboard operator, complete with plug board, in a hospital.

[@MobCat_]

This. This is the peak of KZbin.

[@basimp15]

my grandmother was a directory operator for bell and told me about the books she had to look the number up in...no computers...and her lookup time was recorded

[@DrLumpy]

Likewise my wife. She'd get calls on xmas day wanting to know the number for JC Penny's. She'd give them the number from memory then say "But they're not open today". Thanks - Lumpy

[@robertcuminale1212]

AWT Average Work Time. Everything was recorded, every motion even the time to say a phrase which why we had to say what was scripted. It's also why we changed the name of "Information" to "Directory Assistance". People would call wanting information on how long to cook a turkey to what was playing at the movie house.

[@SteviePaints]

Brian Simpson I did that, too, for a year after high school in 1966. It was in Burbank, CA,and we handled calls from los Angeles. We sat in cubes with directories from all over Los Angeles County.

[@booth2710]

when I worked for British Rail Train information in the ealry 90s we used to have to look up all the train times from books ... on every position there were a4 size folders from one end to the other with all the national rail time tables in them ! I worked with a lot of ex British Telecom operators who also remember looking up phone numbers from books and in later years from a micro foil machine !

[@timothykearns2232]

Priceless video from priceless times......thank you!

[@avgfree21]

now i understand why the term central office is still used instead of exchange

[@mbclev]

I wonder what international places (outside of the North American system) still have manual phone exchanges, if any.

[@johneygd]

Back in those switch board day's ,handling everything manualy was everything except being fun.

[@Paul-gz5dp]

At least the switchboard is not as bad as party lines. Those were bad because people would listen in on the calls of other people. Also it is not possible to use a dial-up Modem on a party line, as anyone could interrupt it that in addition to it was prohibited.

[@b3j8]

We had a party line back in the 1960's. You often knew others on that same line as they were neighbors. THAT lead to problems. My sister eavesdropping on a lady on the next block found out she was getting a divorce. Before the husband knew about it!

[@jblyon2]

Apparently a great uncle of mine pitched a fit when they took away his party line. That happened when the last neighbor on it got a dedicated line. He made the argument that even though it was now effectively a private line, as all other parties had removed themselves from it, HE didn't decide to make it a private line, so therefore he should still get the cheaper party line rate! He was not successful.

[@TechHowden]

@@jblyon2 lol

[@skeets6060]

I miss working in the main office the LD operators were all kinds of fun back inthe early 70s

[@QuaaludeCharlie]

I miss the Operators at Central , We had Party Lines until the late 1970's :( QC

[@captainkeyboard1007]

I am sorry that their employment was replaced by the automatic switching systems. I am still using my landline telephone.

[@royamberg9177]

the party line won't forget the sister called one neighbor and other neighbor code number it was an interesting conversation why did you call I didn't you called me this went back n forth for over an hour

[@paulwarner5395]

I remember back in the 1960s and 70s working as a maintenance tech on large manual Western Electric toll boards. The last thing you wanted to do is have to try and fix a faults in the jack multiples in the back of the boards. . Move the wires and if you were unlucky several more broke off. All the wiring was fabric cover and enamel coated which made for hard soldering. Thanx for the memories.

[@eyreland]

Pitcairn (South Pacific Ocean) still has a manual telephone system. Other than that, central offices like this film shows here are gone.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

Even Sam Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (d. 1910), used "Hello-Central" in "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" (1889).

[@orgami100]

Yes .. Myself and another G.I. where the manual central night telephone operators at Fort Hood Texas after the regular daytime operator ladies would leave in 1968.. As technician we knew how to repair them but we didn't know how to work them as the ladies operators.. many funny things happened at night so nobody knew about it..

[@davidthaler7018]

OK, so the operator in Virginia City looms like she could be Dame Edna's American half-sister.

[@davidthaler7018]

*looks

[@bennetfox]

Hello operator? I would like to connect to the internet please.

[@ShaiLysk]

This is mad! People had to intercept electronics only to reconnect electronics? So bizarre that people did this!

[@nathanventura548]

I had to Google Catalina island. It's now on my list of places to go.

[@hansvonluck7456]

Nathan Ventura I’d hurry and go before it becomes Mexico like the rest of Cali.

[@jblyon2]

I highly recommend the Catalina Wine Mixer

[@James_Knott]

Search on KZbin for the song "26 Miles". 🙂

[@Kylefassbinderful]

love the maple leaf rag intro

[@lukpac]

The video seems to indicate Catalina Island didn't have plans to be converted to dial service, but other links seem to indicate that such a switchover did in fact happen in 1978. What is the whole story?

[@8avexp]

Our central office in South Bend was in fact Central. Our phone number started with CEntral 4.

[@Michael_Livingstone]

They still use this setup in Saskatchewan.

[@Eliusalmo1]

Wow very interesting!

[@dogmoo]

....Catalina Island you say. Do you know by chance what else happens on the beautiful Catalina Island?

[@MikeStavola]

it's funny how virginia city is still a ghost town...

[@smittykins]

So what happened when Marcella was off duty?(A girl's gotta eat and sleep, after all...)

[@heatherwood2664]

I heard a story that the operator in Black Lake NY was never more than 25 feet from the switchboard for 22 years, except with a hiatus to go in hospital and have a baby!

[@jpace4revolution]

So how can you call someone in Hawaii from the mainland? Are there towers or phone lines across the ocean?

[@BitHacker666]

In the modern day there is a global system of undersea fiber optic cables carrying phone and Internet traffic around the world.

[@jpace4revolution]

Cool

[@billybassman21]

It's called the Transatlantic communications/phone cable. The first communication cables were ran across the ocean in the late 1800s and were used for Morse code. In the 1950s analog cables were ran and allowed voice calls. They were later updated to fiber optic in the 80s. Satellites are also used for long distance. There was an episode of the 1960s American TV show Gilligan's Island where they found some cables in the ocean and tapped in into them to try and tell people they were stranded on the island. They were in the Pacific on that show so I'm not sure there wear ever any cables in those waters.

[@James_Knott]

@@billybassman21 Ummm... You wouldn't be using a transatlantic cable if you were calling Hawaii. 🙂

[@rogerscottcathey]

Now on a call to a phone company getting a human being on the phone takes a kind of magic know how. If you dont get exasperated first. And try finding an American on the other end.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

St Ignace! niiice, go UP!!!

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

I bet those operators went home frazzled. lol

[@rybaluc]

I am not from the USA. But when it comes to discussion to cord board exchanges, my phone serviceman friend alway say: Yep. Alabama style phone systems;) Do i have to smile?

[@MendotaTech]

Does anyone know the band or group that made this rendition of "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin?

[@ryan918lauren]

What was the thing that was sliding over the operator’s head on a track?

[@dalecomer5951]

Billing info.

[@Wa3ypx]

Can you dial a long distance call today without calling the operator first or do I still dial zero and give her the number?

[@crapper1]

Wa3ypx I don't even think there is an operator anymore

[@dnb5661]

You do not have to dial the operator, however you sometimes still have to dial one for long-distance numbers (I don’t have to dial one on my cell phone for long distance. The service provider is TELUS)

[@DrLumpy]

You still have to "Dial one". Your phone is just inserting the 1 for you. Thanks - Lumpy

[@jblyon2]

@@DrLumpy Correct. Cell phones do this automatically since all calls are billed the same (unless out of country where you have to dial extra codes). Land lines are billed differently, so even with 10 digit dialing for local numbers you still have to dial 1 for long distance. I don't know if there is a technical requirement behind this, or if it's a way to keep people from claiming they didn't know the call was long distance trying to dispute charges (my lack of faith in humanity assumes the latter)

[@James_Knott]

I know yours is an old comment, but you generally don't need an operator to call most (all?) of the world. If dialing a foreign country, you dial the country code and then the local area code and phone number. On my cell phone, all of Canada is a local call for me so I don't dial 1 first. I believe there are still operators, but it's been many years since I talked to one. You certainly don't need them for most calls.

[@rybaluc]

Wow. How it is connected to phone system? I am in doubt that it is possible via normal analog trunks. Or am i wrong? Could be neat to visit telco stone age.

[@TechHowden]

I know this is an ancient comment that you'll likely not see. On Catalina Island California there were no direct cables going to the island and they had to use a very limited capacity satellite trunk system. The other places they did still use regular analog cable trunks but they were terminated at a jack on the switchboard instead of an automatic switch.

[@CentralParkish]

We will say "Hello, Central" in 2030. AI will manage our calls.

[@juliam.mallen9019]

Back to the future old school kiddos it's coming 👌🇺🇸⚖️🦅

[@souta95]

I wonder if St. Ignace is still using the system that was installed in 1978...

[@TechHowden]

Probably not

[@walterkersting6238]

How quaint.

[@arturomarin9039]

What year was this

[@elisetless7256]

1978 it’s literally in the description

[@macdaniel6029]

Interesting. 1970s USA was like 1930s in Europe.

[@josef5319]

Vintage bush

[@DandyDon1]

What model Teletype is that?

[@billmullen9328]

A TTY 28 or 30, I believe.

[@timothykearns2232]

Looks like a type 44, but I'm no expert....

[@James_Knott]

It's a model 35. It has an ASCII keyboard. Back in 1972, I was a bench technician and spent my days overhauling models 28, 32, 33 and 35 Teletypes.

[@James_Knott]

@@billmullen9328 It's a model 35.

[@James_Knott]

@@timothykearns2232 I was an expert. Back in the 70s & 80s, I was a tech for a telecom company and started with them, in 1972, as a bench technician, overhauling model 28, 32, 33 & 35 Teletypes. I never heard of a model 44, but there was a model 40, which was completely different from the one in the video.

[@jimmydean1090]

Satellites mate

[@mojeimja]

Zoomer's nightmare - communicating with a voice call :)

[@jimcatanzaro7808]

Goodbye jobs

[@8800081]

Nice AT&T, I'm sure your telephones sound great, I can't even understand what that broad said at the beginning of the video??? Sir, you don't need to dial........???

[@prsguitars42]

Goodbye jobs!!!

[@SteviePaints]

steve jones And new, different jobs are made.

[@Maxid1]

Oldtype...

[@jimmydean1090]

Today's time

Yeah.. thanks AT&T for having shitty ass cell phone service too!

[@KLUNKET]

Goodbye Central... and goodbye thousands of jobs.. isnt tech wonderful!

[@RonJohn63]

+KLUNKET In the 1930s with 18M phones, ATT employed 200,000 switchboard operators. There are 2.6x as many people now as 85 years ago. And how many more land lines, cell phones and fax lines? You'd need more than two million women to work as operators, service would be slow, and *really* expensive.

[@CODMarioWarfare]

Damn those pesky automobiles for putting all the horses, trolley drivers, and rickshawmen out of work!

[@Zoomer30]

CODMarioWarfare Yeah, and I miss the smell of horseshit EVERYwhere.

[@captaincanada1525]

people like you are the problem, not technology. progress with the rest of us or be left in the dark

[@nathanventura548]

Luddite.

[@fn0rd-f5o]

[@fn0rd-f5o]

🧲🪄☎📞📺🔭

[@ronniedelahoussayechauvin6717]

Corruption