"Long Distance" A short documentary on how long distance calls work - Circa 1941

An historic short film on Long Distance dialing circa 1941.
Produced by Audio Productions and AT&T.
Licensed under Creative Commons.

[@proehm]

My aunt (who died a couple of years ago at the age of 95) was an operator for long lines for over 40 years. Her articulation was excellent.

[@MrWolfTickets]

That's awesome. It says you made this comment 9 months ago. She would have said 'Nie-uhn' :-). She retired before divestiture, right?

[@DVincentW]

@@MrWolfTickets lol Nie-uhn!! lololol slaps knee*

[@DVincentW]

@@MrWolfTickets here kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIechKKhaqiKf5Y

[@yodservant]

My aunt also worked for Bell South in NC for about 35 years....she really enjoyed her work

[@kjisnot]

I worked for a bell company for 20 years. Survived divestiture. I had a love hate thing with the company. Middle managers were the worst but many C level managers I met were very nice people. I think the training and experience I got through them pretty much saved my life by giving me skills I otherwise didn't have much of a chance at. It had a strange culture though. The Dilbert comics are written by an ex-Bell guy and that's where he got his weird inspiration.

[@Anymouse2]

Ahh, interesting.

[@decibellone696]

me too next year will be 42 years... cant wait to get out.

[@Mateus.Matthew]

​@@decibellone696: maybe your experience was truly hard (like many others of that era), but I can't help feel sorry for the youngest 2 generations. They might not even get that chance at all, to learn about the business well and how to get skills properly by trial & error over time. Nowadays all the new-age short courses sound like rubbish. No wonder pilots don't fly as well, or nurses may be overwhelmed with trying to do work meant for 2-3 people. Senior & middle managers in all big companies, for decades, have brought us to this sad state. The shareholders and their greedflation, destroying the 250yr of labor laws & ethics... I try to be optimistic about these topics, but just feel frustrated...

[@lovly2cu725]

DILBERT IS BY SCOTT ADAMS. HE WORKED IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. I WORKED IN TUSTIN CA. I CAME AFTER DIVESTITURE AND WE HAD BELL HEADS AS MANAGEMENT.

[@careyjohn0144]

Informative films from before, say, 1960, are the absolute best. For instance, the video from the 30s/40s of how rear differentials in cars work is absolutely beautiful in its concise, demonstrative goodness.

[@Hithere-ek4qt]

When thinking was admired and pursued by most everyone. Today that has been replaced with crude , sarcastic comments like little Johnny here. - So sad

[@tookitogo]

Totally agree. As someone who loves knowledge, I find it extremely frustrating how, in USA, knowledge and education has gone from something that was once respected to something many people consider a liability, and actively disparage. :(

[@zapazap]

Yes, but this film was not very informative.

[@gosnooky]

I swear, the same guy narrates every informational video made between 1940 and 1965

[@racheln8563]

And eveery cartoon that required an announcer/narrator in the same period. I'd swear it was Robert C. Bruce, who did narration for a lot of cartoons in the forties and fifties.

[@markgreen2170]

Maybe he does... Every hit song you've ever heard from the 60s and 70s has the same voices: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZXCkq2ZhbOjd6M

[@pete5668]

@@racheln8563 Later on, Mel Blanc was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Sylvester and Tweety, and many others as well. And even later than that, Casey Kasem, the top 40 guy, was the voice of everyone's favorite cartoon hippie, Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

[@charlesburns3946]

Yeah , one guy did most of them. Jack Somebody?

[@tommunyon2874]

One had to have what was known in the profession as a "ballsy" voice to get a gig as a professional announcer. On the other hand pitchmen were the ones with the more piercing delivery like those doing today's infomercials.

[@jbw53191]

I was a telephone operator in 1981. As a male telephone operator, I was a trailblazer!

[@dirtydave2691]

My Dad worked for Pacific Telephone for 30 years. Besides being part of the implementation of underground telecommunication lines he also told us back in the 80's that it wouldn't be long before phone lines would disappear completely. He was very proud of his work.

[@nurango]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Janotes]

Seems to be coming true.

[@calbob750]

Fiber optic cable has replaced copper in many places. Even though phones may connect to the network through cell towers the towers are connected to a central office by cable. Those central offices are still connected to each other by cable. Copper or fiber optic cable.

[@snoglydox]

@@Janotes : Only last mile.

[@davidviolin8274]

My dad also worked for Pacific Telephone and after divestiture he went to AT&T. He was always proud of the work he did helping to keep the country connected.

[@forbesmag1271]

The film needs more shots of telephone poles.

[@BryanTorok]

I was about quit the video when they finally go to the last shot in the series. I'm still waiting for any real content on "HOW" the long distance calls worked.

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

Did you notice one of the poles was missing a 373 crossplane knotnote, had to laugh.... they forgot to adapt the upriser to the notchover lifter before cabling the insulator on the buzz cocks. More shots of poles please and less content.

[@DVincentW]

@@pqrstzxerty1296 IS THERE A FRAMASTAM TORNADO PALLET?

[@765kvline]

Type "Song of the Open Wire" into Google to see more shots of telephone poles.

[@marmaly]

@@pqrstzxerty1296 great reply

[@orion5992]

These videos should be shown in schools! It's important to know where our telecommunication history came from.

[@Janotes]

Most kids under 20 probably dont Know how to use a rotary dial phone.

[@tomking1890]

Oh my goodness they might learn something. That would be unique.

[@moirbasso7051]

My mom was a supervisor for Ma Bell. I still to this day say phone numbers the old way when there is a question due to dialect. Nie-uhn, nie-uhn, fa-eev, fa-eev, etc. I also remember when any long distance call over 3 minutes, was the end of the world, it cost so much! Today, I texted my son in Ireland on my 'smart phone,' and immediately he responded, almost right away. What a miracle....

[@765kvline]

Good aerial cable and open wire photos. The photos of open wire arms with cables slung below on the pole, taken in the Pennsylvania Allegheny Mountains (the Central Transcontinental) and the photos showing the same lead climbing the Sierra Nevada Mountains (with the two lakes in the distance) are very famous still photo sites. They adorned articles on transcontinental leads in some technical journals. Good video. Nice to see my switchboard and Western Electric 5A chair in the operators' center answering calls.

[@crapphone7744]

Love the shot at the end of the outside plant guy with snowshoes. Still happens today, I worked at a local exchange carrier for 13 years and can vouch for that. Snowcats chainsaws and snow shovels are still tools used by modern telephone companies.

[@Felamine]

In the 1940s long distance calling was still only available to businesses and government agencies, and wasn't available to consumers until 1950 or so. In the 50's a typical daytime long distance call cost about $3.70 for the first three minutes, which is about $39.80 in today's dollars.

[@MrHmg55]

In the '60s, even after direct long-distance calling was reality for consumers, you could find out how much a long-distance call would cost before you placed the call by calling the operator, who would connect to another person who would say "rates and routes" and give the operator details on the toll as the person who would be making the call listened in.

[@wecontrolthevideo]

I remember as recently as the 1960’s seeing those multi-wire telephone line poles, extending for miles and miles along the older highways, before the sections of the interstate were competed. When you got to choose your own long distance carrier, back in the 1980’s, I went with US Telecom which was building the first coast to coast fiber long distance network. Before the switchover it might take 5-10 seconds for a long distance call to go through, hearing it connect to various trunks and microwave circuits. When the changeover happened overnight it sounded like it does today.

[@dudester1016]

I've seen a few telephone poles like that alongside train tracks as recently as 2010. They were in no working order of course but still had the glass insulators attached to them. I had no idea at the time what they were ever for but its interesting that the structures still stand.

[@johnjaco5544]

It's called open wire

[@thecaliforniawar5635]

I remember when you could dial "O" and get an operator who would not only find a telephone number for you, but then connect you.

[@DZrache]

5 seems like a random choice of number. 0 would be more intuitive

[@ChrisPinCornwall]

Utterly charming - and informative. Thank you.

[@James_Knott]

There's a "Dragnet" KZbin about long distance calling in the late '40s, when Sgt. Joe Friday makes a long distance call.

[@joestrike8537]

"a watchful feminine presence at a switchboard..." - probably why siri & Alexa (& just about every computer voice on the original Star Trek series) was female - reassuring, comforting - as opposed to a male voice that might feel like it was ordering you around.

[@flozano8]

I change the voice to an Australian male whenever I can. I like it much better.

[@jerrykitich3318]

It's been shown that people (ie men) pay more attention to a woman's voice. Such as in emergency services dispatch - police, ambulance, fire etc.

[@SquareNoggin]

Yeah on first impression women are generally more pleasant and likable than men haha. I suspect that was especially true back in the mid 20th century. When things are in chaos, and everything's uncertain and danger could be around the corner - a masculine presence is good. When times are good, and you want to be relaxed and content, and enjoy the little things - feminine presence is best.

[@calbob750]

The rotary dial telephone came around in the 1920s when electromechanical equipment was developed and installed to make connections. That vintage switching technology was used in many cities until replaced by Electronic Switching in the early 70s. Look up terms like “Step by Step” and “Panel” to see what made connections between phones before the digital technology of today.

[@ronaldsutton2726]

Making a Long Distance Call was a Big Deal!

[@diamonddave45]

Indeed. Took quite a bit of effort.

[@765kvline]

I can recall this. It was a process which did take a little time. Thought it was fun to get to talk to an operator and ask to process the call.

[@tommunyon2874]

Whenever we had a new arrival in our family my father spent what seemed like hours getting out the word to both sides of the family via long distance. He had the address book out and had to verbally recite the phone numbers to the operator for each call. A station to station call was less costly than a person to person call, so the operator needed to know what type of call as well.

[@tomking1890]

I remember my parents using long distance. After you gave the operator the number you wanted you hung up, and waited for the operator to call you back with the party you wanted at the other end. It was a big deal.

[@saxongreen78]

The rapidity of expansion of communications over the last 200 years has staggered my mind ever since I first read about is as a young boy - when I hear people say "it happened before I was born...it's irrelevant!", I feel a little sorry for humanity.

[@justme-ll1qz]

I could remember waiting and waiting and waiting when I was a kid if my mom was going to make a long distant call . I think it was only after 7pm, and it had to be an EMERGENCY if she made one before it.

[@ltmundy1164]

Just: Nights after 7; greater after 10. Saturdays after 6 PM. All day Sunday.

[@Gail1Marie]

@@ltmundy1164 Precisely! When I was in the military in the 80s-90s, my parents and I talked on Sundays only. We'd alternate weeks; one week they'd call me, the next week I'd call them. The good thing is it's hard to be a "helicopter parent" when the helicopter only flies once a week! Believe it or not, we'd actually write these things called letters, put a stamp on them, and MAIL them to communicate ordinary information.

[@inharmonywithearth9982]

President Nixon made a long distance call to the astronauts on the moon with a green telephone on worldwide television. I wonder who the excited operator who pushed that wire into that switchboard that said moon destination " sea of tranquility "

[@benjurqunov]

But why didn't Nixon support homosexual special rights ? He knew Trump was coming along but gave no warning so the country ends up late for dinner and Mexico enjoyed a jelly roll lunch !

[@briangriffin4937]

In 5th grade we walked to our local C&P Telephone Company station. Inside there were a room full of lady switchboard operators all talking and connecting in what seemed like all of Washington, DC. In another huge, factory-like room were giant switches an electrical paraphernalia, the kind which you see in old Frankenstein movies. That was really cool to us kids. At the end of our field trip we were given a thin copy of the District of Columbia White Pages as a souvenir. Today the classic brick building is empty, except for the computers and is owned by Verizon.

[@williamwilson6499]

Does history remember Alexander Graham Bellsky...the first telephone Pole?

[@DISGUYROX]

Belski.

[@johnkolassa1645]

Interesting video, but the subtitle is misleading, in that there isn't much information about how the system worked.

[@sergioFAsoto]

There was a lot of waffling on. I was hoping they would show you how an operator actually connected your calls

[@calbob750]

If you search the terms “Panel” or “Step by Step” you will see the electromechanical technology that made connections in the network starting in the 1920s.

[@johnkolassa1645]

@@calbob750 Thanks.

[@andrewdutton3831]

The patriotic vibe and admiration of American history is a sight to behold today....because this level of reverence to country and nation is almost 100% absent in 2022. It might seem corny to elevate and honor history at this level, but empires that ignore (or even ridicule) their traditions are destined to die.

[@b747man3]

Maybe there's a reason for that.

[@gregorcutt1199]

I remember growing up in the '80s and having to time our long distance calls when rates per minute were lowest. Now with cell phones nobody really pays long distance anymore

[@lovly2cu725]

LAND LINES DROPPED THE TIME OF DAY RATE IN THE 90S

[@edwinkaris9602]

quite interesting o see the amount of work it took to transmit and receive signals, present day switching centers are computerized voice switches and routers, the wireline being majorly fiber optic cables

[@DistractedDaisy]

This came up on my feed 9/2022! It’s great to see old “how its done” videos!

[@ianturpin9180]

I remember when I first moved to Australia from the UK in 74 you still had to call an operator for a long distance call to the UK there was no direct dialing

[@tedecker3792]

Calling my grandparents in the 1950s meant calling the country store in their rural neighborhood. It was the only phone around. The store owner would drive a few miles to get grandpa, who would then drive to the store and call us back.

[@charleslevan9245]

OMG Kirk thanks what a trip to watch....I had an outfit just like one of them, it was an angora sweater. Love you.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

In 1977 I lived in Hinkley California. Same exact place as( Erin Brockovich movie) we had a party line out there. There where about 10-12 Houses connected to are party line. So what would happen is, if you were house #6 & someone wanted to reach you. They would call and let the phone ring 6 times then hang up. Redial your number and start ringing again, then you knew it was your house #6 That was supposed to answer. If you were the tenth person. The phone rings 10 times then hangs up and dials again. The part that annoyed me was you would be in the middle of a call, someone would pick up the phone and if they were polite say " hello" you would tell them I'll be off of here in about 5 minutes. If they weren't polite and was maybe a pervert. You would hear a click so you knew someone was there, You could say hello and no one would respond. Finally around the late 70s, early eighties we had our own line and didn't have to worry about it anymore.

[@anthonypace7330]

It was middle 50’s Toronto-when my father got tired of busy signal when he tried to dial home-and also party line tied up-and paid the extra $ for private line-as soon as it became available…

[@Dr.Pepper001]

Dang, now that's some real high tech stuff.

[@ig_foobar]

Mid 20th century USA was the pinnacle of civilization.

[@chair547]

Ok boomer

[@ig_foobar]

@@chair547 Nice try, but it was decades before I was born. Still a correct observation though.

[@allenatkins2263]

@Aslin Fire Safety You're missing the point! Telephones had dials!

[@64Street]

Incredible story, great character development. We need a "Long Distance 2" in 3D !!!

[@ozgur937]

This was a beautiful age.

[@mirzaahmed6589]

Not really. Calling long-distance was expensive.

[@ocsrc]

In the 60s the Long Lines cables and microwave towers were built. I don't know what year direct dialing went in, but in the 80s we still had rotary dialing and touch tone was not available in our area.

[@TALKCalgary]

Connections must have been very crackly and the signal lose horrendous. Hard to believe this was only a few decades ago. It's strange how technology advanced so much in such a short time.

[@myriaddsystems]

My god! They actually pronounced the word "router" correctly... there's hope yet..

[@lovly2cu725]

WELL THEY INVENTED IT

[@altfactor]

My girlfriend once worked as a telephone operator, but not for the phone company. She instead worked as a switchboard operator for the main office of a public school system.

[@EverlastingHobnocker]

Some kids from my high school had to pay long distance charges to talk to some of their own classmates. I was one of the lucky ones who could call any classmate I wanted for free.

[@lovly2cu725]

THEN THEY LIVED ACROSS LATA LINES. PALM SPRINGS FOR EXAMPLE, IS ITS OWN LATA

[@luisreyes1963]

A nostalgic look at how long distance telephone calls were handled with the technology utilized in those days. ☎️

[@finderskeepers5343]

I love it when some seniors still say " Shhh, Im making a long distance phone call!

[@markkotishion2379]

They were quite advanced in those days. Copper was infalible, no dropped calls, worked in inclimate weather, expensive but reliable. Now all we have is our tumortone phones. I had a rotary dial phone with a bell box, original to the house, til' Verizon would no longer service the landlines.

[@tycanuck]

Blah blah. Don’t upvote your own comment.

[@markkotishion2379]

I did'nt, Greta.

[@lovly2cu725]

NJ? THEY LOBBIED NOT TO SERVICE THE LINES ANY LONGER DUE 2 TECHNOLOGY

[@sreengleen]

Where eould a film like this be shown? In a movie theater before the main feature?

[@calbob750]

That clock like device was called a calculagraph. The operator pulled one lever at the start of the call to stamp start time and another at call end to stamp end time for billing. When mechanical equipment became available for long distance connections you would dial ( 1 ) prefix for connection or ( 0 ) for the operator to complete the call.

[@diamonddave45]

Automation started around 1943 with the #4 crossbar, first installed in Philadelphia. After WW II more were installed, and by the mid 1950s there were enough of them that automated toll dialing started to become the norm. First community to have DDD was Englewood, NJ in 1951. So basically this was becoming obsolete just 10 years after this film.

[@snoglydox]

Not long distance!

[@williamworth2746]

This probably worked better then today.. hold on I’m getting a call now “we’re trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty.😫

[@Sumtoshi]

How did operators remain sane working so close to one another?

[@lilajagears8317]

They only hired lesbians back then.

[@am74343]

What are those strange, square wire-supporting structures at 2:51? I've never seen such a thing!

[@bill-2018]

Ram parts. Are those like sheep bits?

[@Hithere-ek4qt]

another ignorant attempt at humor.

[@DISGUYROX]

An OLLLLLLD joke from way ago; "Who was Alexander Belski?" He was the first telephone Pole.

[@rapman5363]

😂😂

[@mendodave]

This seems like a film about manifest destiny instead of how long distance used to work.

[@renegadetenor]

Sadly, in 14 minutes, one can learn (should be review) more history than any college student today. Most of us should demand refunds from our schools.

[@pablopicaro7649]

Bygone era of the amazing Positive future and excellence of America. A LONG GONE era..

[@xeero24]

Most college students today don't even know how many genders there are.

[@snoglydox]

@@xeero24 : Google search got me 22.

[@larryechols8487]

History, please show me more.

[@Episcopalianacolyte]

Long distance information, get me Memphis Tennessee. Help me find the party who tried to get in touch with me

[@MrZluvu4ever]

All of these women have been replaced by a microchip! :-(

[@diamonddave45]

Most of the women in this video are no longer alive.

[@calbob750]

Or a call center in India

[@765kvline]

There are still operators, but their tasks are much reduced.

[@snoglydox]

It use to be kids!

[@rkhalloran]

If not for direct-dialed calls, AT&T would have had to hire EVERY adult female in the US to staff switchboards.

[@jeremywj]

God forbid that guy ever gets the chance to narrate the internet

[@620john620]

This mini-doc needs more cowbells...

[@TroyVerbrugge]

"a million words a day!" the narrator exclaims. That's about 6 MB, or about 5 seconds of watching this clip on my personal device...

[@amberhillman8877]

Bring tiny newspapers with names match picture of their own channel.

[@izzatfauzimustafa6535]

Were there any men work as operators of long distance phone switches back then?

[@lovly2cu725]

1980S

[@ripmemes8962]

this would never work today. we are all unmotivated and too dumb to maintain, let alone create such a system.

[@AckzaTV]

its like heaven, a telephonic sonic female hivemind

[@brianarbenz1329]

Dripping with sentimentality and jingoism, but if you cut that, there is some informative history here.

[@xaverlustig3581]

Half of the film is not about telephones at all.

[@Tmanaz480]

Seems instructional films always backed up way before their topic actually began. "The Minoans first mined copper in 4000 BC..."

[@scottlarson1548]

It's about how great America is, Manifest Destiny, conquering the untamed lands of the continent, and how stock footage can extend your cheap educational film by 33%.

[@thebestisyettocome4114]

December 2019 Today we use non or very little. Technology keeps moving forward. USA 🇺🇸

[@unnamedchannel1237]

I hate to put this to you but the telecommunications in the USA are terrible compared to the likes of New Zealand. Especially when it comes to the internet slow and over priced

[@evil_dave]

damn can you imagine being a guy (the only guy) being an operator. helloooo nurse :)

[@Gail1Marie]

They started out with boy operators, but they swore at the customers too much (seriously!) My aunt was a telephone operator for years, starting in the 1920s. She had to leave high school at 15 to help support the family.

[@steves9283]

I was an operator.

[@MrBears25]

How does international online gaming work under sea cables?

[@dayyaanallie9875]

make a vid about the first long distance telephone

[@noname-tf7kq]

Hi there! We might have what you're looking for here kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4PZd3RnqtatjLM

[@maunster3414]

I like free stuff, good one!

[@richlaue]

How about the first direct dial dialed long distance call in 1951 from Murry Hill NJ to Alameda, CA

[@lovly2cu725]

THERE WAS NO LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE. ONLY A CALL CAN BE LONG DISTANCE

[@pablopicaro7649]

Bygone era of the amazing Positive future and excellence of America. A LONG GONE era..

[@calbob750]

Gone because of cheap labor in China and India. In the 70s China was a third world country until capital starting flooding in from the USofA.

[@xeero24]

@@calbob750 Not to mention a president who admires China and will kill jobs by killing energy independence.

[@Zoubirking-1970]

In the time when they were no satellite really amazing America 🇺🇸

[@redbird28able]

That's amazing that not a single woman had shoulder length hair.

[@priscillawilson2634]

They're rolled up and pinned.

[@redbird28able]

@@priscillawilson2634 I'm guessing for dress code, I should have thought of that. I was born in the early 60's. Times sure have changed.

[@barrycohen311]

Long hair got caught up in the wires.

[@redbird28able]

@@barrycohen311 Thanks...all their hair was pretty and proper, I would not have thought of that either..

[@benjaminhoskins5691]

Well, regardless of their hair styles, the lady operators and other lady Bell System employees were quite pretty in this film. That was, obviously, so incredibly important!!! (Don't get me wrong-- I am not complaining about the fact that the ladies are so attractive. I just think it's unreasonable to assume that all Bell System female employees shared these traits. At least the 1969 Bell System Operator film is more realistic.)

[@jvolstad]

Does anyone remember when telephone numbers started with a word?

[@anthonypace7330]

Our exchange in where we lived in (Mimico) Toronto was CLifford 1

[@rancelynch6514]

I remember before that when there were three numbers followed by a letter, and when you picked up phone you heard “number please”.

[@lovly2cu725]

FULTON 1 9461. THE WORD WAS THE EXCHANGE

[@mikewatt8706]

true story. lets just say a person i know made quite a bit of money from pay phones in Ireland in the eighties. back then if you wanted to make a call you would put a coin into the phone. if your call was answered you would press button A on the phone and your coib would drop down into the safe box. if your call wasn't answered you would press button B and your coin would be returned to you. anyway my friend discovered that if he placed a small piece if cloth up into the coin returned slot any coins that dropped through the phone on route to the coin safe would get stuck behind the cloth. so my friend would place cloths at various local phones in different days and next morning he would get paid. to avoide any suspicion he would only do each phone twice a week. we ate very well at school back then. if we had been of driving age we could have done the whole country. lol

[@ecphorizer]

Quiz time! Q: who was Alexander Graham Kowalski? A: he was the first telephone Pole.

[@barkchip1872]

No, I disagree. Kowalski was the driver of the Dodge Challenger RT in the film Vanishing Point. 🙂

[@emeraldkimble7602]

Guam is furthest direct dial non toll call o. Home landlines

[@FreemonSandlewould]

Sheesh this video is full of rah rah. Was hoping for more details of how the switching problem was solved.

[@lovly2cu725]

SHOULDA GOT A JOB AT THE PHONE CO. YOU WOULD HAVE LEARNED & BEEN TESTED ON IT.

[@ralphjames1211]

Thumbs this comment up if the great Facebook/Whatsapp/Instagram outage brought you here out of research curiosity because your elders told you about how they used to keep long distance loved ones/friends/relatives in contact!

[@AMPProf]

GD SO GOOD WE HAVE COMPUTERS that intro CREEPY

[@TnseWlms]

Before even watching the video, I will ask, what do the states' dates of admittance to the US have to do with long distance phone service?

[@singularity6305]

Imagine all those women in nowadays, and they will actually wire a web page which you going to. Or they actually search in huge encyclopedia what are you searching in Google

[@rty1955]

Haha those "coded" msgs are due to the due the phone company charged you by number of characters. Western union used the own wires for telegrams. They ran along the railroad

[@Gail1Marie]

Actually, most of the wires along railroad were those of the railroad's own telegraph system. The operators used so-called "American Morse" or "Railroad Morse" code, which is different from International Morse Code we're familiar with. About 2/3 of the characters were the same, but quite a few of them weren't. When I was a kid and copied code from the ham radio frequencies to improve my speed, a lot of railroad telegraphers were hams and used to use Railroad Morse with each other. I'd copy a few characters and then stumble over a group of dashes and dots I couldn't decipher! I haven't heard any of them in at least 30 years; they've gone "silent key." When the railroads were first built, yes, the Western Union wires ran along the tracks too. But eventually there were towns that wanted Western Union that may have not had rail service, so the system was expanded. Western Union Telegram service ended in the US in 2006.

[@rty1955]

@@Gail1Marie in the 1850s the lines were owned by the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company known as Western Union. The railroad was the largest customer at the time using the telegraph for train scheduling to avoid accidents like head on and rear end collisions. The head ons were due to a single track system and poor scheduling. When dual tracks were laid, many of the head ons had disappeared, not so with the rear ends. The coding system at the time was the American Morse code as invented by Samual Morse and his partner Alfred Vail in 1840s. Since the railroad was the largest customer it was also known as "Railroad Morse" The international system improved the American System mainly because of the transatlantic cable introduced dispersion distortion that affected intercharacter spacing. The Greke system invented in Germany in 1848 was simpler-it eliminated the long intra-character spaces and the two long dashes-but also included changes in the sequences for eleven of the letters and most of the numerals. This was adopted through much of Europe. Obviously this was adopted as the "International Morse Code" we use today

[@rayfridley6649]

@@rty1955 Ever hear of Postal Telegraph Co? Competitors of Western Union.

[@eurouc]

Surely they are talking about Trunk calls. Long distance is not the correct term.

[@ltmundy1164]

NEAX?

[@diamonddave45]

In the US they're called long distance. Are you from the UK?

[@lovly2cu725]

LONG DISTANCE IS JUST CROSSING LATA LINES

[@AckzaTV]

So your saying, in the olden days, women were the most important pieces of technology, like women were the computer servers?

[@noooddle]

So it starts out talking about telephone switching, then takes a weird turn into Manifest Destiny. This is truly one of the screwiest things I have ever seen. But they do eventually get back on track.

[@disappearintothesea]

noooddle good to know.. I was beginning to worry I clicked on the wrong video

[@jamesricker3997]

It was 1941 at the end of the Great depression and World War II was starting up They had different priorities

[@digenisakritas8195]

Love for ones country hurts, doesn't it?

[@hegedusuk]

I was expecting to see an old film about long distance communications in the 1930s/40s and this certainly is one. It’s also the most violently American corporate film I’ve ever seen! They spent half the time talking about American expansion in the 1800s, casually remarking that ‘states were added’ as if the lands were completely devoid of people beforehand. Getting all patriotic talking about how lands were just acquired etc. It really is as much about the technical challenges of building a phone network as about how brilliant a country the United States is… quite an eye-opener!

[@user-lo1ut9df6d]

Its 1941. People were proud of their country back then at least unlike now

[@wooderdsaunders6801]

Before satilite tech.

[@AllAmericanGuyExpert]

Are you insane? Very few phone calls ever used satellites. The delay is very noticeable. No one wanted those trunks at any cost, so most calls went undersea. This is about the dumbest comment ever, Wooderd.

[@diamonddave45]

Very few calls were done on satellite. Fiber optics is what changed the industry.

[@D-train69]

At 3:11 this speaker speaks the truth about this country we call America. To be from America you need to claim NON CITIZEN American National, claim that on your VOLUNTARY CORPORATE TAXES see where your new staning is.

[@adamwarlock3530]

Now it's all done via satellite and computers. Look at all those jobs lost.

[@lovly2cu725]

NOT ALL BY SATELLITE. EVEN CELL PHONES BEGIN & TERMINATE ON LAND LINE SWITCHES

[@Rosarium2007]

6:47 - FYI the land was already peopled! And had been since long before 1492.

[@MrJm323]

@@Hithere-ek4qt "typical white arrogance." typical remark by a self-hating white person.

[@SamSurplusSales]

My people have been here since they came across the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska. So I am pretty sure it was already populated.

[@MrJm323]

@@SamSurplusSales .....Sparsely populated -- and that's the point.

[@SamSurplusSales]

@@MrJm323 it would have been more populated is the u.s. government had not murdered our people.

[@ltmundy1164]

@@SamSurplusSales: More so if first nations hadn't been introduced to smallpox.

[@comments2840]

A long informercial that gives you hardly any info. The marketing types can learn so much from something like this.

[@Baynewsvideo]

Looks like all the female operators had hair styling to accommodate the headset. And... All the people in this movie are dead.

[@flaplaya]

Hello Yeah see Hello is this Johnny Bags? Johnny Bags a what? Johnny Bags. Er Bags a money Yeah see. Operator here this call has been terminated Johnny Don't have no more Bags of money, the call took it all sorry on behalf of Ma Bell.

[@jackinkc767]

this was about how long distance calls work - Circa 1941???

[@ksteiger]

The wokesters will hate this film. There's nobody complaing about how awful the country is...

[@alphonsocarioti512]

Anyone know how many trees were lost due to the telephone system?

[@benjaminhoskins5691]

Do you actually believe that it matters how many trees were USED in providing telephone poles for the Bell System??? After all, the United States of America was fortunate to have the BEST TELEPHONE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD THANKS TO THE BELL SYSTEM!!! NO PRIVATE COMPANY WILL EVER PROVIDE THE FINE SERVICE THAT CORPORATION PROVIDED. Current telecommunications providers don't even come close.

[@SamSurplusSales]

How many were damaged in building the house you live in . Also how much of the eco system was damaged making the computer you use to post stupid messages comments ?

[@goblins2k5]

@@benjaminhoskins5691 More trees are lost in the creation and maintinence of power lines than are used in the poles themselves. Before telephone poles, they would have been used for ship masts.

[@joeskis]

None, they were repurposed.

[@jeffreygluck6732]

Oh get a life, lumber is the ultimate renewable resource. We have more forested land today than 400 years ago.

[@bryanadams256]

Why didn't they just use the internet?

[@noname-tf7kq]

:))

[@georgiasmith64]

A person to person long distance operator assistance call is what you did at that time, dontchaknow 😀

[@lovly2cu725]

THATS A JOKE, RIGHT?

[@bryanadams256]

@@lovly2cu725 I certainly hope so. I used to pay hundreds a month to call a girl overseas!