The Age of Advertising: The Voice of the Operator: New York Telephone Company – Another Big Day for Long Distance!

An advertisement for the New York Telephone Company, appearing in The New York Times in the latter part of the Second World War.  

Of note: The early style rotary phone.

Of note: Manufacturing. That is, physical manufacturing! “And when the factories that make switchboards – now busy producing war communications equipment – resume peacetime production, it will take time to manufacture the quality needed, and still more time to fit the new switchboards to existing central offices.”

Of note: The reference to the Red Cross, consistent with the tenor of the (war) times.

Of note: Could Mr. New York Telephone be a distant cousin of Reddy Kilowatt? (!)

TODAY

Another Big Day for Long Distance

THEY’RE all big days for Long Distance these days.  Our job is to take them in stride and get your calls through without waiting.

Most of the time it works out that way, but sometime there’s an extra big crowd on some circuits.

Then Long Distance will say – “Please limit your call to 5 minutes.”

NEW YORK TELEPHONE COMPANY

To Girls and Young Women in the New York City area: The telephone company offers opportunities to help put the calls through – as operators and clerks.  Call or Dial “Operator” and ask for “Enterprise Ten Thousand”.  No change.