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“Collected”
At the end of the 20th century, the job market for women outside the home was mainly limited to school teaching and nursing, but new job opportunities were appearing on the scene — telephone operators.
Elgin’s population was increasing, and by the 1900s, communications were in competition. The town was served by two telephone companies: the Independent Telephone Company and the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Both companies served businesses and residents, making it necessary for most businesses and some houses to have two telephones — one from each company — to adequately be available for all.
The telephone calls were directed from a switch board operated by women who not only handled the calls but could be helpful and knowledgeable about Elgin as well. It was very simple to call central and tell them the two-digit number one wanted to reach. Some of our earliest Bell Telephone operators were Estelle Casey, Irene Barker and Susie Taylor.
Bell purchased their competition in 1925 and exclusively served Elgin until the 1980s. During the 1940s, as more houses became equipped with telephones, it took day and night operators to accommodate all the residents. Many of the operators had recognizable voices and sometimes they could even chat a minute if they were not busy, or you could ask them the time, etc. Many recall that when you were trying to reach a party, the operator would chime in and say they were out of town or on vacation.
It took many operators during the 1950s to maintain the telephone office, which was located in the building that now houses Elgin Local Goods. The Bell telephone office and local chapter of the Eastern Star shared the upstairs portion of the building with the stairs on the outside of the building. Some of the telephone operators working there were Gracie Allen, Wilma Helgren, Helen Burke, Ilex Carter, Etta Mae Culp, Hattie Belle Davenport, Joy Fromme, Agnes Haverland, Vivian Newquist, Onita Newquist, Vivian Scales, Sue Snowden and Lucille Talley.
When the new dialing system was implemented, it did not take many to work this telephone office, however, people missed those friendly voices.
ITAL: Now, the old telephone office cubicles are apartments.
