Switchboard
Bathurst Heritage Museum
Tous droits réservés.
| Nom de l'objet : | Switchboard |
| Catégorie de l'objet : | Telecommunication T&E |
| Discipline : | local history |
| Matériaux : | wood metal cord |
| Numéro d'accession : | BM-MI-0089 |
| Culture : | North American |
| Description : | The exchange has a high back panel which consists of a row of female jacks, each jack designated and wired as a local extension of the switchboard. Each local extension was related to an individual subscriber. Very heavy. |
| Commentaires : | Shortly after the invention of the telephone in 1876, switchboards became a popular method to control phone calls between subscribers. In small towns, the switchboard was typically located in the operator's home for 24-hour access. In larger cities, switchboards were normally located in the building belonging to the telephone company and were mounted floor to ceiling. They were manned by young boys capable of scurrying up and down ladders to connect the callers. At the beginning of the twentieth century, women aged seventeen to twenty-five were employed as operators until they married. The salary was low and in most cases insufficient for women to make a living on this job alone. By the 1960s, men began to be employed as telephone operators, though it wasn't until the combined pressure of the unions and the government that working conditions and social benefits were introduced. |
| Fonctions : | This switchboard was installed in the home of Reginald Boss, which doubled as the first telephone office in Bathurst. On April 29 1914, the town of Bathurst experienced a disastrous fire in which the Boss home was destroyed. Reginald Boss and his wife were able to save this telephone switchboard as well as some other office equipment. The next day, Boss was able to secure a temporary office in the Robinson building and was able to have many of the local telephones working again. By the following year, Boss replaced his destroyed brick home with a new one on the same site which also incorporated the N.B. Tel office until its move to King Avenue in 1939. It was originally used by the Gloucester County Telephone Company. |
| Hauteur : | 128 cm |
| Largeur : | 89 cm |
| Établissement : | Bathurst Heritage Museum |
| Ville de l'établissement : | Bathurst |
| Province de l'établissement : | New Brunswick |
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