10 Fun Phone Facts from Telephone History

Phones are such an important part of our lives today.  We’ve come so far from the times of the old ones that you had to dial by putting your finger in a hole and pull it around in a circle.  Before that were the ones without any way to dial. You had to reach a switchboard operator to have them place the calls. Today the cell phone is full of many modern features, such as a camera, internet connections and so much more.  It can be interesting to discover some fun facts from the history of this invaluable aid to our modern lives.  Here are ten phone facts that you may not know.

1. One of the first answering machines was a Jewish favorite. The first answer machine was invented by Valdermar Poulson. He was a Danish telephone engineer and inventor who patented his device in 1898 under the name, the “telegraphone.”  It made possible the ability for magnetic sound recording and reproduction so telephone conversations could be recorded.  It was followed in 1935 by the automatic answering machine that was created by Willy Muller.   This machine became very popular with Orthodox Jews who were forbidden under their religion to use the telephone on the Sabbath.
2. First Automatic Switchboard came about due to undertaker rivalry. In Kansas City Almon Strowger suspected he was losing business to a rival undertaker.  As it turned out the rival’s wife worked as a telephone switchboard operator.  He thought she was diverting possible calls to her husband’s business.  His fears were confirmed when he read in the paper that a close friend passed away.  He then found out the friend was buried by his rival.  Thus he created the automatic switchboard, which was described as “girl-less, cuss-less and wait-less.”
3. Using rats and mice to make phone wire selections. Phone company engineers found that certain wires in machines would end up being eaten by mice and rats.  So they began testing new types of wire by placing a mouse in a cage next to the wire.  If he ate through it, they knew it was not the one to use in their equipment.  It was a simple solution, but got them the results they wanted for wiring purposes.
4. When a male voice answered, “Operator.” There was a time when men were generally used as operators.  Unfortunately, they found that boys will be boys, and it caused problems.  The guys would tend to make prank calls and also be too chatty with women callers.  Their curious nature, and tendency towards such comic antics, forced the exchanges to switch over to only using women as operators.
5. 555 prefixes reserved for fictional use. In the 1970’s telephone executives first asked film makers to only use 555 prefixes in their movies to keep any real numbers from being used. Later the cartoonist Gary Lawson used 555-1332 as Satan’s phone number. Unfortunately, 555 was a real area code in Australia. He was sued for his cartoon.
6. Individual phone numbers was a doctor’s idea. Due to an epidemic in Massachusetts, a local doctor realized that if switchboard operators got sick, there would be no way to know how to reach a given person. Thus he came up with the idea of using numbers instead of names for reaching individual households.
7. Steve Wozinak acquired phone number 888-8888.  He requested it because of all the calls he had gotten that had silence on the other end.  It later turned out to be his kids hitting buttons by accident, so he gave up the unique phone number.
8. Putting people on hold.  Alexander Graham Bell gets credit for this phrase. It happened when he handed his telephone receiver over to his partner,  Mr. Watson.  He said, “here hold this.”  From that beginning the phrase became popular.
9. Antique phones and accessories are big collectibles around the world. Many across the globe have become very avid collectors of old phones and accessories.  This is especially true when the phone is shaped in some unique design, like the Eiffel Tower.
10. When dialing wrong numbers was a crime. An operator in Milan, Italy was once fined by the phone company for dialing a wrong number.  It was considered a crime to be rude to a telephone operator from Prussia.

There’s always something new to be learned about how things came to be the way they are today. Simple small incidents, like the undertaker rivalry, can often be the spawn bed for invention.

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(source:landlinephoneservice.net)

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