I love watching old movies and TV. Often times they have characters who use telephones via the old switchboard technology. Someone calls into a central system where their call is routed to the proper location.
How did those switch boards work? Especially in comparison to modern phones…
(I would also love any extra info on “party lines” where anyone could join)
In: Technology
Way back in the day, when telephone lines were new and neighborhoods were small and close-knit, people would share a single telephone line. Meaning, instead of dialing a number, you simply picked up the phone and “rang” the line, usually by sending a small current through to ring a bell connected to the phone. This would cause everyone’s phone to ring, and everyone would scramble to the phone to see if it was for them or someone else.
As more and more people became connected with this technology, it became apparent that having entire cities put on one phone circuit wasn’t an option. So different lines were split up into smaller sections, and instead of leading to each other, all of the lines lead to one area: the switchboard.
A switchboard operator would sit and wait in front of the board, and when a call came in for the operator, that output jack would light up. The operator would put a headphone jack into that line, ask who you needed to call, and then physically wire your phone line directly into theirs. Today we have massive server farms with computers set to automatically handle these connections, but this is where all of our telephoning terms come from.
Busy: someone else is already talking to who you need, meaning that there is a line into their phone already. You physically could not talk to anyone until the first person was done.
Operator: the person who would actually connect you to your intended recipient
Telephone technology back then was simply a more sophisticated version of two cans and a string, but the string is now wire and the cans are specifically designed receivers that hook to this wire together. When two people are on the same line, they can talk. We still use this basic form of telephoning with landline phones, which is why you can still pick up a phone in the house while someone else is using it and listen.
As for party lines, just imagine getting a third can and tying a new string to the middle one. Now speaking into one can let’s both others receive your voice.
Bonus fun fact: in rural areas that couldn’t afford proper phone line, people would sometimes hook their phones to their fences. Many of these fences had unbroken lines of wire that ran along multiple houses, making them a perfect substitute infrastructure.
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