OUR VALLEY

one room measuring approximately 15’x20.’

To call someone, a customer would crank the phone and when the operator — who worked for 25 cents an hour — answered, you asked for your party and she did the ringing. Every household had a different identification ring, such as two long rings and one short ring, which was very helpful on a five-party household line.

In July 1925, phone bills had to be paid on the 20th of each month, there were no extensions. If the bill was not paid, the telephone was disconnected on the morning of the 21 and only reconnected for a fee of $1, which had to be paid before services could be reconnected.

Another move occurred during 1942, when a new building was constructed at 901 E. Palmdale Blvd. to house three switchboards. There were 170 phones at that time. In 1943, the structure was enlarged and the switchboards increased to 14.

In December 1952, Palmdale telephone operator Viola Wells McBride, retired after 31 years of service. She became the Palmdale agent for the company in 1920,

when its service consisted of 35 telephones and folded up every night at 7 p.m. As the agent, it was also her duty to pay rent on the switchboard office, as well as utilities and the salary of a relief worker.

In 1923, she married Stroud McBride, but she continued on as the agent and then manager, while raising a family of four sons. When 24-hour service was implemented in 1929, her husband took over as night operator for the next eight years. Stroud may have been the AV’s first male telephone operator. During the war years, Viola also delivered telephone messages to the Army camp that was located at 20th Street and sometimes as far as Littlerock and frequently as late as midnight.

The Palmdale exchange was converted from manual to dial service on Dec. 18, 1954. By 1954, there were about 1,900 customers and in 1955, there were 60 Pacific Telephone employees living within the Palmdale Exchange area. During its 50th anniversary in 1958, the exchange boasted more than 7,800 customers.

The career of a telephone operator was one of the few technically oriented jobs available to women during the 1910s and early 1920s. Some early operators included Ruth Settle, Ruth Varner, Mrs. Phillips, Lillian Lorenz, Mabel West and Marion Blanchard, among others.