1946 TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH careers (switchboard, Bell System, ATT, Western Union, Bell Labs)
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH Technology. We have partially restored this 1946 vintage film about TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH Technology, showing many early electrical and electronic communications equipment in daily use. Glorious Black & White footage of teletype, switchboards, teleprinter, wire and microwave communication technology, installation and support as well as laboratory research. What similarities in procedures in use today? (runs 10 mins)
I noticed that they mentioned on the job training and company schools multiple times. You just don't see that anymore. It's a shame more companies don't invest in their employees like that anymore.
Hi Kris, that's a great point. It does seem to be very much missing in today's companies. Probably affects company loyalty as well. ~ Thanks~
It's a huge issue. Part of the argument for skills migration which has some substance. Problem is that the economy becomes reliant on it whilst the country de-industrializes and only grows through mass urbanisation and debt...
The college/government/industrial complex saddles young people with debt so companies need not invest in them. Although the degrees are mostly useless for anything other than a way to eliminate job applicants. Corporations no longer need to prepare and review job applications, but have the candidates create "resumes" In the past employees could work entry level and be observed to see who had the potential to advance. Even when advanced training was needed it was better to pay to train a loyal employee.
chargermopar, excellent point!
@@chargermopar I agree! I basically took out a mortgage to get a BA in psychology, which honestly is useless unless you intend to get a PhD in psychology and do research. I ended up going into social services, and I learned on the job and through my own reading how to do all aspects of the job. Unfortunately a lot of that learning happened because I took the initiative to be good at my job. I had a deep understanding that doing my job poorly could lead to people dying, and that's not a lesson you need to learn twice. You could easily condense everything you need to do "bachelor's level" mental health and social work into a year of night classes and be very effective at your job. My favorite example of how to do vocational training is nursing. Two years trains you how to do a shockingly complex job and weeds out a lot of people who just aren't appropriate. If you want to go into leadership beyond supervisor, go back and do an accelerated BsN in the evenings. Want to prescribe, teach, or do research? Go back and get yourself a nifty MSN. Many employers will reimburse the cost of your education to make it better. They also don't require you to take classes you already took in high school like many universities do just so they can justify keeping programs that have low enrollment and low graduation rates. Not every university needs to offer degrees in as many fields as possible to be successful. It ultimately has watered down what a university should be to the point that I think most are degree mills, even the public ones.
these old videos are the best.
Another great Bell system film. Thank you.
Hi B. Blod, Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it
Interesting the jobs defined as those for Men and Women. I noticed that a HS education was an advantage but not required.
Remember, todays undergraduate college degree is the "new high school diploma".
At about 6 minutes you see the electromechanical technology that made connections in most cities using rotary dial phones. This equipment was housed in Central Office Buildings staffed by Central Office Technicians. The COT was one of the highest paid non management jobs in the Bell System. In a CO with 40,000 subscriber lines it could take 30 technicians to maintain the “Panel” or “Step by Step” technology that made the connections initiated by rotary dial phones. The equipment in a 40,000 line or more CO would occupy most of a two story or larger building. Even today all calls eventually are routed through your local central office.
CalBob750, thanks very much for the historical info on the "COT" position. Had not heard of that title before. It makes sense that they would need a position like that to coordinate the staff and work volume. I wonder what the equivalent job position would be there today. Thanks again! ~ CHAP
In the film footage where you see men in white shirts working around the electromechanical switching equipment some of them may have had the job title “Central Office Technician”. That’s the job title I had. In 1968. Starting pay $84 per week. During the Bell System era a COT would be on an apprenticeship program with on the job training and six months to a year and half tech school. That Panel Switching equipment was extremely complex and required constant troubleshooting and maintenance to keep the system working.
'46 would have been my Mom's first year in High School but by '51, she was with Bell and stayed a good 40 years.
Hi Mark, makes sense. Back in those days, people could find a good company that they could stay with and trust for life or at least decades. A bit more rare these days.
@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Quite a bit more rare. In the jobs I've had since I left the military in '76, five of them either were sold or "merged." And a couple were fairly established. I remember the panicked call I got from my Mom when the AT&T divestiture was becoming a reality some 30 years into her career.
My grandmother worked as a switchboard operator in her youth - because she hired on so young, she received fantastic retirement benefits. However, she told me a story of her 30th year anniversary of service: she was busy away on calls when her supervisor casually came over to her station and tossed a piece of paper on her desk that read “Congratulations for your 30 years of service” - that was it. So unceremonious and careless. She was so upset that she went to the bathroom and had a smoke, before marching directly to the top head-dog’s office and quit on the spot. She felt they didn’t care at all, and if that was the thanks she got for 30 years of service, she was over it.
Certainly she deserved much better treatment and recognition for her long, dedicated service! Sounds like her supervisor was not appreciative of her work. Thanks for sharing your story on this. ~ VK
The miracle of high speed wire communication is common place today. Your voice with the speed of light.
Well that's a bit foreshadowing?
Up until the early 1970’s women were placed in administrative and operator jobs and men would work installation and technical jobs.
thank you for this video\
Your are most welcome 😊
First, again! Sounds like a good job with plenty chances to career advancements. Where do I apply?
high speed wire communications...in 1946 just think if they could see what things have evolved into today. it boggles my mind
Some people did live to see today (2023) if thay were born in 1946 thay would be 97 in 2023. Some people live into there hundreds. My family is full of that longevity.
Grato!
The film kind of reminds us how times have changed. The jobs for men were technical and managerial. Women were stuck in the office: Typing, filing or being an operator.
Many, many years ago I worked for a Bell Company. I was a Repairman, Test Deskman and Switchman over many years. Almost all jobs were segregated by the 2 sexes up to the 1970s. The Central switching Offices where male Switchmen and female operators worked in the same building had segregated cafeterias. On the job fraternization was discouraged and repeat offenses could result in termination.
Hi Eddie, "segregated cafeterias" wow, that is something quite strict. Like a very strict Catholic school or college. Those sound like some interesting times! Thank you for your fascinating comments! ~ Victor
I wasn't alive in 1946, but if I was, these aren't careers I'd consider.
This is the world before the transistor became the switchboard operator truly fascinating. I felt like once someone said without the transistor you would need almost 100% of the female population to be a switchboard operator by the 1960s.
2-3 months to learn to write what more or less equates to email. That's a sign that their routing codes weren't very logical
Or that there were many connection points. Think of how many people were buying and using phones across the country.