Show V Pat Jessop (right) on the iob in By PatMcCutcheon staff writer “Take me home” Though it may sound like a request to a chauffer that phrase often greeted local telephone operators as an answer to their “Number please” That request was one of the easier ones according to Pat Jessop who worked 31 years 10 of them as an operator with Mountain States Telephone Co in Hyrum and Logan “You knew practically everyone by their voice” she said “A lot of times you didn't even have to look where the call was coming from You just knew who it w:s by their voice “But sometimes people would say things like 'Take me up a block and over through the clothesline’ or ‘just give me the doc' instead of giving us the number Sometimes they would ask for people by nicknames” Though often maligned telephone opera- tors provided an important public service In almost any situation in an emergency or just because they were there operators were literally as close as the phone “We had to know a lot in those days” Jessop said “Not just peoples’ phone numbers People called in and asked lots of strange things We had people call in and ask how to make bread and what ingredients you’re supposed to put in cakes We’d have little kids whose mothers weren’t home and we'd have to baby-ten- d them over the phone “And we had lots of mad people We were blamed for a lot” People always thought “operators knew everything” she said “And to a certain degree we had to know everything because we helped a lot of people That’s what we were there for” One of the things operators had to know A 1957 was how to use the switchboard and how to decipher what now seems like a complicated system of telephone numbers Before Logan switched over to an system in 1959 most customers were on four- - and eight-part- y lines Jessop said A number like 197W meant one ring was that party’s signal 197R was the g party on that same line Eight-part- y lines had a more complex system of all-di- al two-rin- rings Party lines could be a source of problems between those who had to share their telephone service “That made bitter enemies of lots of people in lots of cities and towns” she said “A lot of times you'd see people on the street and they’d ask 'Isn’t there some way you can get me changed to another line?’” The rings were made either by pushing a lever switch on the operator's panel forward or pulling it back just one of the aspects of learning how to operate a switchboard One of the qualifications to be an operator was a “long reach” to be able to make connections to all the positions on their boards Jessop said All calls also went through the operators she said To call some cities a local operator had to go through as many as six or seven operators in other long-distan- cities to get through to the final destination Accidental disconnections were common she added “In those days when it was long distance it was really long distance because it took you a long time to get a call through" she said With the changeover to a dial system Jessop went out and taught customers how to deal with that new technology “I was one of the people who went out with the installers and taught people how to use their dial phones” she said “It was traumatic for some people Many thought they’d never be able to use their phones Judy Glad works at an AT&T computerized operator station in Salt Lake City The station which handles calls from Utah Idaho and parts of Nevada is a far cry from the operator station Kathy Findlay of the Salt Lake AT&T office works at the which is used for station conference and mobile calls old-styl- old-styl- e e Jim Johnsoncover illustration which was used until 1959 Get Ready for SUMMER FUN!! Tots to Teens New Spring fashins from: Osh Kosh Buster Brown Jordacne Suzy Q Jeanne Guest and more again” Jessop served as a service assistant and chief operator before moving to the business office and managing phone center stores before her retirement She has seen many changes in telephone service one of which has been the loss of an personal touch “We had people say our operators were hide and were not helpful but I think for the most part the operators were very friendly” she said “Then we went through a period of time when operators were not as friendly or helpful as they had ed been” because of the competition among companies the friendliness and helpfulness of the past are once again being stressed she said It's especially important now when there’s no longer the Now long-distan- On the cover view of the Logan switchboard ce contact with the telephone company Very seldom does a customer even need to talk to an operator nowadays Jessop said but when they do the operators are courteous and will even thank customers “And that helps” she said “It’s more like what we used to do We knew everyone and tried to do the best we could to help them We did have to know more than just the general work because we did help a lot of people” Our goal is to keep Cache Valley's kids the d kids around We strive to offer and selection at affordable quality New this year is a 10 deduction on allprices our Health Tex We appreciate the loyalty of our customers and hope we can continue to serve you best-dresse- The Issue of Divestiture By PatMcCutcheon staff writer of the dial conversion He said the “pretty changeover was the forerunner of today’s numbers 752 smooth” "It was a major effort one The telephone company that required something of Perhaps no recent consumer issue has been more widely began an extensive publicity every person who had a phone” publicized and had more of an campaign in 1958 to prepare its Carlson said “Every phone impact than the 1984 breakup of customers for the change number and every bit of American Telephone and Tele- Every phone number in the city equipment changed” The advertisements helped graph Co With the divestiture was going to be different The people in this country had to do new system brought the condition people to the something they had not done “SKyline 2” prefix to Logan changeover Lee said “and the before — think about their telephone service Telephones in the United States are something Americans have generally taken for granted You picked up the phone and it worked Only those who have used other countries’ telephone systems could truly appreciate how efficient our system really was Then came divestiture and with the breakup of AT&T consumers had to decide which service to use decipher complicated bills and figure out if they wanted to own their telephones — and then decide which one to buy from which manufacturer But as much as divestiture made people think about their telephone service it probably did not have the immediate impact as when Cache Valley in the 1950s went through what was called the "dial conversion” according to former Mountain Bell local manager Thad A Carlson Cache Valley in 1950 had an telephone system Carlson said with operators placing all calls Some people still had the old “candlestick” type phones with separate earpieces others had to crank their phone boxes to get the public accepted dial conversion pretty readily” But there were some old habits that died hard Lee said “Some people would dial a wrong number and still say ‘The operator gave me the wrong number”' he said The new system included 541 N MAIN LOGAN OPEN MON-SA- 752-116T 7 10-- 6 See PHONES on page S Heart Answers long-distan- Aneurysm An aneurysm is the result of a weakening of the wall of an artery which balloons out in a protrusion It may rupture under the pressure of blood flow— this could cause sudden potentially fatal loss of blood or stroke if it occurs in the brain Aneurysms may develop in any artery but the abdominal aorta is the most common site If the aneurysm progressively increases in size it should be removed despite the risk Treatment involves surgical removal of the operator But whatever telephone aneurysm and replacement of technology was found in the that section of the artery with home the result was still the a graft same — you picked it up and someone was there to help you WEPE FIGHTING FOR Preceded by the dial conOJR LIFE version in Smithfield and 1954 in in Lewiston and Hyrum & bubble-lik- e al and Richmond in 1956 Logan’s conversion to an system came in 1959 Carlson said Ernest Lee was Mountain Bell's local manager at the time all-di- al American Heart Association our customer's needs have changed from a few years ago and we have expanded our services to satisfy those needs Today Property management by the only CPM Certified Property Manager in all of the valley Rentals Galore filled with great people We develop marketing plans to sell the homes we list We make things 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