Brief Historical Context of the Telephone in the 1940s to 60s
1940s
Before the 1940s, the nineteenth-century telephone was romanticized as there were fantasies of the potential phones had for romance. Because of the romantic and alluring aura of the telephone, a dominating narrative was that the telephone was for women rather than a masculine device such as the automobile.[1] This idea persisted through the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century because of practical reasons as well. Male voices were less audible than female voices because women were on average, more likely to enunciate and speak in a tone that was better suited for the telephone.[2] This led women to dominate the field of switchboard operators and be seen as the main face of the telephone during wartime, as seen in Figure 1.
In the post-WWII era, there was a transformation in the social, economic, and political spheres in both Canada and the United States. At this time, both countries experienced growth and prosperity following the Great Depression that would continue over the following decades. As a result, more households were able to invest in the telephone because of both their increased wealth allowing for monthly telephone payments, and the end of rationing which allowed for more telephones to be produced.
1950s
The 1950s saw an increase in home telephone ownership compared to the 1940s. At this time, the Great Depression has been long over, and consumerism has had the chance to rise. This brought around an increase in households with telephones and a diversity of different telephone designs on the market. As a result of the growing popularity of the telephone, there was there for more demand for telephone service.
This decade sees the rise of telephone advertisements featuring assortments of different colour phones (see Fig. 2) which signifies not only a growing market but a market for women as well. Telephones being marketed toward women in the 1950s continues the narrative from the late nineteenth century of the romantic, thus feminized, telephone.
1960s
The telephone went through a significant evolution during the late 1950s. Direct long-distance calls became possible, thus the need for switchboard operators was reduced significantly. [3] This was a significant change for the telephone industry and how the telephone functioned because before the automation of the device, workers connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks, but by the 1960s, many switchboard operators lost their jobs; these workers were primarily women.
[1] Stefan Schöberlein. “Call Me Maybe: Telephonic Romances and the Female Voice 1880–1920,” American Literary Realism 51, no. 1 (2018): 9, https://doi.org/10.5406/amerlitereal.51.1.0001.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Emily Yellin, Your Call Is (not That) Important to Us: Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives (New York: Free Press, 2009), 31.