Telephone operators reminisce about the old days at 55-year reunion

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

It was 55 years ago, on March 5, 1967, when things changed for Arlene Reimer and her co-workers at the telephone company. It “was a sad day for the employees to see the new technology replacing us,” Reimer declared.

On that day, Elkader went to direct dial, replacing the big switchboard with lights and the telephone operators that were necessary for connecting people—far different than the direct access provided by cell phones or even landlines. 

Listening to Reimer describe the process is to marvel at the pace of technological progress. You see, back then, an operator, of which there were 12 who worked in the building located next to what is now Fennelly’s Irish Pub, would connect you to whomever you wanted to call. 

In this case, if you wanted to talk to someone, you would pick up your receiver and, according to Reimer, the operator would see a light flash on the switchboard and plug into it. The caller would “almost immediately hear a real voice say ‘number please,’” she said. At that point, the operator would ring the number. 

The business office in the building is where Judi Siebrecht and Eileen Smith worked, managing repair requests and billing statements, helping people who walked in to pay their telephone bills or make phone calls, and making conversation with the local customers, unlike the automated systems now in use. 

Reimer also described the process for contacting the police, which in 2022 seems completely prehistoric. “Thinking about our police department today, how they have cellphones and laptops, but back then in the 1950s, if someone wanted to talk to a policeman, we would turn on a light that was located above the bakery. They would call in and we would tell them who to call.”

Then there is the utter comedy associated with what used to be rural lines, which had farmers on a party line, with each one having their own special signal and a variation of long and short rings. Reimer said the whole ordeal could be frustrating, especially if you tried to get a call through at a certain time and your neighbor was on the line. 

“Sometimes you just had to interrupt their conversation and politely say if you could use the line,” Reimer said. 

The change, which Reimer said was gradual, was not without an impact. One of the impacts was the loss of friends at the office, who transferred to positions in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids to continue with the telephone company. Others, who had connections to the community through family farms, remained, collecting severance pay for about a year. 

A larger impact, one indicative of the times, was that the transition to direct dial didn’t just mean a loss of jobs, but more specifically, a loss of jobs for women. 

“The telephone company was about the only place where a girl out of high school had an opportunity for a good paying job. It was a second-best paying job. The best paying job was at the Soil Conservation Service,” Reimer said. 

Reminiscing about some of the more memorable moments during her career, Reimer mentioned the tornado on Nov. 5, 1958, that hit downtown Elkader at 3:40 p.m. 

“What a terrifying moment! A memory I shall never forget…the whole switchboard was lit up! Then no power. We had flashlights and candles, but by 10 p.m., the power company got power back into the office. We only had one long distance circuit, so we only took emergency calls,” Reimer said. 

Then there were the simpler things, like when Reimer made a long distance call to Texas, which in the 1950s was a big deal. Or the breaks with co-workers, who Reimer said, “were just like family.” 

Breaks were spent at Miller Ice Cream, where they all enjoyed a treat. The ladies would spend their lunch breaks at places that, much like the telephone office, have been lost to time, like the Bridge Café and Checkerboard Café. They also enjoyed shopping trips to Graham’s Department Store, which is now occupied by the Extension Office. 

The ladies of the phone company, like a Band of Operators, still enjoy those simpler times together with organized reunions. The first one took place in 1996, 29 years after technology displaced them. Since then, the ladies have held a reunion every year until 2018. Organizing has slowed due to COVID-19, age and loss. 

“We have lost many dear friends that once had that special voice, ‘number please!’ Reimer said. 

But this year, the ladies decided it was time to do it again, to see the friendly faces that are like family and hear the familiar voices that remind them of a different era. Fifty-five years ago, Elkader changed, and with it the lives of its telephone operators. But it could not undo the bond created as they celebrated their 55-year reunion over breakfast with friendly conversation, reminiscing chitchat.