The Last Towns to Use Operators to Connect Calls - AT&T Archives

Bonus Edition introduction by George Kupczak of the AT&T Archives and History Center

A film about the last few offices in the United States that, in the 1970s, had yet to convert to the dial system:

Catalina Island, California
Catalina Island has been an important little corner of the AT&T world. In fact, the link between Catalina and Los Angeles was the very first in the Bell System to be wireless. The island was linked to the mainland via a radiotelephony system all the way back in 1920. For having such a significant telephone technology first, it's ironic that this film chronicles the city's telephone technology "last".

Virginia City, Nevada
In the film, an operator — in fact, the only operator — who had been working in Virginia City since 1949 is interviewed about the prospective cutover (a cutover is a switch from one type of telephony system to another). She talks about the fact that they will have automation, and more than one operator. Virginia City hasn't grown much since then, however. The city proper still has a population of only around 850 people (2010 census).

St. Ignace, Michigan
As this city still used 1940s switchboards, the incipient electronic switching system was to completely change telephone operation in this sleepy summer tourist town. But towns with no dial service also had customers who couldn't get then-modern features like call waiting on their phones.

Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ