Remembering a telephone number in the early days was much easier. When telephones first arrived in the area, a phone number could be one digit or two — we didn’t have to worry about area codes!
When phones began to play a role in society in the Porcupine, people were excited. It was also a unique feature for this time. Phones were installed and operational by 1912. By 1928, 1,112 phones were operational in the community. There were jobs available to work the switchboard and people could reach each other by phone rather than mailed letters or simply stopping by.
On April 13, 1975, the Porcupine Camp Historical Society interviewed Julie Elizabeth Townsend about her time as a telephone operator. The first telephone exchange opened on Feb. 21, 1921. The work shifts were 20 hours long. The night shift ran from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next morning. In 1921, she started work as a telephone operator. They had a long-distance board to Porquis Junction which from there, went to North Bay and so on. They had 255 numbers but most were on a party line. She fondly remembered the job: "It was the best job in the camp.”
Lempi Mansfield, another resident in the Porcupine, worked as a telephone operator with Mrs. Townsend. She was paid $60 a month. She said that on the night shift they would sleep at the office. The office was above the fire station.
Gladys Kitchen, on May 7, 1975, in her interviews with the historical society described her time in the early days. She arrived in May 1915 with her parents by train. “We had very primitive living when it came to utilities, we had wood stoves and coal stoves, we did have power and we did have a telephone but it was a party-line system.” Their party line had around 10 lines on it and she remembers it being very bad at night time.
Does anyone else remember their days on the party line?
The Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre regularly provides TimminsToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.
Find out more of what the Timmins museum has to offer here and read more Remember This columns here.
