About this object

Until the 1960s, telephone switchboard operators worked at desks like this connecting calls by hand. Skilled operators memorized plug locations and could quickly join the correct lines. In large commercial settings,banks of desks sat in rows, wired together through openings on the side panels. if you look into the side of this desk, you can see the many wires required to connect callers.

Why this object matters

These Desks often sat in banks and were integral to connecting telephone calls. They also provided one of the earliest entrances for women into the modern industrial workforce in the early 1920s