'Hello Girls' the talk of the town

Long before almost everyone carried communication with the world in their pocket, Glossop’s telephone switchboard workers were the only form of contact by telephone.

Seventy-five-years-ago mobile ‘phones were something beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

In the summer of 1950, there were only 700 private and commercial subscribers in the whole of Glossop.

The only way most people had of making a call was by going to one of the familiar red public telephone boxes, lifting the handset and speaking to what the Chronicle described as a ‘hello’ girl.

Glossop’s telephone exchange was on the first floor of the post office building on Victoria Street and keen to see what went on there a curious Chronicle reporter paid a visit.

He soon found that there was more to being a switchboard operator than simply saying hello to whoever was making the call.

Before being taken on applicants had to have a voice test to make sure they could speak concisely and clearly and pass a six-weeks-long training course that tested how proficient they were in arithmetic, geography and speedwriting.

Then she, and it was always women and not men who were employed, were put before a mini-switchboard and observed by an examiner at her ability in connecting callers to and from Glossop by speedily putting cables and plugs into connections.

Glossop exchange dealt with, on average, 4,500 calls a day so speed, accuracy and a cool head was essential.

Hello girls also had to be polite at all times, no matter how much aggravation they got.

A supervisor told the reporter: “We get all kinds of callers and it can be trying. All sorts of people, polite, sarcastic, indifferent and angry.”

Nothing in that department it seems has changed.