Remember telephone party lines, or cranking the handle on the wall phone to alert the operator? Eloise Ball will share her memories in a program titled “Hello Central? Stories of the Telephone” at Old Independence Regional Museum on Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m.
In 1947 she started working on contract in the Newark telephone office as chief operator. The office was also her home, with a room for two side-by side switchboards in the two-bedroom house. She supervised six employees who took day shifts at the switchboards. Two operators had to be on the job at all times.
“I worked the night shifts and slept on a roll away bed in a room next to the switchboard room,” Ball related. When a call came through, she could hear it and respond with “Operator.” As chief operator she was paid by the month and then paid her employees from that amount, along with collecting bills and keeping the books. At times she also cleaned the carbons on the back of the switchboards to maintain good sound connections.
“Our party lines reached Oil Trough, and Tupelo and Cord, and other small towns. Before party lines, you could just call others on your same line by ringing a certain code on your box wall telephone,” Ball said. “Toll lines from Newport to Batesville came through the Newark office.”
In 1954 the Newark office closed and Ball was transferred to Newport. One of her operators, Virginia Clark, went to Batesville. “I really liked being an operator, but they needed me more in the office in Newport, so that’s where I worked until I retired in 1981,” Ball stated. “I saw a lot of changes in telephone communication over the 34 years I spent in the business.”
The museum invites people to attend and share their own memories of using the telephone in earlier times. Curator Twyla Wright said, “ I hope families will take this opportunity to bring their children to learn about telephone history.” While Ball tells of her experiences, she will show old telephones and photos. The museum will put two early telephones on display during the program.
Normal museum hours are: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children. The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville.
Old Independence is a regional museum serving a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820’s Arkansas territory.
