A telephonists’ reunion in 1960. Front row from left: (unknown), Gloria Pearce, Chloe Patterson, Rose Ward, and Bronwyn Carpenter. First row: Fay White, Ruth Sherwin (nee Burrows), (unknown), Colleen Flynn (nee Hogan), Joan Coughlan (nee Wildin), Barbara Canty (nee Toone), Val Geale (nee O’Neill), Nola Gordon (nee Elliott), and Edna Kirkby (nee Hogan).
Second row: (Unknown), Joan Verrender, Billie Masters, Edna Spice, Beth O’Neill, and Therese Bowen. Back row: Kay Day (nee Ashton), Carmel Shea, (Unknown) and Carol Withers. Photo: Kirkby family collection.
Years ago in Goulburn telephonists at the manual Telephone Exchange were expected to know everything, as if they were a forerunner to Google.
Why the power was out and when was it coming back on, where the fire was and the doctors’ phone numbers. Some people even rang to ask what time football matches started.
And yet the Exchange staff were schooled and supervised on only a handful of approved sentences from which they could not deviate:
“Number please?” “Are you getting through?” “Have you finished?” “Three minutes, are you extending?”
Fresh out of high school, 15-year-old Edna Hogan topped the State in her PMG entrance exam and began work on 27 April 1959 at the Exchange where she later met technician and her future husband, Ross Kirkby.
Almost all the staff were women. Men on the late shift from 11 pm to 6 am were known as ‘night boys’ and included Earl Hailstone.
“We called him “Early Earl” because he often came in about half an hour early to allow the 11 pm shift girls to have an early-mark,” Edna said. “The other night boy was Tommy Lenane.”
A widespread heavy dump of snow brought down telephone lines everywhere in 1962, creating havoc for exchanges.
“We had a 13-hour wait to connect a call to Sydney because businesses took preference over private calls,” Edna said. “The linesmen were working overtime to get the lines back up and working.
“If we could, we would get through to different exchanges which had access to Brisbane and Brisbane would put us through to Sydney. Some of the calls went via Melbourne. It just depended on who you could get who didn’t have problems because it was a fairly wide snowfall,” she said.
When the exchange became automatic, a directory assistance service was established in Goulburn providing telephonists with ongoing work. Edna returned and worked there for more than three years after she was married.
Valmai Pinney (nee Jackson) was in her mid-teens working at the Exchange in March 1951, when the switchboard lit up with calls after a house fire in Long Street, North Goulburn.
Firemen later discovered a 16-month-old baby boy had burned to death in his cot.
“We must have had 30 or 40 calls,” Val said. “Not everyone had a phone, this was not long after the war.”
Edna Kirkby in the directory assistance work room in 1988. Photo: Kirkby family collection.
An early photo of the manual Exchange in Goulburn. Photo: Kirkby family collection.
Linda Cooper receives recognition for her 10 years service at the Exchange from Julie McDonald in 1990. Photo: Cooper family collection.
John Thoroughgood puts a call through on the Goulburn Exchange in 1977. Photo: Thoroughgood family collection.
Linda Cooper (nee McCallum) recalls three to seven operators were rostered at any time and shifts varied from six-hour, five-and-a-half and seven hours. She preferred the early morning one. Nine to noon was the busiest shift because of business calls.
“We were really busy, there was no time to gossip. When the monitor (supervisor) went home you could chat then,” she said.
Telephonists repeated frequently requested numbers like doctors so often they knew them off by heart. She can still recite the number for Springfield station, a major grazing property on the Braidwood Road.
Staff had foot warmers under their footrests and most belonged to the Postal Institute, which organised tennis games, bus excursions to shows and games with staff from other Exchanges.
On his first night shift in 1977 John Thoroughgood, aged 28, had to contend with an electrical storm blacking out much of Goulburn.
“Half the town was ringing the Exchange to find out when the power was coming back on,” he said. “I was in such a state of panic I nearly headed home.”
His duties included ringing smaller exchanges including at Braidwood, Gunning and Crookwell to check they were able to respond to calls.
John didn’t always follow the rules.
“I knew a girl in town I was friendly with and she booked a wake-up call for the train the next morning at 6 am,” he said.
“I thought I’ll have a bit of fun with this girl and when I rang for the wake up call, instead of the official ‘good morning this is your wake up call’ I crowed like a rooster.”
Management and staff at the 1984 telephonists’ reunion: Back row from left: Billie Masters, (unknown), Edna Spice, Norma Phillips, Rhonda Mobbs, and Ken Robson. Front row, from left: Keith Ballantine, Lionel Cooper, Jan Henderson and Marie Webb. Photo: Kirkby family collection.
The trouble was, the girl’s father answered the phone. Unimpressed he later made an official complaint.
“I ended up on the mat – please explain,” John said. Luckily his boss had a sense of humour.
Allan Walcott says the night shifts were long, lonely affairs in 1975. In his early 20s, he would be longing for the sun to rise and sometimes dozed off, missing appointed wake-up calls.
One of his duties was climbing the 80 degree steps of the Post Office clock tower with a crank handle to wind the town clock. He had breathtaking views over Goulburn, a well-connected city.
Original Article published by John Thistleton on About Regional.
