FLASHBACK: How can I help you?

Butler telephone exchange on the corner of Delaware and Chestnut streets in Butler around 1940

As above, the same location today

Long before texting and social media, the primary way to have a conversation over a distance was by telephone. Most homes only had one telephone, and sorry teenagers, privacy was a little hard to find since the phone was usually located in the central part of the house, well within earshot of your pesky siblings

In the very early days, the telephone had a crank handle- give it a good spin and it would 'ring' an operator who came on the line and asked who would you like to call. However, by the 1950's, the  rotary dial phone allowed you to dial the number you wanted, and an operator was only needed for calls outside of your exchange area.

Operators working at the Butler exchange

During all this evolution, there was a staff of operators who worked at the United Telephone office located at the corner of Delaware and Chestnut streets in Butler ready to provide help when needed.

As time and technology moved along, by the 1970's, the pushbutton phone and automated exchanges eliminated the need for operators, and the Butler telephone office slowly dwindled away; and today, wireless phones have almost completely taken over.

Read more about the 'good ol days' of placing calls in Bates County HERE 

 -our thanks to Jana Rosier