ALMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

APRIL 2001 NEWSLETTER

THE ALMOND TELEPHONE COMPANY/MABEL MCINTOSH BY DONNA B. RYAN

            E-Bay – the buzzword in online shopping today – is usually synonymous with an excited buyer finding what he considers a gem at a bargain price. But when that purchase is a priceless piece of local history, and the buyer is the Allegany County Historian, the story is even more thrilling!

            Almond’s Craig Braack  is ecstatic about his recent purchase of a nearly fifty year old national magazine featuring a colored photo of the old Almond Telephone Company with Mabel McIntosh operating the switchboard and Duane Dennison, lineman, standing at the hand-crank wall phone.

            The February 7, 1953 issue of Colliers magazine, contains the article entitled, “5,000 Ways to Make A Phone Call,” and subtitled, “There are that many – and more – independent telephone companies still in operation in the United States.  Aided by the vast Bell System, the little fellows actually are expanding to give big-city-type service.”   What follows are wonderful stories of many family-owned private companies and how individuals and even entire communities pitch in to keep the telephone lines humming and provide personal assistance to customers in need.  In addition to the large color photo of Almond’s office, the late William .B. Harrison, who owned Allegany Telephone Company, Inc., was lauded for his expertise in modernizing small companies and keeping them in business.

In the the Hagadorn House archives there is a feature story, written for the March 2, 1963 Evening Tribune  by this writer, which reveals some history of telephone service in Almond in the first half of the last century.  This article, written nearly 40 years ago, reads in part:

“For more than 50 years the residents of the village and immediate vicinity enjoyed telephone service provided by the Almond Mutual Telephone Company.  Formed in 1902 when a horse and buggy was as common as television sets are today, the telephone office was the local nerve center of the community.  The old-fashioned, hand-cranked magneto telephone provided a fine method of communication with neighbors and friends during the long winters when going into town was a big event.

            “One of the early leaders in the establishment of the independent telephone company was the late W. L. Fenner, who served as president of the company for many years.  Other early workers in the movement were Floyd Straight, Andrew White, and I. D. Karr.  There were many more.

            “In 1904, an agreement was drawn up between the Alfred Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Almond Company, agreeing to interchange service.  A charge of $2 per year was levied against subscribers, with no toll charge between Alfred and Almond.

            “In the early days of the company, the lines reached from the Henry Allen farm on the Alfred Station Road  (now home of Ralph and Betty Allen) to the Will Bayless farm near the center of Goff Bridge (Almond Dam property today). The lines also extended up as far as the Karr farm (presently  the Wightman farm) on Sand Hill.

            “Many persons served as operators in the Almond telephone office during its lifetime.  Some stayed for a short time, and others rendered years of invaluable service to the people.  Some of them included Mrs. Suzie Bowen, Mrs. Mae Hosley, Mrs. Floyd Dunning, and Mrs. Arthur Doan.    Innumerable persons served as part-time operators to relieve the full-time operator.

            “The woman who served at the switchboard for over ten years and was the last person to operate the board before it was replaced by mechanized equipment was Mrs. Mabel McIntosh of Almond.

            “Reflecting on that part of her life, Mrs. McIntosh noted that she considers the offer of serving as a telephone in a small town a godsend in many ways.  At the time, her husband was recovering from a bad heart attack and was unable to work, and she felt she should do something to bring some money into the family.

            “A short time prior to her October, 1942, appointment, Mrs. McIntosh was taught the workings of the switchboard by her predecessor, Mrs. Doan.  The office was located in a home now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Davis on Almond’s (46) Main Street with living quarters provided off the narrow room which served as the office.

            “Because she was the only operator employed by the company, she was not expected to render 24-hour service.  In the agreement between operator and company drawn up in 1942, it stated,  ‘She shall give prompt and efficient service at all times, both day and night, except that between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. nights, also between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Sundays, no calls need be answered except on the emergency ring, which shall be given preference at all times.’

            “To obtain the operator, subscribers would crank the old wall phones for a long ring.  Without the use of automatic lights which signal the end of a conversation between the parties, the operator would have to check periodically to hear whether or not the parties were still talking.  ‘That is why people used to say that the operator was always listening in on their conversations,’” Mrs. McIntosh chuckled.

            The Evening Tribune story goes on to tell that Mrs. McIntosh’s duties included billing customers and collecting the payments.  She was also expected to sound the noon whistle daily, which was located on the roof of the office, as well as the fire whistle in the event of an emergency. 

Certain blasts were used to signal fires in the various parts of the town in those days. People could tell the general vicinity of fires by the number of blasts on the whistle, after which “hoards of people would rush to their phones and call the office to find out the details,” she remembered. 

“One of the characteristics of telephone service during the years of the one-man switchboard was the personal service by the operator.  Usually, the job was held by a person who was well known and respected in the community.

“For that reason, the operators were asked to deliver a multitude of messages to persons with whom contact could not be made at he time.  ‘Whenever a bake sale or any such event was to be held, they would always notify me so that I could pass the word around,’” she said.

“It was not uncommon for people to call Mrs. McIntosh and say, ‘I am going away for the day.  Will you tell anybody who calls me that I will be back later, please?’

The article also relates this incident that stood out in Mrs. McIntosh’s mind. “She recalls that one day a long distance call from Albany came into the office.  Recognizing the voice as a former local boy whose parents lived across the street from the office, Mrs. McIntosh said, after there was no answer to several rings, ‘I don’t think they are home, Don.  The car is gone.’

She went on to state that the Albany operator was simply amazed, because “even at that time relatively few independent companies employing one operator remained in the state. 

Recalling the 1953 Colliers’ magazine article, Mrs. McIntosh shared these thoughts:  “I never realized that those magazines were sent to foreign countries,” she said, noting that she was surprised to receive a letter from a young man in Solonika, Greece, who had seen the article in a library.  He thought she looked like a kind-hearted lady, and asked her if she could send his family some clothes, as they were quite poor.  “We sent two boxes of clothing to them,” she related, and in return the boys’ mother sent back a handmade needlepoint lunch cloth and napkins.  Also, as a result of the magazine article, she received a large number of requests from out of state antique collectors who asked her to send them outdated wall-type telephones.

In early 1950 there was much discussion about selling the company, but the issue was voted down by stockholders.  At that time, Allen Witter was president of the shareholders, Milton Baker was secretary, and Carl Whitford was treasurer.  “However, the lines were in quite bad shape, and considerable capital was needed to get them in proper working order,” the Evening Tribune article explains, and reports that “in June, 1951, the sale of the assets of the Almond Mutual Telephone Company to the Allegany Telephone Company, Inc., headed by William B. Harrison of Alfred was voted 26-3.”

After nearly a half century of operation, the company’s business was closed out, and the proceeds of the sale were divided among the company’s shareholders.  Mrs. McIntosh was retired, and new cradle-type telephones, private and four-party lines in the village and 24-hour service was now available for customers.  Rural lines were rearranged to serve a maximum of 10 subscribers instead of the former 15- and 20-party lines.

The new equipment and on demand service was not without additional cost to the subscribers, and basic rates for party lines were raised to $2.50 per month plus tax.  Private lines were $3.25 and business private lines were $5.50. 

“In addition to the physical changes, people were immediately aware of the loss of the personal touch, which was characteristic of the local company served by the friendly operator,” the Tribune feature continues.  “No more could they call to ask her to deliver messages, nor could they pick up the phone, crank the handle, and ask, ‘Where’s the fire?’ But to those losses people adapt, and they are considered a necessity in the rapid pace of progress,” the article concludes.

Today, in the 21^st century, we recognize that we are moving farther and farther from the personal touch that we used to enjoy.   But we, as consumers, insist on more “bells and whistles” in communication products, which  continues to escalate the price tag and impersonalise the service.  That, indeed, is the cost of progress.

Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010  Ronald G. Taylor All rights reserved.