The Hello Girls of Seattle: Inside the City’s First Telephone Exchange
A rare architectural tour reveals the inner workings of the new Bell Building on Third Avenue, where thirty young women manage the city's voice network through a complex web of wires and switchboards.
THE HELLO'S BUILDING OF SEATTLE Telephone Co.
The Seattle Telephone Company has moved into its new hall-line office on Third Avenue. The building is a model of perfection, comparing very favorably with similar ones in other and larger cities. In constructing and furnishing this building, all the latest ideas and mechanical inventions have been carried out, and ample room has been left for future growth.
On entering the building, one passes into the main office or reception room, in which is located the switchboard of the 'Hello' service. In the rear of which is the customer's room, and back of that the superintendent of construction has his firm. In the rear, on the ground floor, a dining and lounging room has been made up for the operators. This room is furnished with lockers, tables, and a range for cooking, and is in charge of a matron.
On reaching the second one's story, one is called to a network of soundproofed wire arrangements on a frame or case, each wire having its place and number. From this rack the wires are taken to the street through cables, fifteen in number containing 750 wires to a cable. Each wire has a lightning arrester, which is made of very fine German silver wire, making a shock absolutely impossible.
In one corner of the basement is the storage battery room containing 120 batteries which are charged every twenty-four hours.
The chief point of interest is the operator's hall on the third floor. A long switchboard extends from one end of the room to the other. At this board are seated about thirty girls, who look after the 'Hello' service in the city. On the same side of the room is the consolidation board, and in the center is what is called the central. Over seventy calls are answered at these boards, and about 4,000 calls are made daily. With an operator at each switch this makes it possible to talk every day.
The exchange of the Seattle and the United Telephone Company is one of the largest in the city, three being 150 operators, exclusive of one supervisor.
This 1903 description of the 'Hello Girls' offers a fascinating glimpse into the early professionalization of women in tech. While today we associate telephone switching with obsolete technology, these women were the original network engineers and customer service representatives, managing complex infrastructure in an era when such roles were rare for women. The detailed description of their break rooms and safety features highlights how the industry was just beginning to recognize the human element behind the wires.
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