Shot 75 / 7:00–7:08Select a shot, or shift-click to select multipleSelect a shot, or double-tap to select multiple

Telephone and Telegraph

194610 min 35 sec110 shots

The film surveys telephone and telegraph services, briefly tracing their development before describing their importance to business, news distribution, financial transactions, and long-distance communication. Scenes show women operating teleprinters and switchboards while men maintain transmission equipment, install machinery, conduct laboratory work, manage offices, and deliver messages. The telegraph section explains how operators send, receive, classify, and prepare messages and outlines paths to supervisory and technical positions.

A fictional town called Homeville provides an example of how engineers, construction crews, operators, supervisors, and clerical workers establish and run a telephone exchange. The film describes company and on-the-job training, useful school subjects, employee qualifications, difficult outdoor work for linemen, and opportunities for promotion. It closes by encouraging young people with varied skills and education levels to consider telephone or telegraph work as stable employment that serves the public.

Provenance and rights

Original producer: Holmes (Burton) Films, Inc.
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Original title: Telephone and Telegraph
Date: 1946
Original link: Open on Internet Archive
Rights: public_domain