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Before cell phones and landlines with the ability to direct-dial long-distance calls, hundreds of thousands of men and women handled walls of circuit boards ready to assist person-to-person, collect, long-distance, and toll calls. It was the voice of the telephone company, and it was a career that put area high school graduates immediately to work in jobs with outstanding benefits. A commitment to customer service and a solid work ethic were its main requirements, both of which could be very challenging in extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calls like these were answered in the old South Central Bell office at the intersection of Jefferson and McGrew Streets in Shelbyville, just off the public square. Numerable Shelbyville residents and those from other communities found work with the company, moving from operators to business departments in nearby cities once the switchboards were phased out by updated technology. Working side by side and carpooling united these operators for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the days of the switchboard, posting the schedule (or tours) was the most highly anticipated event. Seniority ensured better shifts, and it wasn\u2019t uncommon to work split shifts in Shelbyville\u2019s 24\/7 location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Baucom Jones, Judy Neeley Sawyer, Linda Neeley Wells, Zena Norris Phillips, and Frances Hill Baucom are a small part of the Shelbyville group that worked together and went on to retire from the telephone company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will never forget Daddy taking me to apply and our conversation with Robbie Raines. I went to work right after graduation,\u201d said Phillips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J<\/em>ones, who started in 1970, recalls, \u201cMy first tour was 1:30-10 p.m. until I \u2018graduated\u2019 to a split 7-11 a.m.\/4- 7:30 p.m. shift. Those shifts took up your whole day and night. It was too bad if you had something planned unless you could get someone to swap with you. Calling out was not an option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baucom agreed. \u201cIt was hard to keep up with the schedule. Sometimes we would have two or more people show up at the same time, but we always had Ms. Nelle to work it out and help us laugh through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laughter permeates the air when these ladies are together, no matter how long since they were last together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the Shelbyville office closed, they and other co-workers commuted, further sealing their bonds of friendship and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all agree that commuting also brought hardship, especially during inclement weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wells said, \u201cWe have driven in sleet, snow, and on solid sheets of ice. One day, we left Nashville at 3:30 in the afternoon, and it was 8:30 that evening when we finally arrived in Shelbyville. The six inches of ice we had one winter is the only time I recall we didn\u2019t make it to Nashville to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were like family, and I always enjoyed talking with customers, too,\u201d Sawyer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, there\u2019s not a pay phone in sight. Switchboards are found in museums, and the operators\u2019 work can be seen only in old video footage and documentaries. But one thing survived; the friendships and memories are as strong and colorful as ever. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before cell phones and landlines with the ability to direct-dial, hundreds of thousands of men and women worked South Central Bell switchboards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-8044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-january"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_9536-commetns-1024x683.jpg\")
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