Monday, October 8, 2012

Monday Mural

In December, 1930, the local newspaper headlined that the Lake Placid Phone Exchange would soon be ready - with the equipment installed and 60 homes wired and ready to go.  A PBX board was used until 1935.

Florence Booker came to Lake Placid to become the town's first PBX operator.  She operated it during the day and her daughter, Mildred, a high school student, answered the night calls.  It was not uncommon for people to call Florence and tell her they were going somewhere and ask her to forward their calls.  Then they would let her know when they were coming home.  If you needed to know anything, you called her.
This mural represents a phone call between Dr. Dewey's wife (you can read about Dr. Dewey here) and Dr. Eide (read about Dr. Eide here) the day after Christmas in 1931.  Dr. Dewey suffered a stroke and never fully regained consciousness.

This mural is 60' wide by 11' high and was completed in 2001.  A child's play telephone is hidden in the mural.

Linking to Monday Murals.

32 comments:

VioletSky said...

ah, I wondered why no one was smiling, then I read to the end.

biebkriebels said...

What a nice tribute to wonderful people. They were really a chain between people.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

oh, that is too cool. what a neat mural. (:

Anonymous said...

Linda I think this is the first Monday Mural you have posted that has had such a serious story. It is painted with lots of texture and the emotion and sadness of the people was transferred from the brush to the mural. It just hits me this morning. Great mural.

Betty Manousos said...

hi linda! what a powerful tribute to amazing people.

those murals are work of arts!
so pretty!

big hugs!

Gerald (SK14) said...

O wow that is a marvellous mural with an equally marvellous story behind it.

Jan n Jer said...

I remember the days of having a party line with our phone. Yep I was naughty sometimes n listened in! Love this Mural...can you imagine in this day n age...our young people have no clue how good they have it!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

That's a nice testament to the first PBX operator. I remember my one and only experience with a party line- hated it!!

TexWisGirl said...

i guess florence could never have a day off or certainly not a sick day! wow!

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

What a great mural. I like the power and strength in the hands that seem large as they are closer to the viewer. Sometimes I feel like the old feller slouching in the chair. Thanks for showing this one.

hamilton said...

and Florence could be a source of all kinds of gossip (if she wanted!)

Anonymous said...

These murals are SO striking...I'm really impressed that Lake Placid would allow such subversive imagery. Amazing.

RedPat said...

Good one! It's hard to believe how things once worked.

Dianna said...

How interesting!

Red said...

You have an excellent series when it comes to murals. They are masterpieces.

momto8 said...

wow!! how cool and how interesting! thanks for posting this!

Louis la Vache said...

Fabulous post, Linda. Just think - the PBX was "high tech" in its time!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

That is a very impressive mural. The operator was one busy lady.

Mary said...

That is some! mural!!! not many place thing to immortalize events of a place like that. Lucky.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Another impressive mural from Lake Placid. Like John of Sinbad...I was impressed by the focus on the hands. A reminder of the hands that built this country. Unbelievably, this mural reminds me of working as a PBX operator in college. Boy, has technology changed life in the ensuing years. Thanks, Linda, for contributing to Monday Mural.

Bryan said...

Nice pictures and stories. And enjoy your fall travels. I'll look forward to your photos.

eileeninmd said...

What a cool story and murals. My, technology has changed over the years. I wonder what Florence would think of Iphones? Great post.

Nancy said...

This really tells a story about how important the telephone must have been in rural towns. Great post Linda. :)

EG CameraGirl said...

Wonderful mural! I don't remember phones that looked like this but I do remember operators.

Carletta said...

I really enjoyed seeing the closeups Linda. The painting is super well done.
I remember operators too and party lines - a pain! I knew my neighbor listened!!!

Jenn Jilks said...

That reminds me! I have a mural collection. Must do a post!!!! Thank you! Yours are fabulous.

kayerj said...

that's quite a bit of history captured in that mural

Hootin Anni said...

Excellent Linda!!!! My MIL and sister were both telephone operators [my MIL retired from that occupation]...so this really hit home for me.

Roslyn said...

We had those old phones when I was a kid in Australia & we lived in the Outback, party line too!
What a fabulous mural.

Kathy said...

Love this! We have a town nearby that also has a mural dedicated to the telephone industry. One of my aunts was the telephone operator in our small town long before dial tone. I can still hear her say, "Number please?"

Kathy said...

P.S. Me again. Our phone number was 61!

Anonymous said...

These are great murals, Linda, and one of my favorite things to see. Thanks for sharing.