Linking to Monday Murals.
On the road to Connemara, Ireland, headed toward the 12 Bens (hills).
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.
Linking to Monday Murals.
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32 comments:
ah, I wondered why no one was smiling, then I read to the end.
What a nice tribute to wonderful people. They were really a chain between people.
oh, that is too cool. what a neat mural. (:
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.
hi linda! what a powerful tribute to amazing people.
those murals are work of arts!
so pretty!
big hugs!
O wow that is a marvellous mural with an equally marvellous story behind it.
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!
That's a nice testament to the first PBX operator. I remember my one and only experience with a party line- hated it!!
i guess florence could never have a day off or certainly not a sick day! wow!
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.
and Florence could be a source of all kinds of gossip (if she wanted!)
These murals are SO striking...I'm really impressed that Lake Placid would allow such subversive imagery. Amazing.
Good one! It's hard to believe how things once worked.
How interesting!
You have an excellent series when it comes to murals. They are masterpieces.
wow!! how cool and how interesting! thanks for posting this!
Fabulous post, Linda. Just think - the PBX was "high tech" in its time!
That is a very impressive mural. The operator was one busy lady.
That is some! mural!!! not many place thing to immortalize events of a place like that. Lucky.
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.
Nice pictures and stories. And enjoy your fall travels. I'll look forward to your photos.
What a cool story and murals. My, technology has changed over the years. I wonder what Florence would think of Iphones? Great post.
This really tells a story about how important the telephone must have been in rural towns. Great post Linda. :)
Wonderful mural! I don't remember phones that looked like this but I do remember operators.
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!!!
That reminds me! I have a mural collection. Must do a post!!!! Thank you! Yours are fabulous.
that's quite a bit of history captured in that mural
Excellent Linda!!!! My MIL and sister were both telephone operators [my MIL retired from that occupation]...so this really hit home for me.
We had those old phones when I was a kid in Australia & we lived in the Outback, party line too!
What a fabulous mural.
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?"
P.S. Me again. Our phone number was 61!
These are great murals, Linda, and one of my favorite things to see. Thanks for sharing.
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