If you've ever visited our museum or taken our guided tour, then you know we love talking about operators! Switchboard operators were essential to the success of the telephone industry, but as modern technology progressed, operators became obsolete.
One man who played a major role in this obsolescence was Almon B. Strowger, the inventor of the the automatic dialing device.
Pictured below is the Stowger 11-Digit Dial Wall Telephone from about 1905. The dial has eleven digits, numbered 0 through 9 as well as an additional dial position for “long distance,” which would connect the person dialing to an operator when they wanted to place calls outside of the local exchange.
One man who played a major role in this obsolescence was Almon B. Strowger, the inventor of the the automatic dialing device.
Pictured below is the Stowger 11-Digit Dial Wall Telephone from about 1905. The dial has eleven digits, numbered 0 through 9 as well as an additional dial position for “long distance,” which would connect the person dialing to an operator when they wanted to place calls outside of the local exchange.
Strowger was born on February 11, 1830, in Penfield, New York.
Growing up, he was notorious for inventing things, especially if it got him and his siblings out of doing their daily chores.
After spending time in both the military and as a teacher, Strowger bought an undertaking business in Kansas in June of 1882, and it was with this career change that he was able to focus more on his inventions.
Though we don’t know for certain what prompted Stowger to design the automatic dialer, we do know of a story his relative Ronald Stowger told that shows a connection between experiences in his life and the desire for technology that bypassed operators.
According to Ronald, Almon was losing business due to the interference of a telephone operator who was romantically involved with a rival undertaker. Stowger believed this woman to be diverting calls for his business to this competitor, and he was fueled by this to invent a device that would allow folks to directly call other people, without the need for an operator to connect them. Thus, he began to experiment and create, and the first automatic telephone exchange was installed successfully in La Porte, Indiana on November 3, 1892.
Growing up, he was notorious for inventing things, especially if it got him and his siblings out of doing their daily chores.
After spending time in both the military and as a teacher, Strowger bought an undertaking business in Kansas in June of 1882, and it was with this career change that he was able to focus more on his inventions.
Though we don’t know for certain what prompted Stowger to design the automatic dialer, we do know of a story his relative Ronald Stowger told that shows a connection between experiences in his life and the desire for technology that bypassed operators.
According to Ronald, Almon was losing business due to the interference of a telephone operator who was romantically involved with a rival undertaker. Stowger believed this woman to be diverting calls for his business to this competitor, and he was fueled by this to invent a device that would allow folks to directly call other people, without the need for an operator to connect them. Thus, he began to experiment and create, and the first automatic telephone exchange was installed successfully in La Porte, Indiana on November 3, 1892.