THG Health Warning... THG Health Warning... |
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Telephony in the Blood |
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| Symptoms & Causes | ||
If you recognised any of the symptoms above, then you too could have 'Telephony in the Blood.' Even with this condition, it is still possible to lead a normal life and to have children but, you will run the risk of passing the genes onto them. However, with advances in modern telecommunications the manifestations of the disease are far less pronounced and are in danger of becoming buried deep in the subjects sub-conscious only to emerge at a possibly embarrassing moment in the future.
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| Case Histories | ||
Ivor Flint (THG Chairperson) recalls his first symptoms... When I was a very young child, my mother gave me a 200 to play with. I was fascinated by it. She worked part-time as a telephonist at the local exchange, and I spent my days, and sometimes nights, with my grandmother who lived at the other end of the road. In pride of place in the bedroom was this picture of my mother, taken at an open day at Farnborough Telephone Exchange in the 1950s. I loved this picture, and as a child it fascinated me. Later on, as a Post Office trained PBX operator, my mother worked on a large CB9 in a local government building. I remember very clearly going to the switchroom on very rare, and special occasions. I gazed in awe and wonderment at this incredible and fascinating friendly beast in front of me, with its winking shutters, and buzzing, and clicking. I watched as my mother, and her colleagues, Sally, the two Madeleines and Helen operated their positions with such grace, accuracy and skill. When I was older, with encouragement from my mother, I would pretend to be an operator and practice writing out telephone tickets. I noticed too the plan phones at the doctors' surgery. It buzzed ! What were those buttons for and why did it buzz ? I remember my grandmother changing her telephone from a 200 to a red 7xx, the first person in our street to have a new telephone. She was very proud of the fact that she was the first person in the street to actually have a telephone, and during the war was allowed to keep it, as she was the air raid warden, as well as being trained as an engineering inspector at a local munitions factory, and needed to be on call. As I grew older, I noticed a local company had a two position dolls eye switchboard on the ground floor of one of their offices, and another had a modern grey 2+6. On the way home from music practice, I would walk home rather than take the bus, and peak at the sleek 2+6, then walk the mile or so to be able to gaze at a 10+50, so majestic to a ten year old, and wonder. Then the great day came when we had a telephone installed, two tone green, in the hall, with a bellset extension so that mum could hear the 'phone ring when she was gardening. A couple of years later, this was moved upstairs to the bedroom as a plan 1A, and we were very modern, and had a green Trimphone installed in the hall! When I got to secondary school, the school office had a 3+12! I did a project on the G.P.O. and contacted the local Telephone Manager's Office and was sent, a packet containing a set of descriptive leaflets on a variety of PMBXs and PABXs. I was in heaven! But how did you operate them? My uncle was a caretaker for a large number of buildings in the West End, and had to inspect them regularly. I used to go with him on his rounds, and very occasionally I glimpsed a switchboard or two, but there were also these strange green or grey telex machines, which I had never seen before, which appeared to have a life of there own. Much more interesting than the telecasters on sport programmes. These were real, and spewed out punched tape, and text. Well the years rolled by, and I went to University, and on the campus there was a brand new switchboard. The PMBX4 was delightful to watch, and I got the chance to be trained to operate it. A trustworthy position as they didn't want unauthorised calls being made! I have to admit that I was so thrilled at being allowed this privilege that there was no way I was going to spoil it. This skill came in very useful. I could already read a multiple, and soon found myself working a very large PMBX for a company just outside Birmingham on a casual basis. After University, my first job in London was as a PBX operator operating a 1A lamp for a publishing company in the West End. My desire though was to work for the GPO, and my mother insisted that I should join and at the very least get myself GPO trained. This was after all where all the best telephonists came from. I was temping for an agency specialising in telephonists, and had been doing the rounds of Government PBXs, mostly PABX 3s for which I had developed a fondness, along with the trusty 1A lamp, Dolls Eyes, PMBX4s, the occasional but lovely PABX2 and a variety of cordless boards (which I was not too keen on - no skill, no art). My interview at Bloomsbury AMC was a success, and I began training the following week. I had reached telephone heaven !!. Here I learned so much. My training supervisor was keen to answer all my questions, and I did exceptionally well and learnt quickly. I can honestly say that working at Bloomsbury AMC were amongst the happiest days of my life. Still later, I became a supervisor for an insurance company, in charge of the telephone exchange and the wire room too, before going to music college, and I suppose, changing my life forever. Maybe my love of telephones was inborn, or inbred - who knows, but it has been a source of nourishment throughout my life; something with which to identify in this all too fast changing world. Ivor's case is quite pronounced as there have been several generations in his family that were affected and the THG should do all they can to support the activities that he arranges. |
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| Specialist Help & Treatment | ||
If you have a passion for any kind of Telephony you don't have to hide the fact. As already mentioned, it's not curable but, the best treatment is to share your knowledge and experiences with a self-help group such as the THG. They can arrange for you to speak to a specially invited audience who are keen to hear your recollections.
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| How you can help | ||
| See our contacts page,
if you wish to get in touch. |
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