War Takes No Holiday: Saving the Phone Calls for Uncle Sam

 During World War II on the home front, civilians sacrificed and saved so that the soldiers, especially those overseas, would have what they needed to fight to victory. Barksdale Air Field promoted the “Jeep-O” civilian /G.I. ride-sharing program to conserve gas and seats on the buses, and homemakers and school children were rationing food and saving and collecting cooking fats. A particularly poignant sacrifice, especially during the holidays, was severely limiting time on the telephone with family and loved ones.

An advertisement from Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company in the December 3rd, 1942, “Planter’s Press” newspaper of Bossier City featured a smiling young woman telephone operator with the caption, “I am a Soldier of the Wires”. This operator persona decided with the holidays approaching to “speak right out and ask for the help [she feels] sure everyone is willing to give” even though, writing as someone with far-away family, it’s a pretty tough ask:

"This December, war will take no holiday and Uncle Sam will be using the telephone more than ever. Therefore, we operators are asking you to help us by not making holiday greeting long distance calls this year. We urge that no such calls be made, especially on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year's Eve."

Even after New Year’s celebrating was over, the demand was still high. The pleas to yield the phone lines continued in the January 7, 1943 issue of the “Planter’s Press:”

“The New Year, 1943, is the ‘end of the beginning.’ A greater burden of toil and conflict lies ahead. And while America’s sons fight in desert and jungle, telephone communication lines at home will carry an ever-increasing load of calls vital to Victory.

Telephone materials are still going to battle in the form of guns and shells. So, to get the most out of our present equipment, we will continue to need your help in keeping long distance lines clear of all but necessary calls. And remember, the greater the distance you talk, the greater the chance of your call getting in the way of important war calls.

Phone customers were also requested to make their calls in the daytime so that lines were available in the evening when soldiers were at liberty to make calls. (Though the “Barksdale Bark” newspaper encouraged the men on base to call in daytime, if at all possible, since it was the less-busy, though more-expensive time on the phone lines. Customers were also asked to keep the lines and operators free by looking up phone numbers themselves in the Directory.

Most of these requests were shown in clever ‘ads’ from the phone company itself, Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph, which served most of the American South. But these ads corresponded with an order from the War Department, which appeared in the 15 October 15, 1942, Bossier Banner-Progress:

The Board of War Communications ordered long distance telephone calls relating to the war effort and public safety be given priority over all other calls, effective November 15. Calls concerning moving armed forces during combat operations, urgent orders for the armed forces, immediate dangers due to presence of the enemy and disasters materially affecting the war effort or public security will get first priority. Operators will give precedence to top priority calls at all times.

If your family has any Bossier Parish WWII stories to tell or photos to share, or if you have any information, stories, or photos about local efforts to help out servicemembers during WWII, we would love to see them or to copy them, with permission, to add to the History Center’s research collection. Please visit us at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center. Don’t forget we have a monthly World War II’s Day coffee and conversation group that meets the second Tuesday of the month, which will continue in the New Year, at the History Center from 10:30-noon. Our next meeting is on January 10th.

We are located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Images: 

1) The Planters Press: 30 Nov 1944

2) The Planters Press:03 Aug 1944

3) The Planters Press:14 Dec 1944

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Talking Telegraph Comes to Bossier Parish

Alexander Graham Bell is best known for inventing the telephone. The fact of the matter is that he was not the first to invent the telephone but the first to receive a U.S. patent on his design, which he applied for in 1876, therefore receiving credit as the inventor. According to the Library of Congress, “Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, began developing the design of a talking telegraph or telephone in 1849. In 1871, he filed a caveat (an announcement of an invention) for his design of a talking telegraph. Due to hardships, Meucci could not renew his caveat.”

Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent drawing
National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives Identifier (NAID) 302052
Public Domain, Source: commons.wikimedia.org

On the day that Bell’s lawyer filed his patent application for his telephone design, another lawyer filed a patent application for Elisha Gray’s design of the telephone. The patent was awarded to Bell because his application was filed first, being the fifth entry of the day, and Gray’s was 39th. As you can see, attributing the actual inventor or inventors to a specific invention can be tricky and often times quite controversial. Often the most practical or best working invention receives credit for the creation rather than the original inventor.

The same year the patent was issued on the telephone, Tivadar Puskás invented the telephone switchboard exchange. From there, developments in the telephone industry snowballed and expanded. It did not take long before telephone exchange services began popping up in larger towns across the nation. The Shreveport Telephone Exchange opened for business in the fall of 1881. Less than two years later, the exchange’s manager, Thomas Bresnahan, came to Bellevue to interview the citizens regarding constructing a telephone line between Shreveport and Bellevue.

Bellevue's citizens agreed that a telephone line connecting them to Shreveport would be an incalculable benefit. Within two weeks, plans were set in motion with hopes to have the telephone line completed within a month. As planned, Bresnahan completed the telephone line's installation from Shreveport to Bellevue around 1 p.m. on Wed., Aug. 29, 1883. Mr. John H. Lofton's store was the agreed-upon location of the telephone, and a five-minute conversation cost the user 25 cents, which is equivalent to $6.47 today.

Wooden wall mount telephone circa early 1900s
Arnold Family Collection: 2007.007.001

The following Saturday, Bresnahan called the Shreveport Daily Standard news office from Lofton's store as Bellevue celebrated its first telephone. The write-up in the paper stated, " The music by a string band at Bellevue was distinctly heard by all here who were put in connection, and the piano in Mr. Weaver's residence in the suburbs was as distinctly heard at Bellevue."

While the Bellevue telephone line was the first telephone line installed for public use, the first private telephone was installed in 1881, shortly after the Shreveport Telephone Exchange opened for business. The private line belonged to Samuel Jacob Zeigler, owner of the Shady Grove plantation in Vanceville. After the Shreveport Telephone Exchange company declined to run lines outside Shreveport's city limits, Zeigler built and maintained his line to Shreveport, crossing the river from the top of two tall cottonwood trees. His exchange number or telephone number was 50.

The Shreveport Times, Dec. 30, 1881

This month marks the 145th anniversary of the telephone's invention, since Bell was awarded the patent for the telephone on Mar. 7, 1876. But it was on Mar. 10, 1876, that Bell conducted a successful experiment with the telephone where he called his assistant, Thomas Watson, commanding, "Mr. Watson - come here - I want to see you." "That same day, an ebullient Bell wrote his father of his 'great success' and speculated that 'the day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on to houses just like water and gas — and friends converse with each other without leaving home.'"

What do you want to know about Bossier Parish’s history? Visit, call, or email the Bossier Parish Library History Center for help with your research. We are at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City, 318-746-7717, history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

By: Amy Robertson