Historical Tidbits: Early Telephones

Daily Diary, May 3, 2022, Day 611:

Due to a number of unexpected interruptions, such as scheduling to have our tankless water heater descaled, getting an estimate for major landscaping the back yard, and unscheduled phone calls, etc) didn’t get much writing time at all. Did come up with 4 new character names and went down a research rabbit hole.

You know how when you watch an older film or read an older mystery, before there were cell phones, and you find yourself thinking how inconvenient it is for the amateur detective that they have to keep finding a pay phone or going back to their office to do business, or worse, they walk into danger/or can’t call for help because they are walking into that scary empty building without a cell phone?

Well, I had written something that reminded me of that, for the 19th century. Mrs. Stein had had been dithering about whether or not she should write her husband a letter to get his advice, and I suddenly wondered if she could telephone him. I did know that by 1878, San Francisco had local telephone service (it was the third city in the world with a telephone exchange.) But what I didn’t know was if any other city did, or if there were connections between cities in California (her husband was in Los Angeles.)

Well, the answer, after some quick research, was that by 1882 there was a Los Angeles telephone exchange, however there wasn’t any long distance available in the state. In fact, the first long distance system built between 2 cities in the United States came in 1884, when one was built between New York and Boston.

I had the telephone in San Francisco play a tiny role in Lethal Remedies, and I would love to write something in more detail in later books once I’ve had time to do more research. There is a directory for 1878, and later city directories start listing people who have jobs with local companies, as well as telephone numbers. All of these sources could be interesting to pursue. For now, I’m letting Nate, Annie’s husband, be the one yearning for this touch of modernity. Here is the snippet from my current work in progress, the conversation is between Annie and Nate Dawson.

“You know, Annie, if they ever connect that new telephone system to other cities, Esther could communicate directly with Herman. Then, he could call his son-in-law, or maybe one of the other bank board members, find out what is going on and what should be done.”

Annie smiled at her husband. He so badly wanted his uncle to install a connection to the Pacific Bell Telephone company to the law firm offices. She knew his next step would be to try to convince her that having a line installed in the boardinghouse would help with her business. However, with multiple post deliveries a day, and the alternative of a telegram in an emergency, the expense didn’t seem worth it. On the other hand, being able to talk with people over a long distance, did seem attractive.” ––Mrs. Stein Solves a Crime

For those interested, check out these links to a timeline of important telephone milestones, a history of the telephone in San Francisco, and an article about the telephone in Los Angeles.

Photo by Tiko Giorgadze on Unsplash

Thanks to all of you who commented on yesterday’s post that included snippets from my fiction, glad to know you are enjoying them.