Image: Telephone exchange Montreal QE3 33

Description: Women operators working at the Bell Telephone Company exchange in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Original caption: "THE BELL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, MONTREAL - London has still a good deal to learn both from large provincial towns and from the great Colonial capitals in the matter of Telephone Exchanges and efficient telephonic communication. We here see the interior of a very well-equipped office in Montreal. The operating room, which is [?] feet long, is well lit by a large skylight in the roof. The operators, as it will be seen, are all ladies. Owing to the general use of return wires, and to the absence of the very great amount of induction which exists in London, the telephone has hitherto been adopted with greater readiness in the Colonies and in the large towns than in the Metropolis. In Montreal, not to be "on the telephone" is the exception. Hitherto the contrary has been the case in London. Now, however, great strides are being made in the direction of providing proper exchanges and adequate return wires in London, and it is to be hoped that before long neither Montreal nor Manchester will be able to reproach the capital with its backwardness."
Title: Telephone exchange Montreal QE3 33
Credit: The Queen's Empire. Volume 3. Cassell & Co. London
Author: Various photographers for Cassell & Co.
Permission: This Canadian work is in the public domain in Canada because its copyright has expired due to one of the following: 1. it was subject to Crown copyright and was first published more than 50 years ago, or it was not subject to Crown copyright, and 2. it is a photograph that was created prior to January 1, 1949, or 3. the creator died prior to January 1, 1972.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No