Mobile phones are now part of everyday life, but the South East Family History Group focused on pre-1990s communications at its recent monthly meeting in Millicent.
SEFHG president Noel Boyle spoke about phones that were once hard wired to the wall and the people who worked in the telephone exchange in Millicent until its closure in 1968.
Photos of workers from days past were displayed on a power-point presentation.
“We were not allowed to take photographs because the interior of the building would be known and it might get blown up,” a straight-faced Mr Boyle said.
SEFHG treasurer Les Bebbington shared his knowledge of telephone boxes, the working of the telephone exchange and the small telephone exchanges that went automatic.
Both men had commenced their working lives in the 1960s when the Federal Government controlled all communications through the “P.M.G”. (Postmaster General’s Department).
For Mr Boyle, his first pay cheque as a public servant was manning the telephone exchange in proximity to the Millicent Post Office.
Until automatic exchanges were introduced, people with phones in their homes or businesses had to make a trunk call via their manual exchange.
It was manned around-the-clock but calls rarely came through after 9pm.
One of the perks of the job for Mr Boyle was four weeks of annual leave rather the usual fortnight which was commonplace six decades ago.
Another benefit was the prevalence of quiet times which allowed Mr Boyle to correspond with his English girlfriend Sheila who subsequently became his wife.
“We were supposed to charge trunk calls for every three minutes but the calls often went longer,” Mr Boyle said.
“People would often call the exchange to check on the time or ask about a fire.
“The fire bell was located outside the post office.”
The Millicent manual telephone exchange operated from 1908 when there were 22 phones used by residents and businesses.
Mr Boyle thought it was strange the Millicent police station did not have a phone installed until a few years later.
For his talk, Mr Bebbington drew heavily on the technical manuals he used as a technician working with the P.M.G. and later Telecom and Telstra.
He explained some ingenious methods used by thieves to empty coins from pay phones.
“Telecom then had the idea to have pre-paid cards to operate the pay phones,” Mr Bebbington said.
“They produced various series of phonecards to commemorate such events as the Olympic Games.
“It was hoped the phone cards would become collectibles much like stamps.”
A few years ago, Mr Bebbington said Telstra took the decision to make all calls at pay phones across Australia free of charge.
He said the number of public phone boxes at towns near Millicent had reduced over the years and gave the example of the Furner facility being “blown up” and not replaced.
The only public phone boxes remaining in Millicent are at the post office and in DeGaris Street, Park Terrace and Wyrie Road.
The guest speaker at this week’s meeting of the SEFHG will be Phil Golding who will talk about the Rivoli Bay Sailing Club at Southend which is closing down.
