When I was a kid in Kansas City (70s and 80s), if you dialed 844-XXXX where XXXX was ANY 4 numbers, you got the automated time/temperature service sponsored by United Missouri Bank. The official listing was 844-1212. Not as cool as a live time lady, but it used to run continuously until you hung up. It was mentioned once in an episode of M*A*S*H... Radar called it when he was homesick.
This is fantastic. As a kid we liked to call up the time service and mimic the voice...for fun?? Of course, it was a recording in the 80s. How bizarre to think it was once a real human sitting there hour after hour! Thanks for posting!!
It means she's not a recording. She's an actual person who's job it was to read the time in 15 second intervals. Which sounds like a pretty shitty job. Get it?
@HuntaK33 The signficance of the sneeze is to show that the female voice was not a recording, but it was actually a live woman reading the time live every few seconds. Obviously if it was a recording you wouldn't have heard the sneeze in between.
@HuntaK33 That it wasn't a recording - an actual live person was on the phone reading off the time. Not like todays standards of digital automated computerized voices. I like it - I think it kind of put a personal touch to it
@matrixsynth they worked in one hour shifts...the telco felt it was too stressful and monotonus to have someone sit for 8 hours reading the time...so they rotated every hour.
gezundheit!
TVonthePorch 7 months ago
Bless you.
Kushami17 1 year ago
When I was a kid in Kansas City (70s and 80s), if you dialed 844-XXXX where XXXX was ANY 4 numbers, you got the automated time/temperature service sponsored by United Missouri Bank. The official listing was 844-1212. Not as cool as a live time lady, but it used to run continuously until you hung up. It was mentioned once in an episode of M*A*S*H... Radar called it when he was homesick.
nimbusco 1 year ago
@nimbusco: Where I lived in California...same time (70s and 80s)...we would call P-O-P-C-O-R-N. Actually 767 and any 4 numbers would work.
dLimboStick 1 year ago
hahahha
prisonson 1 year ago
No boobs? :)
jackelineweiss 1 year ago
This is fantastic. As a kid we liked to call up the time service and mimic the voice...for fun?? Of course, it was a recording in the 80s. How bizarre to think it was once a real human sitting there hour after hour! Thanks for posting!!
lizzybeans11 1 year ago
as insignificant as this recording is, you realize that, your job ain't as sh**ey as some people have it.
HermesTheMessanger 1 year ago
Ah, thx. Still fascinating.
matrixsynth 1 year ago
It means she's not a recording. She's an actual person who's job it was to read the time in 15 second intervals. Which sounds like a pretty shitty job. Get it?
etherbingedotorg 1 year ago 2
Pretty clear for a wire spool.
Also, ever notice that no matter where you were in the country in the 1950s, the telephone operators always had New Jersey accents?
the2belo 1 year ago
i literally have no idea what is going on...someone please explain what the significance of her sneezing..
HuntaK33 1 year ago
@HuntaK33 The signficance of the sneeze is to show that the female voice was not a recording, but it was actually a live woman reading the time live every few seconds. Obviously if it was a recording you wouldn't have heard the sneeze in between.
TheSuperBlackMan 1 year ago
@HuntaK33 That it wasn't a recording - an actual live person was on the phone reading off the time. Not like todays standards of digital automated computerized voices. I like it - I think it kind of put a personal touch to it
shakenama 1 year ago
Fascinating! I liked this one. Especially the pic of her working. I wonder how long her shifts were.
matrixsynth 1 year ago
@matrixsynth that pic on wikipedia is unrelated to this recording - my understanding is that local phone systems all had their resident time ladies.
peahix 1 year ago
@matrixsynth they worked in one hour shifts...the telco felt it was too stressful and monotonus to have someone sit for 8 hours reading the time...so they rotated every hour.
Alprazolam 9 months ago