Today T is for Telephones
Blogging about British Columbia Genealogy Resources
I did mention in P for Periodicals in this April 2020 A-Z Blogging Challenge that there are specialized publications that can be very useful for genealogy. In my personal collections, I have copies of the British Columbia Telephone Company's excellent employee newsletter, Telephone Talk;
mine are mainly from WW II years.1 Articles include many photographs of employees (and photos taken by employees) at company events or working, but as well of employee weddings, vacations, sports, hobbies, and on military service.
Family members of employees are often included, as are letters and other notes about or from customers and sometimes photos of customers and employees at events. Sad to say, these publications are still not digitized and online. (I just saw this morning that a relative of a friend is pictured in one of these issues. I'm going to write that one up here in the summer!)
Included in Telephone Talk is news about new equipment and facilities, a bit of world news concerning communications, and at least in the WW II issues, a chart showing the number of telephones installed in BC communities.
During the Second World War, these figures didn't change much due to war regulations, and shortages of equipment and labour. As the back cover of the Jan-Feb., 1945 issues said in bold print: Thousands Wait for Home Telephones. We regret that war restrictions still prevent relief. There is considerable background about telephone service around British Columbia which could prove interesting in writing up family history.
One of the articles in the Telephone Talk for January-February 1945 is about employees responding to an emergency here on the coast - fitting in nicely with yesterday's topic S is for Sea.
mine are mainly from WW II years.1 Articles include many photographs of employees (and photos taken by employees) at company events or working, but as well of employee weddings, vacations, sports, hobbies, and on military service.
Family members of employees are often included, as are letters and other notes about or from customers and sometimes photos of customers and employees at events. Sad to say, these publications are still not digitized and online. (I just saw this morning that a relative of a friend is pictured in one of these issues. I'm going to write that one up here in the summer!)
Included in Telephone Talk is news about new equipment and facilities, a bit of world news concerning communications, and at least in the WW II issues, a chart showing the number of telephones installed in BC communities.
During the Second World War, these figures didn't change much due to war regulations, and shortages of equipment and labour. As the back cover of the Jan-Feb., 1945 issues said in bold print: Thousands Wait for Home Telephones. We regret that war restrictions still prevent relief. There is considerable background about telephone service around British Columbia which could prove interesting in writing up family history.
One of the articles in the Telephone Talk for January-February 1945 is about employees responding to an emergency here on the coast - fitting in nicely with yesterday's topic S is for Sea.
Here are the Vancouver radiotelephone operators whose combined efforts in handling "rescue" calls helped to save the lives of the crew of the tug "Eagle Six" which foundered in heavy seas and sank off Winchelsea Islands on November 21 [1944]. Pictured at the radiotelephone switchboard in the Long Distance office they are, left to right, Miss Gladys Warnock, senior operator; Miss Lois Coates, supervisor; and Miss Pat Morris and Mrs. Barbara Moir, operators.
Telephone Talk, Jan.-Feb. 1945, page 1.
On 21st November, 1944, in rough weather near the Winchelsea Islands, north of Nanaimo, the Captain of the tugboat Eagle Six, Jack Bruno, called CZO Vancouver - the radiotelephone switchboard in Vancouver - at 6:08, asking for any boats nearby to come to their rescue, The tug was taking on water and the pumps had stopped. The operator called to any boats in the area, and was able to put the Eagle Six in telephone contact with the Snow Prince, luckily in Nanoose Bay, which set off immediately.
The Snow Prince reached the Eagle Six by 7:25 along with the tug Arbutus, also contacted. Ten minutes afterwards the Eagle Six sank but the three men on board had been rescued: Captain Jack Bruno, Jack McNab and Charles Carlisle.
One side note is that at this time, people could listen to these radiotelephone communications on their radios at home. The article mentions one BC Telephone employee, Bert Abrams's, recollections, "It gives you a very helpless feeling....But the radio telephone, with alert operators, once again demonstrated its inestimable value by bringing about their rescue." And Fred H. Goodchild in his history, British Columbia, its history, people and industry, (1951, pages 192-193) 2 mentions people listening to this and other rescue calls. Goodchild notes that British Columbia has "the most extensive radio-telephone system in Canada and because of the unusual communication difficulties along the heavily indented and rugged coastline the service is unique, and invaluable to tugboat crews and owners.Through the North-West Telephone Company, an associate of the British Columbia Telephone Company, 1350 ships and 180 land stations are served."
The Snow Prince reached the Eagle Six by 7:25 along with the tug Arbutus, also contacted. Ten minutes afterwards the Eagle Six sank but the three men on board had been rescued: Captain Jack Bruno, Jack McNab and Charles Carlisle.
One side note is that at this time, people could listen to these radiotelephone communications on their radios at home. The article mentions one BC Telephone employee, Bert Abrams's, recollections, "It gives you a very helpless feeling....But the radio telephone, with alert operators, once again demonstrated its inestimable value by bringing about their rescue." And Fred H. Goodchild in his history, British Columbia, its history, people and industry, (1951, pages 192-193) 2 mentions people listening to this and other rescue calls. Goodchild notes that British Columbia has "the most extensive radio-telephone system in Canada and because of the unusual communication difficulties along the heavily indented and rugged coastline the service is unique, and invaluable to tugboat crews and owners.Through the North-West Telephone Company, an associate of the British Columbia Telephone Company, 1350 ships and 180 land stations are served."
The Eagle Six, Image, Telephone Talk, Jan,-Feb. 1945, page 10.3
REFERENCES
1. Special Collections, at the University of British Columbia, does have a collection of Telephone Talks from 1911 to 1970.
2. British Columbia, its history, people and industry by Fred H. Goodchild (1951) available to read online at UBC Open Collections.
2. British Columbia, its history, people and industry by Fred H. Goodchild (1951) available to read online at UBC Open Collections.
3. The Eagle Six (Eagle VI) was a wooden tugboat, owned originally by Captain Harry Bruno (Captain Jack Bruno's father). The Telephone Talk article says it was 60 foot but Nauticapedia says it was built in Vancouver in 1925, and 40.7' x 12.7' x 6.2'. Nauticapedia focuses on Canada’s Pacific nautical history and heritage, and has databases of vessels and people. According to the database information from references given there, the Eagle Six had hit Rudder Rock causing a leak.
The Snow Prince was then a seiner (Goodchild calls it the Snow Cloud); the Arbutus was another tugboat. UBC Special Collections has photos of the Snow Prince.
CATCH UP ON ALL MY A-Z APRIL 2020 BLOGGING CHALLENGE ARTICLES - https://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-blogging-for-a-to-z-april-challenge.html
The Snow Prince was then a seiner (Goodchild calls it the Snow Cloud); the Arbutus was another tugboat. UBC Special Collections has photos of the Snow Prince.
CATCH UP ON ALL MY A-Z APRIL 2020 BLOGGING CHALLENGE ARTICLES - https://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-blogging-for-a-to-z-april-challenge.html
2 comments:
I remember the early days of telephones -- and the less expensive party lines that we kids weren't supposed to listen in on, but did anyway :-) The loss of telephone directories is a blow to future genealogy research. Such a great source of addresses and possible kinships.
Wow, I didn’t know that! Interesting.
Many boaters still use amateur radio, as cell service on and around the Island is so spotty. I write about that for my letter W.
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