F I R S TP R E V297NEXTLAST

Chinese Telephone Exchange, Chinatown
This building which dates back to 1909 was built as the Old Chinese Telephone Exchange. The building housed 150 telephones and was always staffed with 20 Chinese operators, working around the clock they spoke in five Chinese dialects. Back then calls were directed by name rather than number so the operators had to memorize the names and addresses of the 1,500 telephone subscribers. Female operators worked the day shift and male operators worked at night. The Chinese Telephone Exchange lasted until the 1950s when direct-dial became commonplace. Today San Francisco is still the only city in the country whose phone book lists more Wongs than Smiths. I will forego the obvious Wong number joke.
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