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Kōrero: Telecommunications

Exchange operators

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Exchange operators

Telephone exchange operation was one of the few telecommunications jobs done by women, from the 19th century on – these operators were working in the 1940s. Telephone exchange operation in a large town was a routine job, but operators in small centres often acted as informal secretaries for local medical, fire, police and other services.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand Free Lance Collection (PAColl-0785)

Reference: PAColl-5469-047

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

A. C. Wilson, Telecommunications – Business and cable networks, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/22008/exchange-operators (accessed 24 June 2026).

He kōrero nā A. C. Wilson, i tāngia i te 13 April 2010, updated 1 April 2022.