MAN LOSES TEMPER ON TELEPHONE & TOSSES IT THROUGH OPERATOR'S PLATE GLASS WINDOW
Rutland, Vermont (JFK+50) Have you ever gotten angry when failing to connect with your party on the phone?
Well, 100 years ago, November 15, 1922, Mr. Thomas D. Noel of Mt. Holly*, plead guilty to a charge of breach of peace because he "lost his temper when he could not get 'central' on the telephone."
Mr. Noel "ripped the instrument from the wall...dumped it into his automobile and...drove...to the home of the telephone operator."
He drove up to the house and tossed his telephone "through the plate glass window in the front door."
Mr. Noel paid a fine of $25, agreed to repair the damage and "promised to treat telephones with more respect in the future."
JFK+50 NOTE
In 1922 and for the next 60+ years, the telephone company owned the telephone set and rented it to the consumer. By the 1980s, the rental fee per phone was as much as $5 a month. In 1983, AT&T's monopoly was broken up giving consumers the option to purchase telephones for the first time.
In 1920s and for years to come, telephone operators located at a 'central' facility, would manually connect the caller with their party.
As you see in the photo below, a 1920s wall telephone would pack a punch if thrown through a window.
*Mount Holly is located in Rutland County, Vermont in the south central portion of the state. In 2020, the population was 1,385.
SOURCE
"Got Square With Phone But He Paid For It," The New York Herald, November 16, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
