Hackensack switchboard, 1912

glass negative

PHOTOGRAPHS - GLASS NEGATIVES
Rosenfeld and Sons
USA, NJ, Hackensack
1912-1913
overall: 8 x 10 in.; 20.32 x 25.4 cm

8 x 10 glass plate negative taken by Rosenfeld and Sons. Image taken as part of long term commissioned work and documentation for the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, ranging from 1910 through the 1940s. Interior view of the Hackensack telephone exchange, 1912 or 1913. A group of eleven switchboard operators seen active at the board while the supervisor observes from behind. Most of the women are seen in long dark skirts with white blouses, although one operator is entirely in black, and another is seen in a light colored dress. All the women wear long hair, tied loosely back. A fire extinguisher is seen in the background by the radiator. This is possibly the temporary exchange after a fire in 1911 at the old Hackensack exchange. Handwritten on original negative sleeve: "897 / Box 75--2 / Tel Co / Hackensack board".

1984.187.897

Mystic Seaport, Rosenfeld Collection