Much Better Image of "PC" in 1912 - with Comments

[NW Mailing List]

Several weeks ago I sent out a scan of a bad print of an old 1912 photograph taken in the Philadelphia & Reading's "PC" Office in Reading Terminal. 

The Reading Co. Technical & Historical Society informed me they own the original glass plate negative, and sent me a high-res 75 meg TIFF scan, asking for comments. 

PC was the General Offices telegraph office for the Reading, located right in headquarters, Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. 

Attached is the image, which I have not Photoshopped in any way other than to cut down the file size. My comments trail in the correspondence below. 

After Reading Terminal had been conveyed to SEPTA (SouthEast Pennsylvania Transit Authority,) the whole upper part of the Terminal was abandoned and closed off. One of the SEPTA officials (whose initials "P.T." will be recognized by some of you) took me up there to old PC Office, and I came home with one jack field (1/4 inch bronze pin jacks) from a whole bank of such things. As I recall, we had to use flashlights, as there was no electricity to that part of the building. It is slated to go to the RDG T&HS when I am no longer around to use it. I think that item post-dates this photograph. 

-- 73 SW & 
(adb) 

=========================== 
Sent to You from my Telegraph Key 
... better than AT&T 4G LTE 
=========================== 
----- Forwarded Message -----

From: "кириллъославъ бериновъ /Abram Burnett" 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2015 
Subject: Fwd: "PC" Office in 1912, COMMENTS 

My comments, in no particular order: 

1. All roll-back resonators. A couple of them appear to have dents in the sides, which may indicate they were made of metal, rather than wood. I would love to copy Morse from a metal resonator, but I have never seen one. 
2. Every resonator has a Main Line sounder, worked off a relay. 
3. Desks seem to have no means of "selecting lines." I guess the manager went to the switchboard and patched around to each desk whatever wire he wanted that operator to copy. 
4. Very high ceilings = probably only way to keep from cooking the people during the hot Summertime. 
5. Clock is up so high, I wonder how they accessed it to wind it? Ladder? 
6. Everyone was obviously told to "dress up" that day. 
7. I am surprised that there are so few moustaches and so few eyeglasses. 
8. There are no "bugs" in the photo. Most of the traffic is probably receiving, anyway. 
9. Every desk has a mill (typewriter) associated with it. Another indication that these guys were doing mostly receiving. 
10. Below the clock... on top of the big cabinet, there are 8 boxes/cases with handles on top of them. Guess they are typewriters; one of them appears to have the word Remington on it. 
11. The electric light fixtures are probably original to the 1891-1893 construction of Reading Terminal. 
12. The big switchboard is at right, with three fellows standing in front of it. I can see the ballast lamps at the top. Boy, do I wish I could see how the connections were made (plugs or jacks) ! Pretty sure it would have been by tapered brass pins, given the date of installation. 
13. I see two gals in the photo. 
14. Notice the age profile: mostly younger people. I see only three guys who may be age 60 or so. Perhaps "telegrapher's glass arm" (carpal tunnel) has knocked out the other old telegraphers. 
15. Wonder how a person got into the "Relay Division," which had the cream of the cream of telegraphers? I surmise that many of these people are not from a railroad background, but just cracker jack telegraphers who walked in off the Philadelphia streets and were hired. 
16. No spittoons! Stange for this era. 
17. All the men are clean-shaven. Probably de rigeur for "professionals" like telegraphers by 1912. Two bow-ties. 
18. I count 26 people. A couple of them are bosses and a couple are messenger boys. The two bosses are probably the fellows standing at left, and at right-middle. 
19. It's March. I see 4 sweaters and a vest. 
20. Wonder if they had any positions set up for left-handed telegraphers? 
21. I see no ink wells on the desks. Perhaps they copied everything with a stick (pencil,) although that may have been unusual in a "General Offices" situation. 
22. If the three older gentlemen are 60 years of age, they would have been born about 1852, which means they could have been telegraphing a bit before 1870. 
23. I see no Prince Albert cans stuffed into the resonators. Wonder if they were prohibited? 
24. Only one eye-shade in the photo. 
25. I'll bet they had a Comp'ny "typewriter man" who came around and replaced the ribbons and did other maintenance. 
26. Of all the men, only one appears to be "balding" of hair. Do dots-and-dashes help a man retain his hair...? 
27. I'll bet all those coats came off, and sleeves were rolled up, before the photographer had his camera off the tripod! The manager probably yelled, "All right... Everybody back to work!" 
28. What is the cone-shaped device shown in the first photo below? 
29. What I wouldn't give to spend an hour with each of these people, asking questions and taking notes! Their stories would probably fill a 500 page book. 

-- 73 SW & 
(adb) 

CONE SHAPED DEVICE, unidentified: 

SWITCHBOARD area, lightened significantly: 

=========================== 
Sent to You from my Telegraph Key 
... better than AT&T 4G LTE 
=========================== 

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