Photo taken inside the Bell Telephone office in Cookstown of Madge Coleman and Evelyn Harman standing beside a large switchboard. The headset used by the operators is visible on Madge Coleman where it is resting on her shoulders. The telephone office in Cookstown was located for many years in Thomas Banting's jewellery store on Queen Street. The original office was first installed in 1886 in the implement office of C.J.S. Banting, and the first listing of subscribers from 1903 had ten names. Once the switchboard moved into Banting's jewellery store it offered service from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. The connection to Cookstown was made possible by a long distance line having previously been installed between Barrie and Newmarket. The line extended to Cookstown also passed through Beeton, Alliston, and Bond Head. Telephone numbers were largely considered unnecessary as the operator was familiar with all the subscribers by name. Customers were on party lines, meaning numerous subscribers shared a single line and incoming calls differentiated who should answer by the number and style (long or short) of rings.
