This Day in History September 1, 1878

By Deasington (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Today's feature commemorates something that has largely become a thing of the past.  On this date in 1878, Emma Mills Nutt became the first female telephone operator.  In January of 1878, the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company had been hiring boys to act as operators. The problem was the these boys had no patience with customers, and they often indiscriminately cursed and played pranks.  So Emma was hired, and a few hours later her sister, Stella Nutt was hired.  Though Stella remained only a few years, Emma remained an operator at least until 1911 (possibly 1915).  

Customers much preferred the female operators, and before long boys were completely replaced as operators.  From what I could learn, telephone operators had to be unmarried (makes sense) and between the ages of 17 and and 26.  Emma reportedly worked for a salary of $10/month for 54 hours a week.  It is also said that she could remember every number in the directory of the New England Telephone Company.

This day and age, we get a recording instead of a live operator if we even happen to make a phone call. And it is rare for us to even memorize phone numbers any more since we don't need to.  After all, we only need a cell phone with its directory, right?

For more information, please check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Nutt

http://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/emma-m-nutt-day/

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/September/emmanuttday.htm

Phone Fetcher Product Review

PhoneFetcher takes the stress and hassle out of a person's day, by allowing you to always know where your cell phone is!

No more digging in our purses to find a ringing phone and missing calls! No more leaving your phone on some remote table or countertop!

No more forgetting phones, and leaving them places (home, office, restaurants, cabs etc.), only to have to backtrack to find it. No more mini panic attacks!

PhoneFetcher attaches to a purse, back pack, gym bag, baby bag, belt loop, etc. on one end,

and the other end attaches easily to the earphone plug of a smart phone, mp3 player etc.

PhoneFetcher is made on a stretchable bungee cord, which allows texting and viewing without having to disconnect the phone. When the phone is removed from the bag, we leave our PhoneFetchers hanging out of our bag to alert us as we leave, that we do not have our phone with us.

Phonefetcher is as easily removed from your phone as an earphone is, and comes in 8 fun colors!

What a unique product!  And very smart.  It is clear that this comes from a busy mom, and with Mother's Day coming up, this would be an ideal gift for mom.  Or even for the graduate!  That day is fast-approaching as well.

What did I think of it?  I enjoyed it immensely.  I didn't actually use it for my phone.  The reason is that I have a little purse that holds it in place.  I would definitely have used it for my phone if I didn't have that.  And here's why.

I used it for my MP3 Player!  Yes, I was so happy to learn that this could be used for ipods and mp3 players, and it was extremely useful.  The little end part goes into the spot where the headphones would go on the device.  And it fit perfectly! 

Why would I need this for an mp3 player?  I generally work out after I get off work, so my mp3 player sits in my bag, and I usually spend all this time digging through my stuff.  I usually have to take everything to get the mp3 player out of the bag.  In using this product, I clipped the other side of the cord to the handle on my workout bag. When I went to get my player,  I was amazed how easy it was to find.  I just followed the cord!

The company would like me to let you know that the silver chain model is coming out soon.  This will make the cord sturdier and much more stylish. My problem is that I need more of these.  I need one in every purse, every pocket, etc. 

When this product is used for a phone, I think that you would find that most want to like the product (even if they do not really like it). I can't tell you how many times I see people walking with a phone in their hand (and no strap or any restraining device.  And how many times does the phone end up on the ground and possibly cracked or damaged beyond repair?  The Phone Fetcher can help you out big time!  

Please watch out for a giveaway of one of these items in a little while because the sponsor has agreed to give one away.  You definitely will want to win one of these fantastic phone fetchers.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

KnowPhone.Com Reverse Telephone Search and More Review

Have you ever had a phone number show up on your phone that you did not recognize?  Maybe they left a disturbing voice message, or maybe they left nothing.  Perhaps they called you more than once.  Okay, I speak from experience, in case you couldn't tell.  On several occasions, I have had the misfortune of having a strange call show up on my cell phone.  I have searched online for "reverse phone look-up" before, and I have come up unsuccessful.  Sometimes I have even gotten a strange phone message, and I didn't recognize anything about it.


I am so pleased to get to review Knowphone.com.  Once I got my account set up (for some reason, it did not like my user name, but the company patiently made things work so I could have access), I found that I could look up telephone numbers, e-mail address, people, and more! I was able to see that my address information is listed incorrectly (no problem, I'll keep it that way), and my ex still lives in Illinois.  


Here is some specific information about the site:
KnowPhone.com is the premier reverse phone lookup database online. Our flagship product is the Platinum Pass, which gives you unlimited searches across a huge variety of public records, phone numbers, criminal records and more. Extremely useful if you are getting harassing phone calls, if you want to find a lost relative or find out more information about a potential date, for example!


Normally, this year-long platinum pass is $19.95 a month (which is fairly reasonable for everything you get!), and their site is incredibly easy to use.  I can't be happier with the site.  I plan to get in and do some more searching.  And the next time those annoying numbers come up, I will look them up.  If I need to, I plan to report phone numbers that are harassing me.  


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.