The greeting "hello" originates from in the American Old West at around 1848, when frontiersman would approach a home with "Hello, the house". It is an alteration of a much older word (holla or hollo) dating from the 14th century. The emergence of the telephone made the word more popular. There were many, many variations of it in the early 20th century (halloo, hallo, hillo, hullo, halloa, etc.) before "hello" became the standard spelling.
42:00-42:10, Brackenreid informs his wife that the "hello-girls" are on strike. The term "hello-girl" was coined in the late 19th century in the USA to refer to central telephone exchange operators. It appeared in Mark Twain's book "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889). The capitalized term "Hello Girl" referred specifically to the Army Signal Corps switchboard operators of WWI.
At noon on 31 Jan 1907, Bell Telephone operators went on strike to protest the proposed increase in work from 5 hours per day to 8 hours per day. Eventually, about 400 girls, out of about 640, went on strike; Bell Telephone got about 100 operators from Ottawa and Montreal to fill in. Although the company proposed to pay the "Hello" girls an additional $5 per month, this amounted to a little over 3 cents per hour. Two years prior, they worked 8 hours per day, but their hours were cut back to 5 hours due to the old equipment; with the installation of new equipment, the company wanted to go back to an 8 hour day. The operators complained that they had to handle about 400 calls per hour, compared to about 300 calls per hour for Ottawa, and that it was hard, detrimental to their health, and dangerous due to being shocked by the equipment.
The low pay made it nearly impossible for self-supporting girls (30-40% of the operators) to live on. The made $18 as a starter, up to $22.50 for competent operators. It was impossible for women to get respectable board and lodging for less than $4 per week; the average was $4.50-$5, and many instances it was $6. Additionally, most lodge-keepers would not take women roomers.
On February 13, Bell Telephone announced they would take back most of their operators (not the organizers of the strike) at the 8 hour day. Due to the women's insistence and organization, they did get improvements to their working conditions and eventually a union.
The low pay made it nearly impossible for self-supporting girls (30-40% of the operators) to live on. The made $18 as a starter, up to $22.50 for competent operators. It was impossible for women to get respectable board and lodging for less than $4 per week; the average was $4.50-$5, and many instances it was $6. Additionally, most lodge-keepers would not take women roomers.
On February 13, Bell Telephone announced they would take back most of their operators (not the organizers of the strike) at the 8 hour day. Due to the women's insistence and organization, they did get improvements to their working conditions and eventually a union.
Liisa Repo-Martell (Bridget Mulcahy) previously appeared as Lydia Howland in the Murdoch Mysteries season 4's "Dead End Street".
The Clan na Gael was organized in the United States in 1867.