During the Victorian Era, England experienced an influx of reformations and developments. It was a technological upbringing where communication was blossoming in new and phenomenal ways. “The Victorian Dictionary” by Lee Jackson supplied information on communications in the Victorian Era, particularly the telephone. Women who held jobs as telephone operators worked diligently under strategic rules and etiquette. It was a highly organized occupation. Women received explicit training while attending telephone school where they practiced the skills of answering calls and general communication. While supervised by an experienced operator, women learned how to operate tasks on dummy switchboards and plugs. The training was strategic and complex, the methods of which demonstrated the progressiveness of the Victorian Era. Whilst practicing with fellow operators, the attending supervisor corrected mistakes that were made during practice calls.

Etiquette and decorum was required as a telephone operator. The females had to make physical accommodations to maintain in good health. A company called The Postal Department required each girl be examined by a female physician; her eyes were checked and her teeth were fixed to ensure their would be nothing restricting her from working.  They were required to be at least 5 ft. 2 in, “extra lightweights [were] rejected” (Thompson par. 12). They wore graduate gown’s of dark material. A photograph of the Post Office Central Telephone Exchange depicts women communicating on telephones in their drab, dark gowns appearing identical in their disposition and appearance. The Victorian Era woman was expected to appear formal and quaint. In the workplace they were required to wear gloves to “maintain the contour and complexion of their busily worked fingers” (Thompson par. 4).

Aside from the strange requirements of their trade, the female operators experienced rather lavish lives. “Her dining-room, decorated with the flowers she and her comrades have brought from their own gardens, looks like a first-class restaurant and her sumptuous dinner costs her fivepence” (Thompson par. 12)! The advancement of telephone communication during the Victorian Era provided innovation for eras to come.