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America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940
The telephone looms large in our lives, as ever present in modern societies as cars and television. Claude Fischer presents the first social history of this vital but little-studied technology―how we encountered, tested, and ultimately embraced it with enthusiasm. Using telephone ads, oral histories, telephone industry correspondence, and statistical data, Fischer's work is a colorful exploration of how, when, and why Americans started communicating in this radically new manner.
Studying three California communities, Fischer uncovers how the telephone became integrated into the private worlds and community activities of average Americans in the first decades of this century. Women were especially avid in their use, a phenomenon which the industry first vigorously discouraged and then later wholeheartedly promoted. Again and again Fischer finds that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women, from organizing children's relationships and church activities to alleviating the loneliness and boredom of rural life.
Deftly written and meticulously researched, America Calling adds an important new chapter to the social history of our nation and illuminates a fundamental aspect of cultural modernism that is integral to contemporary life.
Studying three California communities, Fischer uncovers how the telephone became integrated into the private worlds and community activities of average Americans in the first decades of this century. Women were especially avid in their use, a phenomenon which the industry first vigorously discouraged and then later wholeheartedly promoted. Again and again Fischer finds that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women, from organizing children's relationships and church activities to alleviating the loneliness and boredom of rural life.
Deftly written and meticulously researched, America Calling adds an important new chapter to the social history of our nation and illuminates a fundamental aspect of cultural modernism that is integral to contemporary life.
442 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 19, 2018
Fascinating to read this book in the present moment and think about the rapid adoption of the Internet, and compare how it was different (faster, government regulation) and the same (starting first as a luxury and business tool but quickly becoming mundane; raising promise and fear of destruction of local communities and businesses).
August 31, 2014
A. Synopsis: This is a social history of the telephone to 1940, focusing on the users of the technology and how they adopted it to fit their own lives. The topics of the book flow from national, to local, to individual concerns; from the telephone in America to the personal phone call. The conclusion is that technology is not deterministic, as the consumers also shape technology. One example of this is the socialization of technology. The Bell marketers did not envision telephony to be used in this fashion (they thought it would best be used for emergency calls). It was the end user that began to adopt the telephone for socialization.
B. The telephone in America (non-technical history of the telephone in N. America) 4 phases.
1. From 1870-1889: Bell and his associates invented the telephone and formed the industry
2. From 1880-1893: The era of monopoly when Bell controlled the industry. His patents ran out in 1893.
3. From 1894-WWI: This was the era of competition. Bell begins to struggle against competing companies.
4. WWI-WWII: The era of consolidation and depression. Competition ceased and the companies divided themselves under the hegemony of AT&T
C. The marketing of telephone. 3 phases.
1. Demonstration: Flamboyant displays with music and speeches.
2. Instruction: Face to face meetings on how to use the phone
3. Campaigns: Nurturing good will toward the industry. This later was manifested in slogans such as “Reach out and touch someone,” or “Let your fingers do the walking.”
D. The telephone spreads; national patterns.
1. Innovations generally spread from the rich to the poor, urban to rural settings
2. The telephone was untypical of this because it was adopted first in rural areas.
3. Working class people were usually the slowest to adopt the technology
4. Telephones diffused most rapidly in the midwest and west (auto also followed this pattern)
5. The great grass roots movement of farmers adopting telephony is another case where the end user defined the technology for himself
E. The telephone spreads; local patterns
1. The focus here are case studies of 3 towns in Northern California (Palo Alto, Antioch, San Rafael)
2. The first phones in small towns usually went to the RR stations, druggists, or major landowner
3. When a city grew large enough a Bell agent would be sent to set up customers
4. These agents required governments permission to plant poles and string lines
5. The conclusion here is that the telephone quickly attained an non-controversial and mundane existence. This is also in contrast with the auto.
F. Local attachment; 1890-1940
1. Many historians claim that technology has replaced localism with cosmopolitan views
2. Examine 4 areas to see if localism has decreased
a) Commercial activity: this was neither more not less localized
b) Social life (leisure activities): Only interest in out of town sporting events increased
c) Interest in community: Newspapers increased both local and national coverage
d) Politics: There was more national interest here as indicated by voting patterns.
3. Therefore, there was only a few modest changes in localism. There was a general trend toward greater attention paid to the outside world. However, the interest in the outside world also stimulated inside interest.
G. Personal calls
1. Women use the telephone more than men (they are the social links of the family, the telephone also broke the housewives isolation)
2. By the 1910s and 1920s America was using the phone for sociability
3. The personal call replaced casual visits, telegrams, and handwritten letters.
B. The telephone in America (non-technical history of the telephone in N. America) 4 phases.
1. From 1870-1889: Bell and his associates invented the telephone and formed the industry
2. From 1880-1893: The era of monopoly when Bell controlled the industry. His patents ran out in 1893.
3. From 1894-WWI: This was the era of competition. Bell begins to struggle against competing companies.
4. WWI-WWII: The era of consolidation and depression. Competition ceased and the companies divided themselves under the hegemony of AT&T
C. The marketing of telephone. 3 phases.
1. Demonstration: Flamboyant displays with music and speeches.
2. Instruction: Face to face meetings on how to use the phone
3. Campaigns: Nurturing good will toward the industry. This later was manifested in slogans such as “Reach out and touch someone,” or “Let your fingers do the walking.”
D. The telephone spreads; national patterns.
1. Innovations generally spread from the rich to the poor, urban to rural settings
2. The telephone was untypical of this because it was adopted first in rural areas.
3. Working class people were usually the slowest to adopt the technology
4. Telephones diffused most rapidly in the midwest and west (auto also followed this pattern)
5. The great grass roots movement of farmers adopting telephony is another case where the end user defined the technology for himself
E. The telephone spreads; local patterns
1. The focus here are case studies of 3 towns in Northern California (Palo Alto, Antioch, San Rafael)
2. The first phones in small towns usually went to the RR stations, druggists, or major landowner
3. When a city grew large enough a Bell agent would be sent to set up customers
4. These agents required governments permission to plant poles and string lines
5. The conclusion here is that the telephone quickly attained an non-controversial and mundane existence. This is also in contrast with the auto.
F. Local attachment; 1890-1940
1. Many historians claim that technology has replaced localism with cosmopolitan views
2. Examine 4 areas to see if localism has decreased
a) Commercial activity: this was neither more not less localized
b) Social life (leisure activities): Only interest in out of town sporting events increased
c) Interest in community: Newspapers increased both local and national coverage
d) Politics: There was more national interest here as indicated by voting patterns.
3. Therefore, there was only a few modest changes in localism. There was a general trend toward greater attention paid to the outside world. However, the interest in the outside world also stimulated inside interest.
G. Personal calls
1. Women use the telephone more than men (they are the social links of the family, the telephone also broke the housewives isolation)
2. By the 1910s and 1920s America was using the phone for sociability
3. The personal call replaced casual visits, telegrams, and handwritten letters.
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November 28, 2009Neither the telephone nor the automobile caused great sociological change. Each technology merely facilitated established trends. I had a new insight into the rate at which new technology is accepted, and by whom.
April 2, 2017
My rating reflects my lack of patience with what is a VERY serious book. I just did not have the patience to read this. It is written by a Professor of Sociology (or history?) who has done a tremendous amount of research on this subject.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews