The warborn shortage of telephones frustrated life in many a U.S. home. In New York City alone last week, despite the addition of a new exchange (Plaza 9), 320,000 applicants were still waiting to clutch a phone of their own.
An alarmed New York Telephone Co. reported that daily calls had risen to a whopping 12,815,000 after V-J day—over a third more than the average prewar chatter. Conversations over private lines were getting longer & longer; wires were especially busy on rainy days, Mondays, and days after holidays. Observed the New York Daily News: "The telephone people aren't telling which sex...
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