Museum notebook: A history of Whanganui's telephone exchange

The Leclanché wet cell was invented in 1866 and was used for telephone systems. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection: The Telecom Collection 1993.23.126

The first telephone exchanges in New Zealand opened in Christchurch and Auckland in 1881.

The Wanganui Telephone Exchange opened on March 11, 1886. The initial cost of the exchange and its connections to subscriber premises, and telephone instruments, was £1513.

The new exchange's operating hours were from 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

It had two switchboards, each with a capacity of 50 lines. The average number of calls a day was 287.

The telephones used were the Blake instrument.

The most popular of the mass produced telephones, the Blake was a large box with top-mounted bells and a side-mounted generator handle (for exchange attendant signalling).

It had a fixed microphone and a receiver. On the floor in a box, two Leclanche cells (lead acid battery cells) provided power to the instrument. In later years these "wet cells" were replaced with "dry cells".

To make a call the subscriber would ring the operator and ask to be connected with the number required. At this time Whanganui had a population of 5289, 57 of whom were subscribers to the new telephone system.

From 1889 the exchange began to expand and by 1895 the number of connections was 108. By December 1900 toll calls could made to Wellington on Sundays when the telegraph lines were not in use.

As early telephone models did not amplify voices, if the call was over a long distance the subscriber had to shout.

By 1907 the Wanganui Telephone Exchange ran a 24-hour service.

In 1926 the first telephone cable was laid across Cook Strait, so toll calls could be made from anywhere in the two islands.

In November 1930 the radio telephone service between Wellington and Sydney came into operation, and toll operators in Wanganui could place calls via Wellington to Australia.

Popular and similar telephone models were manufactured in Sweden by L M Ericsson. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection: The Telecom Collection 1993.23.4

By 1931 telephone communication to Great Britain was possible.

On December 1, 1923 the telephone operators in the old manual exchange hung up their earphones for the last time.

The Wanganui telephone exchange had been converted from a manual operation to automatic.

The automatic exchange had a capacity for 2100 lines and 100 two-party lines.

The St Hill St exchange, which opened in 1923, continued to expand and by 1945 a room at the Chief Post Office was needed to accommodate the overflow.

After World War II demand for telephones increased dramatically.

Overseas equipment was unavailable so the Post Office had to revert to manual equipment.

In 1946 the Dublin St manual exchange opened to serve Aramoho and Wanganui East. It was replaced by the Wanganui East Telephone Exchange in 1954.

By 1971 the capacity of the Wanganui Exchange was 6300 lines. By 1977 this had increased to 6700.

In 1964 the Gonville Exchange, serving Gonville, Castlecliff and Springvale, opened.

A new building in Cook St replaced the St Hill St Exchange. Containing the latest computerised equipment, it opened in 1984.

The new exchange introduced direct-dialling for toll calls by subscribers as well as other services such as call diversion, reminder service and call waiting.

It is more than 130 years since the Wanganui Telephone Exchange came into operation.

During this time telephone-operators and technicians and linesmen provided essential links for families and friends, summoned help in times of emergency, and provided communication systems for businesses and homes.

• Michelle Horwood is curator at Whanganui Regional Museum.