Making a call used to be more complex than just the action of hitting a contact on your cell phone and immediately reach the person you wish to. Before direct calling, telephone switchboards (like the one in this photo) were used to direct your call to a specific person. A beautiful young woman sat at the switchboard and would in a soft low voice transfer you to who you wished to speak to. This particular switchboard sat in the provincial building, was installed in 1971, and handled around 250 calls per day. It was originally from Ashdown Hardware building in Winnipeg. It has plug in jacks used to connect various telephone lines, sark finished white oak cabinet said to be of 1940s vintage, this switchboard was one of the last of its kind in operation. This switchboard was operated by Tina Ross at the provincial building until 1985. The black and white photo is of Tina on the switchboard’s last day of operation.