telephones through the decades

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Telephones Through the Decades was first developed and displayed by the museum in 2018. As we rotate our displays we have decided to digitize this exhibit to allow everyone to access and view it. As of 2024, this exhibit will only be available online, if you desire to see the artifacts in person as part of your visit we ask that you email us at mrrmuseum@gmail.com to discuss this further. Keep reading below to learn more about the history of telephones in Manitoba!

The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell who received a patent for his invention on March 10, 1876. The first telephone was brought into Manitoba by Horace McDougall in March of 1878. Mr. McDougall at the time was a manager of the Northwest Telegraph Company in Winnipeg.

On March 1 ,1878 Mr. McDougall rented the first pair of telephones for his personal use. He strung wire from his home on 152 Garry Street, Winnipeg to the telegraph office located on the same property. Like any smart businessman he understood the demand and charged a stiff price of $60.00 per year to rent a telephone.

In the fall of 1880 Mr. McDougall sold his interests in Winnipeg to the newly formed Bell Telephone Company in Canada. He remained with the company for a year before parting ways and becoming a reservation agent for a railway company. 

By 1881 Winnipeg had ten telephones on one line and 26 subscribers, which led to the installation of a switchboard on May 22, 1881. It was housed on the top floor of the Caldwell building at the corner of McDermot and Main St.  It was placed on the top floor to allow telephone wires to be run along the roof of the building. During those days expansion and city planning usually didn't include telephone poles, which forced wires to be strung from roof to roof and along fences. Poles were only used when they ran out of roofs and fences to string the wires on. 

The first telephone operators were boys as young as 12 years old. When telephone traffic was light during those days they would keep themselves occupied by pulling pranks on each other and the subscribers.

It was this type of behaviour that led to the hiring of women. In approximately late 1881 the first woman operator was hired. She was Ida Cates the forerunner of the "voice with a smile". At the time she was hired, a third switchboard had just been added to Winnipeg's first Exchange. 

Manitoba's first long distance telephone line ran from Winnipeg to Selkirk, a whopping twenty two mile stretch that was completed in 1887.

After the Canadian Bell Patent expired in 1893, anyone could make or deal in telephone equipment. Companies sprouted up everywhere, all vying for a piece of the market, competition was tough but so were the companies. Linemen from one company would knock down the lines of another company, at times they even sawed down poles.

Bell started construction on its own two story building located on Thistle Street (pictured above, now known as Portage Ave). The new office became operational on November 1 1896. In 1900 a third story was added on. By 1905 the square footage had doubled in size.

As the destructive and dangerous behaviour of telephone companies continued, it provoked the Federal Government in 1905 to appoint a committee to investigate telephone conditions. Testimony was heard from executives of the companies as well as citizens from towns and cities across Canada, 

The government was decided that Manitoba should have it's own telephone system and felt that the residents of Manitoba would back this decision. Between 1906 and 1908 the necessary legislation was enacted to set the stage for the establishment of a long distance telephone system covering the whole province, as well as the management of local exchanges and rural lines. 

Premier Roblin and the Minister of Railways Telephones and Telegraphs along with the President of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada set the stage for the signing of the agreement. This agreement made the Manitoba government responsible for telephone service in Manitoba. It was signed on December 30, 1907 and the system purchased for $3 300 000 from the Bell Telephone Company. Once signed by Premier R.P Roblin the new system went into operation on January 15 1908.

Brandon was the first office in Manitoba to get dial phones in 1917 while the first automatic exchange in this city was cutover for service on April 10 1920. Six years later the conversion from manual to dial was complete, this gave Winnipeg the distinction of being the first large city in Canada to have complete automatic service.

In 1933 the Manitoba Act was enacted by the Legislature repealing the the Telephones and Telegraph Act and the Manitoba Telephones and Telegraphs Act. The new Act set up the "Manitoba Telephone System Commission" which was a corporate  body.  A alternative name was given: the Manitoba Telephone System commonly known as MTS. 

Bell went on to purchase and successfully merge with MTS in 2017, it is now known as Bell MTS.