From the day the switchboard moved to the Hathaways', their family life-style changed drastically.  Almost everything in the house centered around the phone company.

Bob McKeen soon found that it would be a lot different working at the Hathaways'.  They had two active children.

"Can you kids keep it a little quieter!" Bob would often have to ask as Susan and Mike squabbled over who would get to sit next to the board.

Meal schedules had to be adjusted.  A good many of them were moved from the dining room table to portable trays in the office.  On holidays the entire celebration was planned around the switchboard, allowing either Barbara or Elden to eat and answer calls at the same time.  The family's merriment had to be tempered to fit the number of calls coming in.  A "shhh!" from the operator would be a signal for more silence.

Bob worked mornings from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.  In the afternoon Barbara would dash out to the kitchen between calls to start a roast or put the potatoes on.  The ironing board was set up near the switchboard, and all the mending was done there as well.  Bob's second shift started at five p.m., which did allow an evening family meal providing there weren't any line troubles.  Many times Elden had to eat warmed up leftovers after he returned home from telephone repairs.  He would often be so tired he could hardly taste the food.

Mike's keen nose kept his mother apprised of the meal progress.  He could smell potatoes burning quicker than anyone.  When Barbara ran to the kitchen to tend her meal, Susan would watch the switchboard.

At age seven, Susan thought she was already old enough to take calls on the board.  Every time she heard the alarm buzz, she would try to beat her mother back from the kitchen.

Aunt Fanny Ross moved in with Barbara and Elden a couple of years before they bought the phone company.  At that time they added a second story to the house with an attic above that so that there were enough bedrooms upstairs for everyone.  Aunt Fanny was some help with the housework despite her age and health, but her failing eyesight made it difficult.  However, she could still read to the children for hours, which Mike particularly liked.

Television had not made its way to Bryant Pond yet.  Playing cards was a popular pastime in the evenings.  Susan was a moody player, always wanting to be the winner.  She discovered that she could watch the reflection of Bob's hand in the window as he sat at the switchboard.

"I don't understand how you are able to win so much," he always complained.  Eventually he was able to catch on to her successful technique.

Then the switchboard would get busy and Susan would complain, "Darn, there's another call.  It's getting so we have to stop every twenty minutes or so.  I wish everybody would just go to bed."

"Now, Susan," Bob would say, "we have to answer them."

Bob got initiated to having kids around in a hurry.  Susan used to patiently wait for him to leave the board for a moment to run to the bathroom or for a cup of coffee and then she would hide.  She would jump out and yell "Boo!" as loud as she could to startle him.  The result was a spilled coffee, a shaken Bob, and a delighted Susan.

Another aspect which changed abruptly was their social life.  With Bob the only other telephone operator, Barbara had to be home every afternoon, and either she or Elden had to be there by 9 p.m. when Bob's second shift ended.

Fortunately Bob was agreeable to working some late evenings so that the Hathaways could attend Eastern Star.  The meetings were once a month and were attended by a good part of the townspeople.  An advantage was that the kids had a babysitter.

One evening around the kitchen table a short time after the board was installed, Barbara and Elden broke some exciting news to Mike and Susan.

"We're going to have another member of the family sometime in the spring," said Barbara.  "I'm expecting a baby."

As Barbara grew larger and larger, the only place she could ride comfortably in the old milk wagon was behind the wheel driving.

Linda was born in April.  Bob designed a birth announcement with a telephone company theme.  Just as mother and child were to come home from the hospital, Mike came down with the flu and Barbara's grandmother Bennett died.  Mike had to stay with his Hathaway grandparents until he got better, and Barbara missed the funeral, so it was a trying spell.

Linda fitted right in with the switchboard, spending most of her young life in the middle of all the activity.  At night she slept in a crib in her parents' sleeping area.  As soon as possible the living room was split in half, making a bedroom next to the office and a dining room off the kitchen.

Barbara nursed Linda at the board during afternoon feedings.  When Linda reached a year old, her parents prepared a bedroom for her upstairs.  However, at first she had trouble sleeping.  It was too quiet up there.

In 1955 television arrived.  All of a sudden soap operas, Cowboys and Indians, and wrestling matches filled the telephone office.  The sound had to be carefully controlled so that the operators could hear the calls, but the TV set stayed on all day long.

Sometimes on a hot summer's night Barbara and Elden would escape to the front porch to enjoy the peace and quiet of the evening which was broken only by the sound of crickets' chirping or an occasional car passing.

"Remember when you used to come home from the railroad, and after dinner we'd walk down to the lake for a swim?" Barbara asked, thinking of the years before the switchboard.

"I know," Elden replied, wistfully puffing on his pipe.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost nine."

"We'ver got to relieve Bob."

Out to the back room they returned - to blaring television, fighting kids, and a bustling switchboard.