PHONE OPERATOR REFLECTS ON MANY ADVANCES

Georgia Burgfeld has watched the telephone industry expand from the "cord-board" operators of the 1940s and 1950s to today's modern switchboards that electronically connect calls.

After nearly 44 years of dedication and service to Southwestern Bell Telephone, the Cape Girardeau resident retires today.

Her retirement plans include camping, fishing and spending more time with her grandchildren.

"Yes, I am excited about retiring," Burgfeld said, "but it almost brings tears to my eyes because I've been at the company most of my life.

"My five grandkids are certainly elated that Grandma has retired."

Two weeks after graduating from high school in 1947, Burgfeld began working Aug. 8 as an operator at Southwestern Bell then called Southeast Telephone Company.

But the name isn't the only thing that's changed in four decades at Southwestern Bell.

"I was an operator for 25 years," she said. "When I first started, we worked with the old cord-board."

Roger Miller, area manager of network maintenance for Southwestern Bell, said that years ago customers would call the operator whenever they wanted to place a call.

The operator would take a cord and cross-connect the caller with the line of the person they were trying to reach.

"Number, please," Burgfeld recalled were the operator's first words when they answered the line.

"When I first started, everyone had phone numbers like 287J," she said. "Customers used to be assigned numbers with letters behind them, and the operator had to verbally ask each customer for their number."

Burgfeld said the operator then would plug the cord into another connection and actually push a button to ring the party to be reached. The operators wore headsets hung on their neck as opposed to today's much smaller units that attach to the ear, she said.

Miller said Burgfeld has adjusted to many technological changes in the past 44 years.

"Things have changed a great deal," he said. "She's seen many changes and several different types of equipment, from the old cord-board to electrical mechanical equipment, and now to digital equipment."

In 1973, Burgfeld gave up her position as an operator to apply for a position in the plant department as a frame attendant. Frame attendant are responsible for wiring a frame within the Southwestern Bell building.

"I had to take a test to see if I was qualified," she said. "I was the second female frame attendant. Years ago, girls didn't wear slacks and frame attendants had to climb ladders inside the building.

"Women can do anything now, but at that time the company was just beginning to say that no distinction should be made between men and women and that anybody could do any of the jobs."

Burgfeld said she's really enjoyed her work at the telephone company all these years.

"My time spent as an operator was very interesting because when I answered the signal, I never knew what was behind the call," she said. "I didn't know if it would be an emergency or just a regular call."

Burgfeld said modern technology has dramatically altered the telephone industry.

"It's much easier now for people to make calls," she said, "with the invention of the dial, speed calling, and all the extras that go with the telephone."

She said the move to electronic switching eliminated all the operators in Cape Girardeau a few years ago. Most were transferred to bigger cities, she said.

Miller said that throughout the years, Burgfeld has been known as a model employee.

"She's a wonderful person and employee," he said. "I don't believe I've ever seen an employee with as good of an attitude. She's always real cheerful.

"It's great to have that kind of employee for so many years," he added. "She's the last person in our department to have worked for the old Southeast Telephone Company. She'll certainly be missed."

Burgfeld was born in Dexter and moved to Cape Girardeau when she was 3 years old and has lived here since.

She married L. R. Burgfeld in 1950. "I raised three kids," she said, "and I took off time for the pregnancy leaves. My children grew up with the telephone company."

Her daughter, Karen, lives in Little Rock, Ark., and her daughter, Karla in Fresno, Calif. Her son, Robin, lives in Cape Girardeau.

In honor of her retirement, an open house will be held today at the Drury Lodge for family members and co-workers.