ABSTRACT
Operators in Canada and France underwent similar training and were subject to such restrictions as well, according to Elaine Bernard (1982, 42) and Pierrette Pézerat and Danièle Poublan (1985, 32). One operator in France remarked, ‘In order to talk PTT [Postes, Télégraphies et Téléphones], one is forbidden to be oneself (Pézerat and Poublan 1985, 33). Yet the voice of the operator, in accordance with the operator myth of a number of countries, was deemed to have special powers, widely acclaimed in popular and telephone industry literature, illustrated by these comments: ‘The dulcet tones of the feminine voice seem to exercise a soothing and calming effect upon the masculine mind, subduing irritation and suggesting gen-tleness of speech and demeanor; thereby avoiding unnecessary friction’ (McCluer 1902, 31).
