Today is Emma M. Nutt Day! For those without Google or the complete Encyclopedia Britannica, Emma M. Nutt was the first woman to get a job as a telephone operator. Soon after her entrance into 'the biz', the people running the phone companies realized that people preferred the sound of her calm, soothing voice to that of all the male voices. Even though we rarely ever talk to telephone operators these days, the tactic of using a woman's voice in automated calls is still fairly prominent with big businesses.
Aside from how she could be accredited with changing that part of the telephone industry, she was also smart and efficient. She could reportedly recite any number from the New England Telephone Company at will. For you children out there, I should explain that we didn't used to have phones that could save numbers, so memorizing them or writing them down was the only way you'd be able to keep them. It's surprising to find anyone under 16-18 years old that knows even just 10 phone numbers off the top of their head.
But today isn't a day to talk to younger people about how lame they are (that's an every day thing). Today is a day to remember the inspiration that Emma Nutt was, and to reflect on how many hilarious names you could come up with for your children if your last name was 'Nutt'. I call dibs on "Hazel Nutt" and "Mac Adamia Nutt"
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
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