America Calling

by Fischer, Claude S.

• ISBN13: 9780520086470
• ISBN10: 0520086473
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

The telephone looms large in our lives, as ever present in modern societies as cars and television. Claude Fischer presents the first social history of this vital but little-studied technology--how we encountered, tested, and ultimately embraced it with enthusiasm. Using telephone ads, oral histories, telephone industry correspondence, and statistical data, Fischer's work is a colorful exploration of how, when, and why Americans started communicating in this radically new manner. Studying three California communities, Fischer uncovers how the telephone became integrated into the private worlds and community activities of average Americans in the first decades of this century. Women were especially avid in their use, a phenomenon which the industry first vigorously discouraged and then later wholeheartedly promoted. Again and again Fischer finds that the telephone supported a wide-ranging network of social relations and played a crucial role in community life, especially for women, from organizing children's relationships and church activities to alleviating the loneliness and boredom of rural life. Deftly written and meticulously researched,America Callingadds an important new chapter to the social history of our nation and illuminates a fundamental aspect of cultural modernism that is integral to contemporary life.

Table of Contents

List of Files
List of Tables
Preface
Technology and Modern Life	p. 1
The Telephone in America	p. 33
Educating the Public	p. 60
The Telephone Spreads: National Patterns	p. 86
The Telephone Spreads: Local Patterns	p. 122
Becoming Commonplace	p. 175
Local Attachment, 1890-1940	p. 193
Personal Calls, Personal Meanings	p. 222
Conclusion	p. 255
Appendix A Bibliographic Essay	p. 273
Appendix B Statistical Analyses of Telephone and Automobile Distribution	p. 277
Appendix C Telephone Subscription among Iowa Farmers, 1924	p. 283
Appendix D Summary of Expenditure Studies by Household Income or Occupation	p. 287
Appendix E The 1918-1919 Cost of Living Study	p. 292
Appendix F Who Had the Telephone When?	p. 299
Appendix G Analysis of Advertisement Data	p. 309
Appendix H Statistical Analyses for Chapter 7	p. 312
Notes	p. 321
Bibliography	p. 379
Index	p. 413
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