Emma M. Nutt Day
About Emma M. Nutt Day
When is Emma Nutt Day Celebrated? This holiday is always observed on September 1
This September 1 holiday honors and celebrates Emma M. Nutt Day. In 1877, Edwin T. Holmes, owner of the Holmes Burglar Company in Boston MA., invented the manual telephone switchboards. Emma Nutt became the first woman telephone operator on September 1, 1878. Emma loved the job and worked at it for 33 years.
Early telephone systems required an operator at a manual switchboard to connect and disconnect phone users. This special day celebrates the world of telephone operators. The telephone switchboard operator manually made the connections. It was a very important job for many until the invention of automated switchboards. Today, the position has been eliminated. Automated telephone systems replaced manual switchboards decades ago. Can you imagine what Emma would think about today’s cell phone world!?
Telephone Switchboard Trivia: The last manual telephone switchboard was used by the Kerman Telephone company in Kerman, Ca. They were replaced by an automated system in 1991.
A little side note about Emma: According to Emma, she was “very thankful that my first name was not Imma”.
How to Celebrate Emma Nutt Day
Here are a few things you can do to celebrate and enjoy this holiday:
- First, look for a place where you can actually see a switchboard. Undoubtedly, this is a challenge as they are no longer in use.
- Then, visit the Telephone Museum in Elsworth, Maine. During your visit, you will likely see an old switchboard.
- Learn more about them and the operators that used them.
- Ask the elder members of your family if anyone in the family was a switchboard operator.
- Finally, if you see a switchboard, take a picture of it and post it on social media.
Today's Quote
“Man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he was born with. A man is what he makes of himself.” – – Alexander Graham Bell
History and Origin of Emma Nutt Day
We found no factual information about this special day. There is no documentation as to who created this holiday. If it wasn’t one of Emma’s family members or friends, then it was most likely a fellow telephone operator. Nevertheless, this holiday has been around for decades. While manual telephone switchboards existed in the 1800s, we are all but certain this holiday began sometime in the mid 1900s or later.
This Day in History
Additionally, here are some other things that happened on this day:
- The Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia. (1752)
- “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was published. (1830)
- Cosmetics & fragrance company founder Estee Lauder was born on this day in 1908.
More September 1 Holidays
Besides Emma Nutt Day, here are more September 1 holidays to celebrate and enjoy:
More About Today
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Holiday Insights, where every day in September is a holiday, a bizarre or wacky day, an observance, or a special event. Join us in the daily calendar fun each and every day of the year.
Did You Know? Furthermore, in addition to Emma Nutt Day, there are literally thousands of daily holidays, special events and observances, more than one for every day of the year. Many of these holidays are new. People and organizations are creating new holidays on a regular basis. September holidays are no exception. At Holiday Insights, we take great efforts to thoroughly research and document the details of each one, as completely and accurately as possible.