Life — April 14, 1927 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Telephone Girl's Prayer" by Oliver Herford This humorous poem by Oliver Herford satirizes the daily frustrations experienced by telephone operators—primarily women employed by telephone companies. The illustrated prayer catalogs their job-related complaints: connecting wrong numbers, dealing with rude callers who "rant and rave," disconnecting conversations accidentally, and enduring verbal abuse ("cusses," "slaps and slams," "smashed receivers"). The whimsical border illustration depicts operators amid chaos—tangled cords, distressed callers, and mayhem—visually emphasizing the stressful, demanding nature of the work. The satire gently mocks both the operators' predicament and the telephone system's frustrations, while the prayer format transforms workplace grievances into dark comedy. This reflects early-20th-century awareness of difficult working conditions for female telephone operators.