Sep 5, 2008
Most US telephone customers are familiar with Jane Barbe (pronounced "Barbie") (July 29, 1928—July 18, 2003). Even though few of us ever met her, we have all heard her voice many times and know her as the "Telephone Lady" or the "Time Lady." Jane Barbe was an American voice actress who did the later voice recordings for the Bell System. Her voice is heard by millions of people every day speaking for the telephone networks (changed numbers, disconnects, circuits busy, etc.), Bell Laboratory computers, The National Bureau of Standards, announcing ETC's Audichron® (formerly Audichron Company) time, temperature, and weather services, and on many voice mail systems nation wide. Her predecessor was Mary Moore, who was known for using a distinctive pronunciation of 9 (Ny-un) and 5 (Fy-uv). The distintive pronunciation was required because, on a poor quality line, "nine" and "five" can sound very similar.
DJDeedle dedicates this Deedlecast to these telephonic legends.
Just note. Those too young to remember who "Ma Bell" was may be too young for some of the language in this podcast.