Bettie B. will earn about $1,600 in her first year as a telephone operator. Perhaps now she can afford to have that hideous neck scar removed.

I briefly got my greasy, grimy hands on a yellowed October 10, 1947 copy of The Admiral, a daily newspaper of amazingly high quality that was published by the students and teachers at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx. Columbus was at the time (still is?) a school that excelled in writing, oration and theater, turning out Anne Bancroft and Sal Mineo, among many other Broadway and film actors who never got quite as famous. (It should also be noted that David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz attended Columbus, though he was definitely not representative of the student body.)

The articles focus on school happenings and civic matters occurring beyond academic walls. And because not everyone could be Anne Bancroft, there were ads on the back page for jobs that might interest graduating seniors. An excerpt from an advertisement seeking telephone operators:

“Bettie B. will be happy in an essential job that’s ‘right’ for her. Naturally, girls who have been in the thick of things in high school affairs want a good ‘first job’. They want to go where their work is necessary and appreciated, where they will have every chance to use their ingenuity and intelligence. Telephone operators earn the full salary of $32 for a five-day week during training, $35 in eighteen months with further increases thereafter. There are many other jobs open, too. These jobs, as well as operating jobs, all have frequent pay increases and paid vacations. Work with friendly people, Ask your guidance counselor about us. Then make it a date. Ask your local operator for Enterprise 10,000–a free call!”

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