Elisa

The 1880´s

The 1880s

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Because the number of telephones increased, switching places for calls or telephone exchanges, were needed. A connection from a telephone apparatus took place by turning a crank handle of the phone. The microphone and earpiece received electricity from the battery of the telephone apparatus.

The first telephone exchange in the world was opened in the United States in 1878. The first telephone exchange in Finland began operations in Turku in 1881.

Telegraph mechanic Daniel Johannes WadÚn was granted a licence to establish a telephone company in Helsinki in January 1882. Prior to this, WadÚn had acted as a principal agent for the Bell Telephone Company in Helsinki. At the end of May 1882, the telephone line from the restaurant in the Kaivopuisto Park to the restaurant Oopperakellari was trialled. The official opening day of Helsinki Telephone Association was 6 June 1882, with 56 numbers in use. By the end of the decade there were already 1,600 numbers.

WadÚn made several improvements to the telephone and implemented new technologies. Cooperation with the Bell Telephone Company started in 1888. WadÚn's workshop manufactured over 2,500 phones and he was awarded for his skills in the Paris World Fair in 1889 (the same fair, for which the Eiffel Tower was constructed).

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