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In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a U.S. Patent for the first practical telephone design, ushering in one of the most revolutionary devices of the late 19th century.  The earliest telephones, however, were extremely limited: they allowed for communication between two receivers, but only if they were directly connected by a single wire.  It wasn’t until January 1878 that a New Haven inventor by the name of George Willard Coy created the world’s first commercial telephone exchange, which allowed a single telephone to connect to multiple lines through a central switchboard.

Several months earlier, Coy had attended a lecture in New Haven given by Bell himself, where the inventor first discussed the concept of a central exchange which could, in theory, provide access to multiple telephones using only one connected line.  Coy, a Civil War veteran and longtime telegraph operator and office manager, convinced a pair of local investors, Herrick P. Frost and Walter Lewis, that he could make Bell’s idea a reality, and with their help, purchased a storefront on State Street in downtown New Haven that soon became home to the world’s first commercial telephone exchange.

The inventive Coy proceeded to build a primitive switchboard from what appeared to be little more than spare parts, including carriage bolts, teapot handles, and a type of metal wire normally used to make ladies’ undergarments.  Subscribers to the exchange service would pick up their receivers and speak to an operator, who could then manually connect their line to the telephone of any other fellow subscriber.   With this simple setup, a telephone owner only required one single line to be installed — from their home to Coy’s central exchange — in order to reach dozens of different subscribers.

On January 28, 1878, Coy’s telephone exchange, under the aegis of the District Telephone Company of New Haven, went live, ushering the world into a new age of live, long-distance, and convenient communication.  For its first month of operation, the District Telephone Company had twenty-one subscribers — mostly businesses and government offices — who paid $1.50 a month for the service.  Less than a month later, the number of subscribers had more than doubled, inspiring Coy to publish the world’s first telephone directory on February 21 — a one-page listing of all fifty subscribers on his exchange.  Most of these were businesses and listings such as physicians, the police, and the post office; only eleven residences were listed, four of which were for persons associated with the company. The switchboard quickly became a fundamental feature of telephone communications the world over, and Coy’s company, which renamed itself the Southern New England Telephone company in 1882, would become one of New England’s most influential companies of the 20th century.

From: Today in Connecticut history and Wikipedia

On August 2nd, 1923, Nellie Perkins, telephone switchboard operator at Southern Vermont Telephone in Bridgewater, received a call with an important message for Vice President Calvin Coolidge; President Harding had died. As there was no telephone at the Coolidge homestead in Plymouth, W.A. Perkins, Nellie’s husband, drove his 1918 Cole-8 to Plymouth to deliver the message.

What was a Cole-8 automobile?

The Cole Motor Car Company was an early automobile maker based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cole automobiles were built from 1908 until 1925. They were quality-built luxury cars. The make is a pioneer of the V-8 engine.

In 1904, Joseph J. Cole (1869–1925) bought the Gates-Osborne Carriage Company and soon renamed it the Cole Carriage Company. There, he built his first automobile. It was a high-wheeled motor buggy with a two-cylinder engine.

In June 1909, Cole Carriage Company was reorganized as the Cole Motor Car Company and developed a conventional small car, the Cole Model 30. It had a two-cylinder engine that delivered 14 HP. It rode on a 90-inch wheelbase. The only body style was a runabout offered with 2, 2/4, or 4 seats at $725, $750, or $775, respectively.

At the end of 1909 a completely new car appeared as a 1910 model. It was also dubbed the Series 30 referring to its new 30 HP, four-cylinder engine. The wheelbase was 108 inches. There were four open body styles. Least expensive was the Tourabout at $1,400, two touring cars and a runabout called the “Flyer”, were $1,500 each.

A Series 40 replaced the 30 in 1912. This car had a 122-inch wheelbase. It had a more powerful 40 HP four-cylinder motor. Prices started at $1,885 for each of the four open body styles. There were also a “Colonial Coupe” for $2,500 and two limousines at $3,000 and $3,250. These prices brought Cole well into the luxury car market.

For 1913, Cole expanded to no less than three model lines: The Series 40, now on a 116-inch wheelbase, a 50 HP Series 50 that got the previous 40 chassis, and their first six-cylinder car. Although designated the Series 60, it had in fact 40 HP. Wheelbase was huge at 132 inches. Prices were $2,485 for one of the open body styles but went up to $3,000 for a coupe and an astronomical $4,250 for a 7-passenger Berline-Limousine. The Series 40 was cut to two open styles, a roadster and a touring car, for $1,685 each. In the Series 50, the same body styles were offered, plus a toy tonneau, at $1,985 each. Further, Coles got electric ignition and lighting for the first time.

1914 brought several changes. Series 40 and 50 were replaced by a new Model Four, a 4-cylinder car with 28.9 HP and a wheelbase of 120 inches. Offered were a roadster, a touring car and toy tonneau at $1,925 each, plus a 3-passenger coupe for $2,350. The 6-cylinder car also was renamed the Six. It got 43.8 HP with a wheelbase of 136 inches. There was a big 7-passenger touring car, plus the usual roadster and toy tonneau, each at $2,600. A coupe could be had for $3,000 and a limousine for $4,000.

Sales had been low in 1914, so Cole reduced prices for 1915. Further, there were new designations – again – and even some new cars, too. The Four was now called the Standard 4-40. It lost the toy tonneau, and the remaining cars were offered much cheaper: $1,485 for the two open cars and $1,885 for the coupe. The Six was split into two ranges. The smaller Model 6-50 got a 29 HP engine and a 126-inch wheelbase. It offered a 4 and a 7-passenger touring car $1,865, a roadster at $2,465 and the coupe at $2,250. The new Big Six 6-60, built on the previous year’s 136-inch chassis, got a powerful 40 HP engine, prices for the Roadster and 7-passenger touring car were $2,465, the coupe at $2,750, and limousine at $3,750.

Cole could shuffle with models and engines the way it did for two reasons: The first was that until 1915, the company refused to offer their cars on a yearly model change but relied on series that were replaced when management felt the necessity for it.

The second reason was that the Cole was an assembled car; that means that all important components such as engine, clutch, transmission, axles etc. were bought from outside sources. For Cole, this was not only the simpler way to build a car, but Joseph Cole thought that specialized suppliers could give more attention to their items. Thus, he preferred the term “standardized car” over the usual “assembled car”.

Big news came in mid-1915: Only one year after Cadillac had pioneered the V-8 engine, Cole brought out its own V-8 powered automobile and would stay with it until the very end of the make, dropping its Fours and Sixes after 1916. This engine had a displacement of 346.3 c.i. and delivered 39.2 HP. It was built by Northway, then a division of General Motors that also manufactured the V-8 for Cadillac. The car was named the Model 8-50. It had a 127-inch wheelbase. Five body styles were available at prices between $1,785 and $3,250.

There were few changes for 1917. The car was now called the Model 860. There were five body styles at about the same price level. Some of them received quite flamboyant designations such as “Tuxedo Roadster”, “Tourcoupe”, and “Toursedan”, of which a “Foredoor Toursedan” existed, probably a 2-door sedan.

The new kind of marketing became even more apparent in 1918. Advertising slogans were “There’s a Touch of Tomorrow In All Cole Does Today” or “Did You Ever Go Ballooning in a Cole?”, the latter referring to the adoption of balloon tires as an option that year. The car was advertised as the “Aero-Eight”. There were only three body styles left, a roadster, a “Sportster” and the touring car. They cost $2,395 each and seated 2, 4, and 7 passengers, respectively. The cars also became more fashionably styled.

Cole opened new, wider production facilities in 1922. However, sales went down rapidly, mainly because of a short but severe recession. Although there were more models to choose from and prices were reduced drastically (most to a level under that of 1918 / 1919), only 1,722 cars were built of the Model Aero Eight 890, as the car was called that year. The wheelbase was increased by a quarter inch, and the frame ends were split. The Sportcoupe had a weight of 4,155 pounds. The car was priced at $3,385 with a 75-mph speedometer.

Innovations in 1923 for the Series 890 Cole were stylish drum-type headlights, cowl ventilation, and a new windshield with an adjustable upper half on open cars. Other elegant details were wire wheels instead of the previously used “artillery wheels” with fashionable disc wheels on the option list. For this year only, some cars had an added sporty touch with running boards that did not span the whole length, leaving the chassis-mounted spare wheels “free”. Still, with eight types of bodies, prices for open cars were slightly up while those for closed cars remained the same. The most expensive 1922 model, the $4,185 “Tourosine”, was gone as were all those strange names, with the exception of the “Sportsedan”. Only 1,522 cars left the factory that year.

In this situation and without any debts yet, J. J. Cole decided to liquidate his company rather than risking his fortune by going on. So, it is no wonder that the Model 890, now also called “Master” series, went little changed on the show room floors. Full-length running boards were back on all models. There were seven body styles, again sharply reduced to prices as low as $2,175 for open bodies, $2,750 for a coupe and $3,075 for other closed cars. A Cole was honored to pace that year’s Indy 500 race.

Before the curtain finally fell, there were five cars available for 1925. Balloon tires were now standard equipment, and the cars got new two-piece rear bumpers, called “bumperettes”. Although Joseph Cole began liquidating his firm early in 1925, 607 cars left the factory. He died suddenly of an infection on August 8, 1925, shortly before liquidation was finished.

Source: Wikipedia