(Mr. Petersen has got a wrong number 3 times. Now he calls the exchange for the fourth time and snarls): - Listen, young lady! Will you do me the favour and mistake for once - and give me the correct number.
From the Klods-Hans magazine of 27th September 1911. The Royal Library.  

The telephone had an impressive impact on the Danish population, and with many subscribers the basis was formed for a wide understanding of what it actually was. The delight of the possibilities of modern technique was unmistakable, but its many problems were inevitable. A great deal of human intervention was needed before a telephone reached its recipient and combined with the built-in technical weaknesses lots of things might go wrong.

Klods-Hans [Numskull Jack] & Co.

The wide range of illustrated magazines constituted a forum for debate of such things: comic papers and satirical magazines, guidance on good housekeeping, and the latest news from the exciting world of science were among the offers that the Danes of that time could choose from.

The three comic papers, Punch, Puk and Klods-Hans, often had telephone troubles on the agenda. They succeeded each other during the period 1873-1926 and appealed chiefly to the bourgeoisie - well-to-do Copenhageners who could afford servants, fashionable clothes, entertainment, and not least a telephone.
 

The Cousin: - Congratulations, dear cousin, is it true that you have become a father?
Unauthorized Third Party: - No! This must be a mistake!
The Happy Father: - Yes, of a big, lovely boy weighing nine pounds!
Third Party: - Well, I'm damned if this is not a crossing.
From Klods-Hans of 12th May 1907. The Royal Library.

 

A Crossing

At the turn of the century the telephone was so wide-spread among the bourgeoisie that most people knew about its peculiarities. If e.g. a young lady ignored a gentleman, he might say, "Are you a telephone operator?" - an ill-concealed innuendo about the waiting time that might arise when a call should be connected at the telephone exchange. Cross talk and erroneous connections were among the problems that were brought up against the hard-pressed operators.

However, the operators were not to blame for cross talk, noise, and bad sound reproduction. When the vulnerable wires on the telephone poles were exposed to humid weather, cross talk and noise frequently occurred while long cable connections deadened the sound and made it necessary to shout very loud and clearly.

Erroneous connections on the other hand might be the responsibility of as well the subscriber as the telephone operator. The companies attempted to educate their customers to talk clearly and distinctly when they wanted a call to be connected. But the operator might mistake and connect to a wrong number or fail to notice that the line was busy. The exchanges of that time made it possible to actually connect more calls to the same wire.

So it is difficult to say whether the "crossing" on the reproduced drawing from 1907 is due to humid weather or a harassed telephone operator.

 

- You are not answering, Miss! Are you perhaps a telephone operator?
From Klods-Hans of 10th September 1909. The Royal Library.



 

Erroneous Connections

Erroneous connections were, however, the major matter of complaint of the customers. The tele-phone exchanges were stressful places of work demanding concentration and a good memory. In busy periods the small annunciators that dropped down when a subscriber wanted a call would sound "like a hailstorm against the window pane" as it was written in Illustreret Tidende (Illustrated Tidings) already on 27th January 1884. In such a storm it might happen that the operator connected the customers erroneously. Sometimes several times in a row, as it appears from the picture of a frustrated telephone client who has not yet lost his sense of humour completely.

On the other hand, the comedian Sophus Erharth displayed no sense of humour in his revue sketch "My Telephone" from 1909 in which he wanted to call his girlfriend to invite her out for champagne and oysters. Too late he finds out that he has got the tailor whom he owes money on the line. A call to borrow money from a friend does not come turn out much better. His invitation to join him in town and pitch his wife - "the old hag" - a tale falls completely flat as it is, of course, the wife he has got hold of. He succeeds, however, with his last call. It is to the exchange and ends with: "Now you can keep all your telephone and your crap to yourself, for this must come to an end and that is final! Dammit!"