Spare a thought for poor Claude Braden, who got stuck with the job of night operator of Pasadena’s first telephone exchange in 1898. I don’t know how many telephones Pasadena had at the end of the 19^th century, but judging by the size of the switchboard, I’m guessing not too many. And the few there were, were probably not used much. So poor Claude would have had to devise ways of keeping himself awake. I wonder what the late 19^th century version of Benzedrine was because it looks like he took a handful of ‘em.