NOVEL WEEKLY SERVICE KEEPS PHONES GERMFREE (Jul, 1937)
This reminds me of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
NOVEL WEEKLY SERVICE KEEPS PHONES GERMFREE
Telephone subscribers in a number of eastern cities may now avail themselves of a service that undertakes to keep the instruments free of germs. Once a week, a uniformed representative calls, undoes a kit resembling a physician’s case, and applies an antiseptic paste that is said to keep the telephone in sanitary condition.
a) And as a result, the Golgafrinchans who remained on their planet
all died due to a deadly virus spread by use of the telephone.
b) Ohh… No one wanted to admit they had toilets that needed cleaning?
I knew the first comment would be a Hitchhiker’s reference.
Indeed. This item shows that Douglas Adams had a real-life inspiration when he wrote that scene into his novel…
…and by 1940 all germs were eliminated!
Looking at the largest version of the photo, I saw that the legend on the woman’s sleeve read “Hygienic Phone Service”. I was able to search for that, and found a New Yorker article from 1939 which noted that Walter Morris started the service, and that a similar commercial service existed in England (hence, HGG). Other references show that they were still in business up to at least 1954.
Also, Walter Morris’ wife Isabelle was apparently a Vaudeville performer.
I also believe that Nigel Tufnel’s father was a professional phone sanitizer.