Extra! Extra! Telephones Offer a 'Splendid Investment'

Spring 1930: Telephone lines have grown in popularity, and the Tri-State Telephone and Telegraph Company is offering the latest features: long distance calls and an "extension telephone." 

In a Feb. 14 advertisement in the West St. Paul Booster and Dakota County Globe, the utility explains that having an additional telephone installed conveniently in your home or business can provide:

"Privacy . . . . . . When the conversation requires confidence, the seclusion your extension telephone provides saves you every embarassment."

Their campaign the following month hopes to persuade readers that long distance is more economical compared to doing business via correspondence.

"Including the time of dictating, stenography, stationary, filing and postage, the average cost of letters sent within a radius of 50 miles would approximate 50 cents."

Periodically, Burnsville Patch features histoircal materials, like this ad, thanks to the Dakota County Historical Society. You can check out more events, exhibits and archives at the society's building at 130 Third Avenue N, South St. Paul.