Phones being instruments of societal disruption since 1910! Some of the great stuff I find researching Seattle history: “Of modern day conveniences, the telephone, perhaps, is woman’s greatest curse. It makes her extravagant, adds to the coarseness of her voice, injures her disposition. . .

and aids very much in the unnecessary expense of her household. It is an easy matter for her to stand before the phone and order an extravagant bill of groceries. It disturbs her quiet and robs the home of its seclusion and peace.” Reverand Mark Matthews.

The Rev. Matthews was an extremely popular and influential Seattle Presbyterian prohibitionist preacher who railed against women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century.

Here’s the link to the newspaper in the Seattle Times archives: News Article, Seattle Daily Times (published as THE SEATTLE DAILY TIMES), January 31, 1910, p9 Might require a Seattle Public Library card to access.