Mary Moore (Time Lady)

A human speaking clock prior to the invention of automated equipment.

In the United States of America, Mary Moore was the first national voice of the Bell System's standardized speaking clock^[1] and also provided the voice behind many telephone company recordings on equipment manufactured by Audichron.

Moore's voice was often recognized for the distinctive two-syllable pronunciations of 9 ("NY-un") and 5 ("Fy-uv"). This was a required of telephone operators at the time, because "nine" and "five" can sound very similar on a poor-quality line.

Prior to Moore's recordings and Audichron equipment, an operator would sit in a room and read the time every 10 seconds. Callers reaching a disconnected number would be informed by the operator personally. Moore had one of these reading jobs herself before she was formally recorded.

References

1. ^ David Lazarus. “Time of day calling it quits at AT&T”. © Los Angeles Times, 2007. Newspaper. Los Angeles Times. 29 Aug 2007.

Preceded by Post created

Voice of AT&T circa 1934 - 1 January 1963

Succeeded by Jane Barbe

Persondata
Name	Moore, Mary
Alternative names
Short description	American voice over actress, Time lady
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death