The widespread use of telephones on board the company’s ships - connecting cabins, passengers to crew and ship to shore - called for the employment of telephone operators from the late 1930s onwards. P&O and Orient Line ‘tele -ops’ or ‘telephonists’ were women. They were ‘crew’ - as opposed to officers - and despite being mostly closeted in the telephone operators room, they wore smart uniforms.
The ‘hullo girls’ were kept busy at sea for nearly half a century until automated calls and direct dialling removed the need for a human connection.
