That's pretty much how it was in the days of the old state-run GPO Telephones in Britain too. As I understand it (I wasn't born until
1966), it was pretty much just expected that any younger girl who got married would leave.In a similar way to "Bell trained,", an operator who was "GPO trained" was often regarded as the best available for a large PBX.
About 8 or 9 years ago the BBC produced a drama show -- "The Hello Girls" -- set in a typical telephone exchange in the late 1950s/early
1960s. The show ran for only two very short seasons, but received many favorable comments from those who had worked in GPO exchanges of that era for the way it captured the atmosphere so well. (It might be available on tape or DVD, I'm not sure.)This use of "X" was also widespread by the British GPO. There was the whole group of varying terms for a private branch exchange: PBX, PABX or PAX, PMBX, etc.
There was the old UAX -- (U)nit (A)utomatic e(X)change -- series of small Strowger step-by-step systems which were the mainstay of village and rural telephone service at one time.
Electronic switching systems became known as TXE, for (T)elephone e(X)change (E)lectronic. Crossbar offices were designated TXK, although how they got the "K" is anybody;s guess.
-Paul.