Historical Notes:
The TCI Library has a 1955 history of the Lincoln, Neb, Telephone & Telegraph Company. Interesting read.
In 1954 Northwestern Bell Telephone invested $50 million in construction programs in its territory:
On a more somber note, Offutt Air Force Base (Sarpy County), Neb., hosted a control center for the Strategic Air Command in 1958. The article notes it is reached by telephone.
Also, "if the red phone rings"
In 1954, in Homer, Neb, the operator stayed at her switchboard notifying every resident in town of a major incoming flood. She won the Vail Medal for that.