Time for our annual look at the Western Electric Christmas party of 1925

I love this tradition.

I find the one looking through the tree the most attractive.

Yikes, someone married that Babe Ruth-looking woman - last one on the right in the second row.

Every year it's Svetlana who claims one's attention, with her smouldering indifferent style. It's star quality. Wrinkled-dress Myrtle simply cannot ever hide her disapproval, and envy. True to form, Svetlana genuinely couldn't care less.

It’s because Svetlana is naturally gorgeous and flouting the shorn hip hairstyle- she has a glorious mane and not wearing a lick of makeup. Svetlana is looking at the boss, who is not in the photo.

Poor old Myrtle is seething with rage- look how she is gripping the hanky and candy cane.

You just know Myrtle lives with her devout difficult mother, while Svetlana is often seen meeting a ruggedly handsome man after work, about whom she feels no need ever to speak.

Is Myrtle TRANS??

I wish someone would have saved the numbered photo where each person in the photo had a number on it, made it so much easier to identify people.

Is that Frida Kahlo kneeling in front of the woman wearing a police helmet?

With numbers

Michael (16) from accounting is not quite as conservative as he looks. Ethel (17) has been left looking a little flushed and dishevelled but definitely happy.

The office bitchy queen (45) is throwing shade at Clara (1) for sleeping with that hottie Chuck (39) even after he'd told her about his secret plans for getting Chuck drunk at the party and giving him a handjob.

12 is the Transperson.

Was the oil can for a rusty vagina?

Bless You R10.

Someone took the time to mask everyone up in the comments on Shorpy.

Some interesting thought bubbles were added to the photo in the Shorpy comments.

Ah yes....NOW it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! An annual thread about this photo has been part of my holiday tradition now since 2015.

“…and it shows.”

Can we please not defile our annual party with ghastly contemporary netspeak.

I always chuckle that at a Western Electric — electric — holiday party the only place to plug in the lights for the tree is the ceiling light fixture. None of that convenient baseboard outlet nonsense yet. Ha.

What makes the photo interesting is it’s gender equality. I don’t assume the females held the same rank as the men, but was it typical to employ such a large number of women at the time? I’ve worked at places in the last 20 years that were less balanced than this office. The group was also relatively young.

[quote] The group was also relatively young.

The young were the only ones who would work for the low wages a utility paid.

[quote] I always chuckle that at a Western Electric — electric — holiday party the only place to plug in the lights for the tree is the ceiling light fixture.

I always chuckle at people who thought Western Electric had anything to do with the electricity. Western Electric was a division of At&T the phone company, pretty much the only phone company for much of the US.

[quote] The group was also relatively young.

You were unable to make a long distance call from NYC to SF until 1915, because the long distance lines didn't exist until then, Telephones were the new technology still in 1925, not many old geezers were into that stuff, much like today at Facebook or Google, you aren't going to find many old people working there.

The floor is filthy.

OMG those poor girls back then. Probably most of them were being raped by someone close to them.

[quote]OMG those poor girls back then. Probably most of them were being raped by someone close to them.

Thanks, Debbie for your contribution.

Svetlana is clearly suffering from depression.

At least 5 of the mens were homos

Gawking at those poor, abused women is LITERALLY a mockery!

Homos weren’t invented yet. They were inverts.

R29 41 & 42 have an arrangement

47’s wife is a layabout. His tie is askew and he has an air of dishevelment. She probably lays up in bed, eating chocolates and complaining about having to do housework.

Thank you, OP, for the reminder to change my desktop art! I have the colorized version (no numbers, masks or thought bubbles). No. 24 is the hottest man, I think. I call him Jim. He doesn't call me, of course, even though he works for the goddamn phone company.

Where's the diversity?

Number 34 couldn't wait to show off his "tower" headpiece....with "Go go". What a smart aleck...that guy. There's always one in every crowd.

That's a sad looking Christmas tree..

My father worked for Western Electric for over 50 years. He died wealthy because WE was a subsidiary of AT&T and they let WE employees buy AT&T stock at a discount. He kept buying it and banking it.

That photo is almost 100 years old. Crazy...

The man on the far left/top is the most doable.

R31- or Homosexualists

Why are the adults given kids' toys? How fucking cringe is that?

Every year, the first thing I imagine how bad that office must have reeked of dirty hair, unwashed clothes, BO, and cigarettes.

And a lot of regret. The Goddamned regret!

Oh, and 39 and 47 are the most fuckable.

42 has a nice thick cock, and 41 knows it.

42 is definitely the most put-together. If I were forced to marry one of them based solely on this photo, I’d choose him.

The sketchy guy caught peering over the shoulders of the two men to the right of the Christmas tree, was brought in by the Regional General Manager, to help a girl in trouble while everyone else is at the party. His check to see if the coast is clear launched the epic fail.

Who'd make a numbered version of this legendary pic only to cover the faces by putting the numbers on top of them?? (Fucking hell.)

All these ladies were operators and they listened in on saucy long distance calls. Putas.

Does anyone else think that 17 and 30 are sisters?

Fuck #36

Marry #31

Kill #37

Likely to be killed by #46

17 looks like Pete Davidson in drag.

All I ever think about with these old pictures is hygiene - or lack there of.

The hefty gal in the police department hat looks like she knows how to have a good time, and where to find the booze and the boys with the biggest billy clubs after work.

R52, I think she looks like Linda Blair.

45 looks like the sex pest supervisor

Wow I didn't even notice Mr. 31 but he definitely looks the most attractive by far compared to the other men unless that's just a really flattering angle.

Ms. 30 looks like she's already had a few too many drinks and is trying to seduce the camera.

#42 Has to be gay….I like #6, he’s quite handsome.

I thought 6 was hot too at first but when you look at the enlarged original picture, not so much....

#6 has a Matt Gaetz look about him.

#39 is quite handsome, although the poor dear has lost his hair and has a giant head.

[quote]All I ever think about with these old pictures is hygiene - or lack there of.

Most American men did not start wearing deodorant until the 1950s. Prior to that they were .... fragrant. But they knew if they got too rank to swab their pits.

Was it ever determined how many woman #35 killed before the police caught him?

Only one great, big, fat person in the lot!

Sally (#4) is planning on getting sozzled and then mimeographing her fanny so she can place copies on the men’s desks.

Which one is Ginny in billing?

My goodness they all must be very old now!

R53 True they were part of AT&T but they didn't operate as a telephone company. They were the technological/manufacturing arm, they designed telephones and assorted telephone equipment for the wider Ma Bell system. They were an electrical technology company so the other person's point stands. You would expect them to have the latest technology. It is like an internet startup using using dial-up.

I think we have established that the time-traveller at #18 is the original Ginny in Billing.

God, Every year I love the way 28 is seething looking at Svetlana.

R38 same here and the reason I retired VERY early. Thanks WE, but not thanks to the Reagan administration for forcing my father out of work, when they "broke up" the Bell system. Say what you will about monopolies, it was better then with "the phone company". Also. WE telephones were built to last. You had one phone for life and it never stopped working.

Now, off to Aruba for a few months.....

I am the OP who posted it, must be 15 years or so ago. The first couple of years I would repost it. One year it was posted by someone else as a revisit . Every year after that, I am always beyond thrilled someone reposts it..

[quote]Where's the diversity?

In the ghetto, Rose.

Number 17 looks like Hilary Swank.

Yes...I thought that too, R74. She does...

That’s a sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree if ever I saw one.

Actually r74 and r75, if you look at the original photo in the first link, #17 looks like Pete Davidson.

#47 is a serial killer- he has shark eyes.

The bald guy is terribly handsome and radiates masculinity and sex appeal. Just look at that cocky crooked grin! You just know he was decently muscled and hairy chested.

But, my personal favorite is the stud in the vest, the only one not wearing a suit jacket. He may be a couple notches down from the bald guy and not as well built, but he still has cocksure masculinity- look at his stance- and he's more my type, with an air of intelligence. Someone to come home to and discuss world events over supper. Plus he wears glasses! Lordy!

She does R77!

I’d like to get a better look at 38.

Is that Blythe Danner at 27?

It's not wrinkled. It's puckered !

THANK you, R33! I've been telling everyone that since they were married. Maybe even before.

Is that Blythe Danner at 27?

no. she isn't wearing a turtleneck.

Blythe Danner is 27 and Johnny Depp is 19. Clarence the Angel from It’s a Wonderful Life is 45.

I predict that 25 made a wonderful grandmother starting around 1960. Always a full cookie jar.

I marvel at 29’s hair.

30 is a “good time girl”

18 loves Jesus and she’s saving her money to take a trip to Aimee Semple McPherson’s church.

Is 8 afraid that 44 and 45 are outing him for posterity by their lewdly insinuating stares?

I swear I can smell the stank from their hair and clothes through my screen.

I love this. Every year!

41 and 42 have a lovely little cottage on Fire Island that they run off to on weekends. 42 has an enormous schlong that 41 likes to jump on, and which slutty 30 Good Time Girl would like a piece of too, but she has the wrong equipment. However, she still drops by his desk to say hello and look at his crotch. 47 looks "special". 35 is bitter because he can't afford a suit coat as he lost it at the track. 24 likes to sit with the gals to discuss the latest movies and how fabulous Gloria Swanson is. 19 is having her "monthly visitor" and is angry that she had to plug it up with toilet paper. 12 is trying to cop a feel of 20's booby but 20 only has eyes for 27 who is recovering from a massive handover from some bad bathtub gin served by Muzzy Von Hossmere at her fabulous Long Island estate. 27 was brought in as "entertainment" for the New York Yankees teammates who were invited at the last moment. Nobody likes 33 so they won't let him be seen. 32 wants to take that horse figure and shove it up the fat ass of 37 who stiffed 32 on his Christmas bonus. Swetlana at 26 is waiting for her next opium fix tonight.

[R92] Meant hangover not handover. However 27 was handed over to the Yankees for a gang bang

#19 is the chief office gossiper, #41 & 42 always get the latest tea from her when they do lunch together. #45 can't stand those hoes and has warned them several times to keep his name out their mouth.

Holiday bump. You people are slipping.

There's a new thread, twat.