Olive's role in the BBC's earliest days deserves to be remembered

WHEN WE CONSIDER THE BBC'S FIRST 100 YEARS, distinguished director generals come to mind, along with famous presenters and favourite programmes. Yet it's likely that you have never heard of the wonderfully named Olive Bottle.

- KAVITA PURI

Bottle arrived at the corporation in 1923 as Olive May. She was one of its original members of staff, becoming its first telephone operator. Her experiences are recorded in two rarely heard interviews that form part of the BBC Oral History Collection, which tells the stories of people who worked at the corporation over the past century. Dr Kate Murphy, an expert in early women's voices at the BBC, says that the interview is unusual in the collection because Olive "was not from a middleclass background, nor would she rise to a senior post. But her role was a crucial one." And, Murphy notes, Olive was interviewed for the job by no less a figure than the BBC's first director general, John Reith.

In Olive's oral history interview she notes that, on giving her the job, Reith said: "Well, I think you'll like the job. It's an important post. You'll be rung from people of all walks of life, from all parts of the country. They must be dealt with intelligently, efficiently and courteously. You'll often be the only contact between them and us."