Unusual Repair Practices of Telephone Technicians in Luxembourg

The standardization of repair work has often been discussed by manufacturers and large infrastructure companies to reduce repair costs but also to control and discipline repair workers. However, in cases like Ford and Volkswagen these efforts failed or did not meet the manufacturers’ or customers’ expectations (McIntyre 2000; Krebs 2014). This paper will zoom in on the people who repaired the telephone system in Luxembourg. As sources about repair work are scarce in the archive of POST Luxembourg (previously Postes et Télécommunications), I will draw on a collection of circulars from the 1930s that shed light on the repair work of the technicians who kept the phones ringing. These circulars complained about the 'unusual' ways telephone technicians repaired telephone lines and devices, arguing for a 'normal' and standardised approach to repair. Unintentionally, the sources show that the situated repair practice did not follow the instructions set out in manuals and training materials, which are also preserved in the archive. The paper will contrast the official ideas of the 'right' way of repairing the telephone network with the messy everyday reality to unravel the usually hidden repair practices of telephone technicians.