Daily AncestorTelph.
Telph. means telephone, as in Operator, Telph. Co.; it was an approved abbreviation in the 1900 census occupation column.
Telph. for telephone is one of the twenty abbreviations the 1900 census instructions allowed in the occupation column. The instructions name the telephone operator and the telephone lineman as jobs to be reported by the work done.
Telph. and Teleg. sit next to each other on the list and look alike in a hurried hand, so read the letters closely before you decide whether the person worked for a telephone or a telegraph company.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1900 census
Operator, Telph. Co.
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Daily Ancestor. "Telph.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/telph. Last checked 2026-10-12.