The Bell System never ceases to fascinate. So massive that it should have been crippled by its own weight, “Ma Bell” was in fact capable of astounding efficiency. Bell Laboratories AdvertisementPerhaps because fear of big-business had yet to encompass the public consciousness, the sheer size of the organization didn’t appear to intimidate the average subscriber. While government monopoly concerns caused ulcers throughout most of the 20th Century (on both government and Bell sides), Joe and Jane Consumer simply enjoyed their dependable phone service.
In spite of the uneasy truce, Bell often placed ads in magazines whose purpose was to explain their place in the world, presumably in a way that the public could understand. This, of course, was tantamount to explaining 90mph in a 50mph zone… the less said the better. It is on that note that I present this fabulous bit of flim-flam, published in 1945. (by all means, click on the small image to see the larger, readable version) The bottom-most text isn’t particularly outrageous, and even imparts some good old-fashioned flag waving, but the boldly rendered “chart” that fills up the better part of the page is a real classic. Let’s face it, when a company tries to dazzle the common folk with terms like “syllogism” and “raison d’etre” it’s definite cause for concern. If they weren’t worried already…