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Commemorative and Presentation Telephones

Started by paul-f, February 14, 2016, 08:55:31 PM

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SUnset2

If you aren't familiar with "West Coast Telephone Company" they were an independent that was headquartered in Everett, WA, and served mostly rural areas in Washington (primarily the areas north of Seattle) and in Oregon, and owned the West Coast Telephone Company of California.  They were bought by GTE in 1964 and were renamed General Telephone of the Northwest.  Later they were bought out by Verizon, and then by Frontier Communications.  The 1965 date on the phone would make sense, as it is after being bought by GTE, but before actually changing their company name.  250,000 phones would make sense considering their service area and population density.  I think Everett was the biggest city in their territory (1960 population 40000).  I suspect there was a plate on the handset with the name of whom the phone was presented to, and it got peeled off by the family of the original owner.  If anyone has more accurate information, please correct me.

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: oldguy on February 17, 2016, 01:12:01 AM
Does anybody know if the museum of science & industry is still around in Chicago? I remember going there as a kid. It was very cool.
Oh, yes it is! I had to have gone there at least 4 times a few years back. I don't know how long ago you last went, but in the last 10 years or so, they added a lot of cool 'stuff'!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Jim Stettler

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on February 16, 2016, 04:02:51 PM
Quote from: Jim S. on February 16, 2016, 01:35:57 PM
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on February 16, 2016, 12:32:44 PM
It's amazing that GTE had only installed their 250,000 telephone by 1965 (is that the date on the bottom?). Very cool example!



I think it is the 250,000  telephone  installed by West Coast Telephone ( in GTE territory)
JMO,
Jim S.
I missed that part. It's actually pretty impressive on that scale because of Bell's sheer size on all fronts of the US; that GTE had that much business on the west coast.

The Bell  System" had a "Universal Service" policy (assuming an area was large enough to justify Bell Service). The Independents were the ones that made "Universal Service" a reality in remote rural areas.

JMO,
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

poplar1

The independent companies, at one time numbering in the thousands, served about half of the geographical area of the U.S.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

oldguy

#19
Thanks Christian, I'm 67 now, so probably 55-60 years ago. It has probably changed a little ;) The thing I remember the most is they had a submarine you could tour. They also had a mockup milking barn with the latest technology, like milking machines (new at the time). I can't even imagine the cool stuff they have there now.
Gary

paul-f

Thanks for the reminder, Gary.

I also saw the U-505 as a teenager - probably about the same time you saw it.  I may still have the commemorative booklet around here somewhere.

It made quite an impression - after seeing all the WWII submarine movies on TV in those days.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

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oldguy

Paul, google the U-505. It's restored & inside now & yes still at the museum of science & industry. Living in california now I may have to take a vacation & see it again.
Gary

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: oldguy on February 17, 2016, 06:31:28 PM
Paul, google the U-505. It's restored & inside now & yes still at the museum of science & industry. Living in california now I may have to take a vacation & see it again.
I remember I had to have been 6 or 7 (probably 10 or 11 years ago) when I saw that sub there. Although it seemed huge, it's probably a lot smaller than I remember it being! ::)
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford