Tracing the Telephone in Western Massachusetts 1877-1930

[Sargeguy]

This one is my 50 Shades of Gray-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140913192715

[Sargeguy]

The book arrived this afternoon and I already completed the first chapter.  It details in scintillating prose the story of how Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his invention in Springfield, resulting in a steady stream of orders for the device, and ends with a showdown between the Bell Company proxies and Western Union interests.  If it was an HBO series it would be called Game of Phones SPOILER ALERT!  In an unexpected twist, the Western Union interest win out, but have to use Bell equipment.  These events gave birth to the century-long rivalry between the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company and the Southern New England Telephone Company.