Letters to the Editor

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 1982, page 26

Dora: 

This is by no means a complete history of the California Glass Insulator Company (see "The California Story" in this issue), but only as much as I could find in the nine days we spent in Long Beach, California, just before the National in Sacramento.

I would like to extend an open invitation to anybody in the Long Beach-Los Angeles area to continue the research on this company. If they have the time and the patience to search through newspaper microfilm, they can write me, and I will tell them what newspapers, months, years, etc. to look through. 

I know there has to be more information on this company in those microfilms. I just didn't have enough time to completely research it. This is much needed information that should be brought to light for the benefit of the hobby.
Ted Griffin, NIA #2266
305 E. Clark Rd.
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

 Dear Friends: 

Over the years I have been enjoying the magazine, and hope that you will keep up the wonderful work on this fine publication. 

Foreign insulators have always been of most interest to me, but few can be obtained in an easy way, it seems, as it can take months to get results at times.

I collect telephones as a main hobby and have been able to get a number from the communist countries such as the USSR, Romania, Bulgaria and mainland China. However, it took four years before I finally got anywhere with those from China. 

As for insulators, I have been trying to get samples from China, Korea and Taiwan, but so far no word, except sales brochures. Unless one travels to such countries or knows of collectors over there, it is not too easy to get them.

I sure enjoyed the story from Russia in your June issue. Australia and England seem to be common among collectors, but I have obtained insulators from collectors in Holland, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and all over here in Canada. Have had some from Japan, Spain and France, and likely others as well. 

Although telephones of all kinds are my hobby, I still have a great interest in insulators and will be pleased to hear from any of your readers any time. All letters will be answered.
Mr. Wayne Junop 
Palmer Rapids, Ontario 
K0J 2E0 Canada 

Mrs. Harned,

Thought you and the collectors might be interested in the attached article from "New England Topics", a New England Telephone publication printed by the Public Relations Department for telephone employees and their families.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Asbury
Bedford, New Hampshire

- - - - - - - - - -

Thank you. Herewith we are reprinting this article, with permission, from the July 21, 1982 issue of "New England Topics". 

Bell Seal To Remain With BOCS 

The Bell mark (Bell seal) -- a corporate trademark which is identified by more than 90 percent of the public -- will remain with Bell operating companies (BOC) after divestiture. 

Edward M. Block, AT&T vice president-public relations, said "everyone recognizes that the Bell seal sets the BOCs apart from other utilities in the communities they serve -- and from other telecommunications companies.

"It has exceptional values in terms of employee pride, recruiting, and public acceptance. And, it provides a strong sense of continuity in this time of transition."

Block also noted that it would have been costly for the Bell operating companies to remove the Bell seal from buildings, stationery and vehicles.

He said it is likely that the Bell seal will be "owned" by a single company, such as the proposed central staff company, which in turn would license the BOCs to use it.

Several other options -- such as ownership of the Bell seal by both AT&T and the BOCs -- were reviewed before the decision to assign it to the BOCs. 

However, these options presented significant legal problems, or as in the case of joint ownership by AT&T and the BOCs, the possibility that the Bell seal would have to be placed in the public domain and available for use.

A History of the Bell Logo

The year was 1888 and Angus Hibbard, the general superintendent of AT&T, decided the telephone company needed a sign to project its identity to a growing number of customers.

After rejecting such symbols as a Greek cross, a shield and a flying figure, Hibbard outlined a simple bell, one not unlike the Liberty Bell. That design, of a bell surrounded by a square outline, shown above, was first used as a symbol for long distance telephone service.

Its descendant today, the circled blue bell, is among the best-known corporate symbols in the world.

In his autobiography, Hibbard tells the story of how the Bell seal was born:

"I had come to believe that the best color scheme for such a sign would be blue on white, with plenty of blue." In his office one day, Hibbard sketched the outline of a bell because "we wanted a sign for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone."

The first bell emblem, officially approved on Jan. 5, 1889, advertised only long distance service, since it needed special transmitters and "metallic" circuits that were available only at special booths. Local phones could not be used for long distance calls.

By 1895, the special "long distance" phones and circuits were no longer needed, so the lettering on the seal was changed from "Long Distance Telephone" to "Local and Long Distance Telephone."

Changes in lettering and design were made in 1900, 1921, 1939, 1964 and, the last, in 1969.

Even today, Hibbard's words nearly a century ago still ring true:

"Within a few years, in the minds of thousands of us engaged in the work, there came the conviction that this blue bell had become the emblem of our personal service... our blue bell was seen on every flag that flies over our buildings, on every book, every piece of literature... and on every highway -- not alone a sign of the telephone but an emblem of public service to which a quarter million men and women devote their lives and more than three-quarters of a million people endorse, as shareholders."