I started working for Pac Bell in Sept of 1967 as a PayStation collector. I worked in that department for about 17 months before I was promoted into Installation. One morning in '68 I was getting ready to start my day collecting, when I was called back into the garage and asked to pose for some pictures. Then next thing I knew I was told to report to Saul Bass Productions on Suset Blvd, in Hollywood. I'm the Black PayStation collector in this movie. Today, I still work for AT&T, 46 yrs later.

@skiiboskitv

6 жыл бұрын

bik4lif great lets make history

@torg0

6 жыл бұрын

That's great! I too started at NY Telephone in 1987 as a coin collector, and 31 years later I'm still with VZ. NOWHERE near the old company, but it's still there.

@hansvonluck7456

6 жыл бұрын

That’s incredible! I’m jealous, I’m young, worked for Southwestern Bell for a few years. But it’s not the skilled trade it use to be, nothing but numbers to meet sadly.

@Alpha8713

4 жыл бұрын

What a great story!

@RickCohenMusic

4 жыл бұрын

This is so cool.

This pitch is a goldmine of contemporary typefaces and design elements. The typeface shown for Chase Bank is now the standard for Gizmodo Media Group (Deadspin, Splinter News, Jezebel, et al.). The typeface for the Bell Systems survived the 70's to become the typeface for Paine-Webber. Saul Bass was a design savant, so much of this pitch comes from Academy-Award nominated shorts and films he had a hand in. Particularly the early sequences, they come from his short Why Man Creates.

Saul Bass logos were some of the best of all time. Remarkably they all seem so fresh and modern today. He really could envision the future and made a mark on graphic design for decades.

This is a masterclass in design. Having worked in design for a while I've never seen any company produce something that committed and confident. Very inspiring.

The Bell vans with the grey-green/white paint and blue/mustard stripes is probably my favorite corporate vehicle paint scheme of all time. It's instantly recognizable even in peripheral vision. I never imagined that Saul Bass came up with any of this.

Hey, look! That's our logo! We're still keeping it to this day.

@WinstonBleubon

4 жыл бұрын

Bell System if only you would still here :( I wish AT&T changed itself to the bell system

@bellsystem4761

4 жыл бұрын

@@WinstonBleubon Nah, don't worry. We're still here.

@coindeposit8134

3 жыл бұрын

Bell System dad is that you?

@bellsystem4761

3 жыл бұрын

@@coindeposit8134 yes, son. Come with me, child. As we take over the landline telephone industry TOGETHER

@EddieMillerStudios

3 жыл бұрын

You were broken up in 1984.

What a great educational piece for anyone in the advertising and marketing industry. This film is 50 years old and dated, yet still so relevantly in today’s business. All of the discussed branding fundamentals can still be applied to today’s world. Amazing piece of work from 1969.

Every graphic design, advertising, and/or marketing student in college needs to see this film. Period.

I worked for Saul Bass when they had become Bass/Yager & Associates, implementing the "new" AT&T signage design for the rollout for then-new AT&T Phone Stores nationally - that was the Globe with the horizontal lines and a light spot for depth, which has since been redesigned/updated, with orginal "technology lines" now converted to spirals, softer and more organic, turning the circle into a globe, and they designed EVERYTHING, from business cards to letterhead to equipment, packaging, etc., - that was back in the mid-80's, and at that time they were also working on the "new-at-that-time-but-now-the-standard" gas station design, both for BP (BP then largey unknown in the US, and he designed their logo as well) - that's the gas station design with the high "wrap-around" flat canopy roof with the logo on the wrap and the uniform bright fluorescent "island effect" downlighting - very clean and modern, so, when you stop and get gas at one of those stations (Texaco has an essentially similar appearance) with that design, take a minute to look with fresh eyes and consider and appreciate the signature "Saul Bass effect" and the message those stations very effectively convey, and remember that the vast majority of S.B.'s work was done pre-computer, especially in the graphic design area - Saul said that in the 70's that a mock-up of a Polaroid camera box with a potential new logo which would take (5) solid days to complete for a presentation could later be done in about (4) hours using computer-aided production. Here is a link that shows how some of his logo designs have fared in the ~(15) years since his death: annyas.com/saul-bass-logo-design-then-now/ or also feast your eyes here: www.google.com/search?q=logos+designed+by+Saul+Bass&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lcxVVIXtFsm4oQS6kYGgCg&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=635 Be sure to click the "see more logos" link at the bottom of the first page - you'll be surprised at his volume of work - like the 'Major League Baseball' logo - before every stadium was named after some corporation or other and logos were everywhere. What and incredible creative force - there was nobody else like him - and to pull down an account like AT&T? HUGE.

@geeezzzberger

9 жыл бұрын

Every last refresh was a downgrade - how sad.

@MrRussetb

9 жыл бұрын

Can you say more about that?

@geeezzzberger

9 жыл бұрын

MrRussetb Oh my - this pertains to the first link of comparisons you gave and that is a lot of marks and I fear my explanations will make this a long post - and of course these are visual decisions not just verbal. However I can at least give an indication of my conclusion so here goes: Lawry's - making it dimensional as a gimmick to make it feel more contemporary closed the negative space in the spiral which irrevocably damaged the figure ground balance/relationship. It looks like they tried to back it off a step on the regression to compensate and rebalance the light well counter but it didn't really work (to my eye) the mark is damaged goods in the refresh. Alcoa - Definitely more debatable but making the mark wider makes it sit heavier within the space and slows the dynamism. It simply seems more staid and less dynamic. Is this really the image Alcoa wants to convey? If they want to push the feeling of a more established company - fine - but does a brand with that much equity with their audience really need to? Fuller - A mark that needs a refresh because of the nomenclature change and didn't get it. The retro-fitting of the new word is a pretty lazy way out. It worked though and probably saved the client some money. However, it was a wasted opportunity to evolve the brand via the new partnership [(?) I can't say definitively but it seems to be what the new nomenclature is about.] Celanese - Heartbreaking. The Saul Bass mark is distinctive, original and well made and the refresh has a gradient that it depends upon for its only visual interest and that is not reproducible in such a vast number of purposes that it renders it disabled. The small generic hook in a circle without the gradient isn't distinctive nor interesting. The addition of the internet to the clients info. sphere seems to have forced the poor decision of making the mark functional only there. There was a reason the original mark could stand the test of time. The refresh will not. Continental/United - Better reasons to replace the mark exist in this - new company and all but the new mark is over complicated and its exploration is incomplete. The two reasons the exploration is incomplete are that it is too complicated [thus suggesting there is a more elegant solution waiting] and its dependance on the square to set it off against the negative space [the only purpose of the square in the background seems to be to separate the design from the background - it is acting as a frame - isolating the sphere rather than integrating it into the space where it fits - again this feels unresolved and lazy. I'm certain there is something better to discover - but maybe not along the line of reasoning selected]. I would keep searching for the solution. Dixie - Much like the Lowry mark - trying to make it dimensional or something(?) just to make it feel more contemporary and again boxing it in to isolate it. Why? The coloring of the petals and giving them a little more character doesn't bother me. Maybe they should have explored that and stopped there? Quaker - Nice typeface choice but, again, the illustration makes this reproducible in fewer areas of information space. I do agree that the illustration positions the emotional content better with the desired market positioning though. Preserving the nostalgic content was a good solid decision. Less elegant but probably a more correct mark. United Way - forcing the hand to fit the construct of the circle distorted it too much making it very unhand like. It needs further cleaning in the figure ground relationship. I'm fine with the client's desire to change the hierarchy and emphasize the human figure more but the balance of the visual elements is now off and needs much further refinement. Girl Scouts - I prefer the point at the bottom but I understand why Bass and Assoc. would have downplayed it to preserve the symmetrical balance of the overall mark - it was probably the right decision (?). I'm perplexed why the refresh felt it was a good idea to kill the point on the negative space between the first and second face. That light well/counter was perfect - flowing upward, allowing the eye to flow through the mark rather than get stuck, and a positive connotation via the implied upward movement (arrow). I don't get this one at all. Maybe the more fresh green is better? (even though it throws out the emotional nostalgia that a more neutralized/deeper green preserves - as long as that is what a fully informed client wants) but that is it. Minolta - What does the gradation add? It subtracts so many possible applications. I think you know my position on this from the other marks that used this device. I guess the refresh designers got their paycheck. AT&T - I can't say enough about the destructive redesign. This is everything I hate about what is acceptable today. Forcing the 3rd dimension has destroyed the visual integrity of this mark. It already was in the 3rd dimension through the lighting created by the telecom lines passing through and modulation their stroke width - but to then artificially wrap them around a sphere? What a weird abomination of elements that has absolutely no visual harmony nor consistent application across the information landscape. Maybe trying to evolve the typeface toward something slightly more distinctive that related rather than complimented the mark would have been worth exploring but even this choice is so random. It seems like the client said the old identity was no longer of use. If so, are they ONLY an internet company now and are they going to consistently swap out their mark according to quickly passing trends where the visual integrity and usefulness of the mark is no longer of value? It seems so - but what a terrible business strategy to seek this kind of association with your brand. Why would you WANT to be considered fly by night? I don't understand the client's decision. I would have tried so hard to talk them out of this one - there are better ways to refresh. This one is like putting lipstick on the lipstick on a pig. YWCA - Ok - but don't you want to differentiate yourself from the YMCA a little more? Thank you for asking. I hope there is no offense.

@1978garfield

8 жыл бұрын

I never liked the "new" AT&T logo. I had forgot it was a Bass design. I know they had planned to keep the Bell but the feds wouldn't let them. It's a shame it would have looked much better. That new logo is the one I wore as an A&TT employee. I would have preferred the Bell.

@doloreshuntoon7698

7 жыл бұрын

I love that AT&T logo from the year 1969.

I love the reverse psychology used in this presentation. You could imagine staid reluctance from the audience, so you present their worst nightmare, hippy bell at 8:24, get it out of their system, then make them more receptive with the real changes. Makes it more agreeable.

@jeffcharles9344

4 күн бұрын

Yes, a “Love Bell” truck, I love it!!

It's incredible to see so many logos that haven't changed from this video, like Westinghouse.

The comprehensiveness of this pitch, not to mention the project budget, is nothing short of stunning. Just beautiful, timeless design.

Fascinating! As a Bell System historian for many years I truly feel that this film is a great contribution to US communications history. Makes me long for the days when the Bell System (including Western Electric) ruled the telephone industry. Great designs, great logos, real style.

Even the name Saul Bass sounds like the most marketable thing on the planet, of course the man is a genius.

@alexsilva28

8 жыл бұрын

+Alternatevil I'd like to order a Saul Bass with extra Bass please

@spoonyquine1584

4 жыл бұрын

Very much like Saul Goodman!

Jesus, think about how much Saul Bass had to invest just to make this film! They made clothing, wrapped vehicles, attached signs to buildings, wrapped phone booths, had guys in the uniforms on telephone poles, etc. It's amazing, that anyone would put this effort into a spec project.

@wakkowarner4288

Жыл бұрын

I imagine the payback was at least 1,000 times what it cost to make this film. I"m willing to bet it was much more than 1,000 times. I odn't know business, but.. my instinct tells me they got paid handsomely to re-dress Ma Bell.

Even the use of the phone interruptions to anticipate and address audience objections was expertly done.

16:55 I love the thought that went into context - how the branding would work in the real world: in the distance, glimpsed, when dirty, and so on.

Saul Bass did countless logos, and they remain very, very nostalgic today. On the top of my head, my favorite is the Warner logo.

I love those background orchestral renditions of songs by Simon & Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles! Such a laid-back, comforting yet informative presentation!

Its 2020 and i have watched this many times. Like many here have said, it is facinating and slighty comforting (if you grew up in the 70s). Its like watching those great old NFL flicks. I may be way off but i think even new businesses starting today or existing businesses can still glean afew nuggets of good info from this presentation. Saul Bass was amazing! Btw gotta love the old Ford Econoline vans. My first vehicle was a used Bell window van (i really like it then but i miss it now). :)

This is the best argument for simplifying corporate logos. A true masterpiece.

Saul Bass was a truly great designer. Most of his logos are still being used today.

I feel a sense of pride in watching this as my mom's family all worked for the Bell System my grandfather was a southeastern supervisor for AT&T and my great grandfather put up some of the first phone lines. I had great aunts and uncles that also worked for Bell System as well as many cousins. This film puts that history into perspective for me.

@jeffcharles9344

4 күн бұрын

That was back when it wasn’t considered “nepotism” just to be working for the same company as a family member.

My Grandmother on my father's side was a Bell. From bell town of America, East Hampton, CT. Where the ringer for the Liberty Bell was made. I call her Ma Bell to myself. So thank you for an amazing movie, Alexander Graham would have been proud; and if he had a brother William, he could have been affectionately known as Telephone Bill.

Just a piece of art in itself

@rsinclair689

5 жыл бұрын

Totally, a story in itself, brilliant presentation, miss the "mad men" era :-)

This was required viewing in graphic design school and for good reason.

The female narrator gushing about the women's uniforms is June Foray. She probably knew Saul Bass through his work with Stan Freberg. Bass designed Freberg's logo: the Great Seal of Freberg Limited (but not very). It was a seal wearing sunglasses and a tiny medal with a fish on it. Bass said the fish was a bass, his way of sneaking in his signature.

This is so beautiful, imagine the money that went into the production for this

A fascinating primer on unification through branding. Interesting to glimpse the elements that didn't make it, like the company clothing and phone booth crown stripes, but introducing the most enduring postmodern logo of all time and the instantly recognizable service vehicle colors and hard hats, which stayed for many years.

This is used as the basics of advertising now. I'm not sure if Saul Bass came up with it or not, but he knew exactly how people perceived things. Kinda reminds me of Mad Men.

This is so great! Saul Bass is one of my heroes in the world of design. His use of shapes and photographs are superb, and this presentation is no exception. It's sad that a lot of the great brands that he created which lasted for decades are now being replaced with inferior designs. (United Airlines, for instance)

Wow. He was right - that logo stayed iconic for years, even after the breakup. I also liked the Magical Mystery Tour track at the end.

Really fascinating. I love these old videos. Saul Bass was a giant in design. Today, this Bell logo is still instantly recognizable.

I caught the three clips from Carlos' Switched-On Bach. For the time, up to date. Nice touch.

Definitely Iconic. I had a Bell System Telephone installer toy outfit as a kid and I loved it.

Bell System is an addiction I'm proud to have

This is a slice of time, amazing. Relaxed and not in your face with branding, appealing to the intellect. Thank you for sharing this gem!

Still wish they were using that Bell logo. One of my all time favorite logos.

@WOSArchives

8 жыл бұрын

Mark's Journey Cincinnati Bell still uses it for their landline division. Check out their website.

@MarkShannonroad_videos

6 жыл бұрын

They replaced it with a new logo recently.

@wlolsthepowerflip6529

5 жыл бұрын

The AT&T trademark was relaunched in 2015.

@MrWolfTickets

3 жыл бұрын

Me too. I love that it's still on the old PNB building in Seattle, though now it's obscured by a bunch of new tall buildings.

@benzorabidbilly

Жыл бұрын

In 1976, ten of the forty frame and switchmen pestered me for copies of the yellow tee that I decorated with this symbol and 305-63 on the back with a sharpie. I guess it does catch the eye

Masterclass of graphic desing and branding. You can learn a lot by just listening this. Thanks!!

Basically, this is “oversimplification”, but it has been done for a long while now. This is why I think the oversimplification memes and people saying that they hate oversimplification don’t really know what they are talking about, since they seem to forget that this didn’t just happen today. This was what modern logos are doing: by using Saul Bass‘s principle and making their logos more contemporary to stand the test of time. I love it when they do this, since it feels so fresh.

@wakkowarner4288

Жыл бұрын

What Edward Larrabee Barnes and Charles Forberg did for Pan Am was similar. Went from old and fussy to clean and instantly still recognizable as Pan Am.

from 00:20 to just over the 2 minute mark we're watching footage from Bass's 1968 "Why Man Creates," one of his masterpieces. Academy Award winner for Documentary Short Subject.That's worth looking for, all 29 minutes of it. The second unit cameraman was a USC film student - George Lucas. You can't make up stuff like that.

@leonardorochadutra8811

10 жыл бұрын

Bass - Lucas!! Please, can you point any written font for this information? It's just closes my all life reference circle!!!

@TheStockwell

10 жыл бұрын

Leonardo Dutra I'm not sure what you mean by "can you point any written font for this information," but I'd be happy to close your life reference circle! If you're asking for information backing up my statement, the Lucas reference can be found in the Wikipedia article on "Why Man Creates," in the "Production" section. Even better, there are Lucas' own words on the emdiv.com.br website: "Finishing his undergrad work, George Lucas took jobs as an editor, grip and second unit cameraman. 'I worked for Saul Bass on a film called Why Man Creates [1968].'" I hope this closes your life reference circle - in a good way!

@leonardorochadutra8811

10 жыл бұрын

For sure it should closes!! Lucas USC style, pre-THX photomontages - the mentioned Look at Life (1965) - are very resembling of some Bass works, but I don't rely too much on Wikipedia. And I doesn't knew before about this EmDiv portal (are you brazilian?), but I searched and found this link in it to: www.flickeringmyth.com/2011/06/hot-rods-droids-george-lucas-profile.html Seems to be a good text and it's also in IMDB, which is an academic accepted source here in Brazil cinema schools. I have the original Pyramid Media "Why Man Creates DVD", but for these days it's 300Km away. Will check it at the end of the month. Thanks a lot!!

@geoffnixon1021

5 жыл бұрын

To be clear, what you mean is that ninety seconds of this piece (*all* of which is *claimed* as footage *copyright* The American Telegraph & Telephone company circa 1972) is most certainly from kzread.info/dash/bejne/gYKKvJp6eJffe8Y.html, which won an Oscar in 1968, yes?

I had no idea the Chase logo was that old. Those women's uniforms are cool for the time but they would've become dated pretty fast! This is a pretty clever video. Thanks for posting it. :)

Wow! So THAT'S how you make a presentation... awesome

And "The sound of Silence" as well as "California Soul" damn this had some good music

Notice the electronic beeps that accompany the introduction of the new simplified logo. Those are the sounds of the brand-new push button phones that were just being introduced, to replace rotary-dial phones. They were cutting-edge technology. And let's correct something - this is not a "video". It's a film, made on 16mm film. Video technology wasn't in place yet to produce, or be able to show, a short piece like this.

I wish we still had the bell system I’m tired of horrific cable broadband monopolies

Fascinating, I'm half way through this and interesting mention at beginning when he said there was a time when people during Great Depression were interested on how long a product lasts and not how it looks. FYI, I still have my "Bell System Property, Not For Sale" model 500 telephone with Touchtone™ pad. After Ma Bell diversified, they didn't want it back. It is rugged, can withstand a nuclear blast at 50 yards.

@wrightmf

9 жыл бұрын

and this phone has a real bell, it goes ding-ding-ding for audible alert of incoming call.

@WOSArchives

8 жыл бұрын

I have a Model 2500, also a "Bell System Property" one made by Western Electric, but has the "Phone sold by" tag at the bottom. The bell ring sounds great.

@1978garfield

8 жыл бұрын

I refer to the western Electric phones as "Murder Weapon" phones. You could beat a guy to death with one and still make a phone call afterwards.

@doloreshuntoon7698

7 жыл бұрын

I love it!

@kaitlyn__L

6 жыл бұрын

the model 500 was only rotary. the 1500 and 2500 were touch tone (1500 lacks * and #, 2500 has * and #). so the model 500 with touch tone would actually be the 1500 or 2500 depending. (sorry.)

This film gave me an intense feeling of existential dread, and I could not look away.

I really & truly love this documentary which was narrated by Hal Holbrook & June Foray. Even the contemporary look is still all the rage.

precious piece of design history!

I absolutely love how the wording and the arguments to adapt to new times were then same then

I can't help but wonder how much Bell was paying him. It's amazing he could even take the time to put a presentation like this together.... Something tells me he was making more then than I do now.

some killer motion design in here

Did Draper sign off on this?

@MrWolfTickets

3 жыл бұрын

The Bell System: It's Toasted.

holds true, even More today than ever.

I loved from 9:50 onwards... fascinating....

@Loftikaz

8 жыл бұрын

+freakstate same here I learned so much, shame corporations these days never share something like this about themselves.

@freakstate

8 жыл бұрын

Lotfi HDV This is content of internal meetings, branding discussions at a board level or in an agency creative session, I love it :)

God I love these 70's ads with the low creepy voice narrator.

I've watched this probably 5 times all the way through. Most brilliant pitch I've seen. Whoops don draper's ass

Amazing! A true "Mad Man"!!! 9:45 logo presentation was awesome.

That was a great look. I have a hard time seeing a company paying for a 2 tone paint job nowadays but it made a lot of sense. Cool white top, dirt hiding grey bottom and reflective stripes. Does today's AT&T own the Saul Bass Bell? I know during the break up it went to the baby bells but you are half of the baby bells. I made a point to buy Southwestern Bell brand phones for no other reason than they still used that good Bell logo. OK they were good phones too. Not Western Electric good, but still good. Can you imagine if Western Electric made a cell phone? It would be indestructible,have excellent sound quality and would connect and stay connected.

@WOSArchives

7 жыл бұрын

Since AT&T Inc. (the modern day AT&T) was originally Southwestern Bell, and since the rights to the Bell symbol was split up to all of the Baby Bells (including SBC), they indeed own part of the shared rights to the Bell symbol, along with Verizon (which still uses the Bell in some cases [like payphones, documents, hardhats, etc.]), Cincinnati Bell (the final BOC that still uses the Bell name [not counting Bell Canada] and the last one to use the symbol in advertising, using it for their landline division until *this month*), etc. Fun fact: BellSouth (the Baby Bell for where I live [now part of AT&T]) was the only Baby Bell to still use the symbol as part of its main corporate identity for all of it's history (divestiture: 1983 - purchase: 2007) while the rest eventually stopped using it for that purpose.

@ChristopherSobieniak

7 жыл бұрын

I just noticed Cincinnati Bell has crated a new logo to replace it on their webpage. Sad to see it go down there. If the new AT&T was smart, they'd stick it where it belongs so we'd still associate with telephones that way! Reminded a broadband/cable/phone service in my hometown has been using the same "cable eye" logo they had since 1976! www.buckeyebroadband.com/ That's testament of an excellent logo!

@mharris5047

5 ай бұрын

@@WOSArchives Occasionally if you look closely you will find the old Bell logo. US copyright law requires that it be used by the copyright holders in some capacity to keep the copyright but it only has to be used minimally. As long as they do that they can keep the copyright until 2064 (95 years after it was registered).

@NoTraceOfSense

2 ай бұрын

​@@mharris5047 Trademark law, actually. Exclusivity rights to an in-use trademark remain as long as it is used, since it's an identifying mark.

Beautiful!

He has turned out to be a real winner!

This is totally awesome.

Great presentation!

I remember Bell of Pennsylvania, New Jersey Bell, and Diamond State Telephone, all of which were owned by the Bell System Companies. All three have merged to become Bell Atlantic, and now Verizon.

Now there is a company that is up to date!

Don't know why but it's so interesting!!!

13:48 -- Logo on lower right reminds me of the post-breakup AT&T logo from 1984. Makes me wonder if that was an early precursor. --SJR

Incredible.

@8:25 , lol ... that would be so cool if that was their new direction. 'love bell'

In spite of their pledge to update everything, many phone booths retained the earlier logo (or older white block letter "TELEPHONE") into the early 80s when they met their demise.

@Pacmannion

2 жыл бұрын

In next city over, there's some old cable markers that use old detailed Bell System logo.

He made one of the most disturbing SF films Phase IV. Still one of my favorites along with the hundreds of title segment for the movie industry.

Fascinating

outstanding

@jgrayperry I still see it in town myself. I sorta have to shed a tear here watching this! (and yet I see one pre-69 logo used less than a mile down the street from my house)

An oldie but a goodie!

It gives me that "Now" feeling!

Love it!

Does anyone know who did that Magical Mystery Tour orchestration? I'd love to have that.

Regarding the Oleg Cassini fashions at 20:00, a friend's mom worked for The Phone Company during this time of this film. They had a dress code, her mom had to wear skirts and heels (probably not the Cassini fashion uniform) even though nobody would see her except other operators. However, TPC management felt people would see who enters the building and felt their ladies should be properly dressed. There was a study of sorts and found procedures of the Bell System were as closest to military operations meaning procedures and everything was very detailed documented. Well into the 1980s many long time employees stuck to these procedures while younger employees bitched, "What a minute. When Moses came down from the mountain, he was not carrying Bell System procedures along with the Ten Commandments!"

@WOSArchives

7 жыл бұрын

The Cassini uniforms (or any uniform from this film) were never used, along with Bass' phone booth design. I'm not so sure if AT&T as a whole used different uniforms at the time, or if it was just dress codes (like at your BOC). What BOC (Southern Bell, New York Telephone, etc.) serviced where you lived at the time?

@wrightmf

7 жыл бұрын

not me, it was a friend's mom who worked for Ma Bell at the time.

@ChristopherSobieniak

7 жыл бұрын

For me, Ohio Bell. I still think of Ohio Bell to this day despite it not being here, but their labels are on every phone pole I spot! Some even have the pre-Saul Bass logo too!

@wrightmf

7 жыл бұрын

Occasionally I see some Bell System "leftovers" here in California, other day were manhole covers (or utility holes or whatever the 21st century term) that has Bell System on it.

@ChristopherSobieniak

7 жыл бұрын

k6mfw For me, it's usually the "CAUTION" labels that tend to be the yellow ones that go go anywhere from the pre-69 Bell System logo to the one here, or even Ameritech.

I own a 1970 Ford F-100 with the Bell Logo and all of the old employees from Bell System just love the truck. Go to Google and type in C&P phone truck. I drive the truck to car shows and I have a matching pull behind tool cart ( Trailer). It should be the Army Green but I painted it to match the truck and they both are eye turners.

It's a real shame this video is only available in low quality.

20:20 - the female narrator introducing the women's uniforms is voiceover/cartoon actress June Foray (Rocky & Bullwinkle, Granny).

Very interesting. I'm curious to know how many different color stripe combinations were there for the Bell Companies. I remember the trucks in New York City were yellow/white/light blue. I don't remember seeing any other combinations. I guess I didn't get around enough as a kid.... :)

Happy Birthday Mr. Bass.

I started in 1969 as an Installer-Repairman with Southern Bell in Miami. I was 18. The company was hiring huge numbers of people. By observation over time I noticed a pattern. Large numbers of employees retired about every 10 years. You could tie it to events in history. The end of WW1. The company had millions of back orders to fulfill. The US government had nationalized it and run the company into the ground. (SURPRISE) thousands of employees had gone to Europe with the Army Signal Corp as installers and operators. Many did not come back for many reasons. Some had died, some stayed in Europe, others found other fields to work in. Post WW2. A building boom was taking place. Businesses were booming. millions of GIs and sailors were coming home to resume life. A housing shortage meant new houses to build and people discovered the suburbs. New Central Offices to be built. Cable to install. And service orders. Lots of them. I'd dropped out of school at 16. I spent the next two years as an apprentice in a tool and die shop and then sheet metal. I'd also done the burger flipping gig. I also worked for my mother's family in their restaurant. I wasn't crazy about any of it. I saw a Bell ad and called to enquire. "Would they hire high school dropout?" "No" I was told but I persisted. I asked them to test me and if I scored high enough would they consider me? I was tested and was hired as a Installer-Repairman. This was work I liked. I wasn't directly supervised. I was in the field planning the installations (According to the Bell System Practices, of course) There was a lot of overtime. Miami was a growing place. Inside and outside plant had been exhausted. It caused a lot of inefficiencies that wasted time. In November of 1970 26 new central offices came on line to create new telephone numbers. Cables had been laid to connect them and old cables were shortened between the central offices relieving the strain on cable plant. I was sent to repair after four months with the company. I resigned in November 1970. The 13 day on one day off schedule was killing me along with the 12 + hour days. I went to work in January 1971for New York Telephone installing systems in the World Trade Center. It was a sort of home coming. I'd been born in Manhattan and moved when I was 13. In July 1971 I was drafted. I joined the Navy for four years. I actually was assigned to telephone work but on a complete scale. Central Office, cabling and installation. I also worked in the power plant and the electric shop. When I got out in 1975 we were in a recession. There wasn't any work so I ended up in the Bronx in installation. I absolutely hated it. When business picked up the company needed people to work in Manhattan. I was loaned to them. I was back doing business installations. In 1979 it was time to move again. I was married with a son and the commuting was taking its toll on me. I opted for Charlotte, North Carolina. By coincidence two of my wife's college dorm mates were there and my best friend Richard who had talked me into working at the telephone company was there. It was a growing city and there was plenty of work. We prospered. And then, divestiture. For two years we lived with uncertainty. Where would I end up.? Doing what? This is a time when my instincts fooled me. AT&T painted a rosy picture of the future. New equipment. Computers. New opportunities. I wasn't supposed tp go with AT&T but stay with the "operating company". I didn't want to be left out and fought to go with AT&T. What a mistake! The company had no idea of what it took to achieve their plan. The Olivetti heir who was sent to the US to monitor a partnership on computers packed up and went to Italy in frustration. It did a forced takeover of National Cash Register for $7B dollars. Within a year half the employees had been laid off. It was sold for $4B. Paradigm Modems, another loss. Sales were referred by the technicians and never followed up on. Sales was cutting installation's throats by advising the customers to hire some other company to do the cabling because we were too expensive. The commission structure caused Sales to not sell telephone systems. We were too expensive and the products weren't as good as our competitors which were all Asian. Their products came with features included that we were charging extra for. Within a year the layoffs started. I started looking at ideas to start a business and ordered product information from the manufacturers. I designed my stationery and upped my bookkeeping skills. October 31, 1985. My time had come. The layoff was handled badly. We were all told to report to a conference room at one of the work centers. Separation packages had been laid out for us. An HR Person in Atlanta talked us through the paperwork. At the end were were told to leave our keys and ID passes on the desk and leave. The company took a demoralizing experience and made it worse. I went to work on October 4, 1985 for myself. The business lasted 32 years. I grew it to a comfortable size It could have been bigger but that wasn't what I wanted. I retired and we are comfortable. I received my vested pension a year early. I got a letter from the newest owner, a French telecommunications firm that also owns Reuters. They offered a bonus if I would take a lump sun. I figured it out and it was 10 years of monthly payments. I took it. I wanted to close that portion of my life. carcass was just a network. BellSouth and Southwestern Bell

@wakkowarner4288

Жыл бұрын

Excel Communications is that you? I knew them from IT work in 954/305-land and they were all ex-bell. Always did top-shelf work for us, the best.

You still see the legacy of this logo everywhere today. I've even seen it on some of Verizon's rather old white vans on the streets of NYC.

in a time when there's no psd mockups:)

I just found who did the music for this: the Hollyridge Strings, conducted by Mort Garson.

@red_ford23

7 жыл бұрын

Mort Garson rocks my world

@wakkowarner4288

Жыл бұрын

@@red_ford23 Morton Gould FTW ;o) (j/k, i like hollyridge strings too.)

TIMELESS

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" - Beach Boys & "Magical Mystery Tour" - Beatles. Very nice.

AT&T rolled out the new logo in print advertising around August 1969. Was this film released at the same time?

great vid. They should show this in design school... they probably do.

Uniforms that make people want to work for the company, making their hiring process more competitive, elevating the quality of their service.

And then Google steals the logo for their notifications tab. Lol.

Do you have a higher quality version of this?

I really love this video. I couldn't love a youTube video more. This is American Ingenuity

Ma belle was on something making those first few. damn. :P

British Telecom & Telecom Australia also changed away from being part of the Posts & Telegraph office around the early 70s as well

This is from the movie “Future Shock” 1972 narrated by none other then Orson Wells