I worked at Western Electric from 1965 to to 1980. I was one of the last to receive a vested pension when the Baltimore Plant closed. I used to laugh and say, MOM BELL would someday pay for my phone bill when I retired, and sure enough, today that check pays my phone, cable, internet, plus other utilities bills! Good old Mom Bell. I earned my AA Degree while working for Western; they paid employee's tuition when you passed classes. I worked night shift and went to college during the day.
@@john497 And now you see why the US economy is in for a long slow grind to the bottom. Free trade didn't lift all boats, it sank the largest boat and only slightly rose all the other boats (excepts china's boat). And the dude who got the fully vested pension ... I wonder if the investment team has survived the ups and downs or the market? You know they aren't in risk free treasuries.
This film looks like a movie in high school, every class had a AV nerd avail to fix the broken film! Little did I know in the near future I'd be working at Western Elect. service center in Minneapolis! Closed down in '84!
I sure do miss this kind of quality. You never have to worry about dropped calls with these baby's and last a life time. I have one one of 3 of those "black ones" she was talking about from the 40s. 80 years later and they still work like they just left the factory.
Yeah, the big difference was the integral responsibility. So a broken phone was the problem of the company and so they made them almost indestructible. Same for the cables, connectors and every other equipment. Nowadays it's completely turned around and every problem is in first place the problem of the consumer. So the boxes we get use to much energy, are not completely reliable and break after 10 times putting a ethernetcable in and out. Same for other equipment and we accept a broken screen as normal.
I grew up in Middletown Ohio. Most of our central office was 50 years old. No new poarts for repairs, only what could be salvaged from updated central offices. It was quite common to have to call two or more times for a good connection. Ohio Bell told us that t would be five or more years before we would get a new central office. The old Strowager system was 50,000 lines, with 10,000 for a local steel mill and some other businesses, bt the mill was the biggest customer for that CO. They were fed up and gave Ohio Bell a year to upgrade, or they would go private. WE sent a trailer mounted 10,000 line ESS to town, while a new building was being built to hose a new CO. It was supposed to be the 16th ESS CO built.
18:05 That is amazing that tech companies used to recondition and refurbish used equipment for further use. That would really aid in the waste and disposal issues of our world today if that process was continued.
they did that because the customer did not own the phone/device, the company did. so they would refurbish as much as they could and put it back into service with another customer
I lived in an "A5A" CO..and the Bell System was next to none.. The types of phones You got depended on what You paid a month..and each extension was extra..plus the "style" of the phone. And I had an "FX" (Foreign Exchange) from another town in my home,so I could call there,and they could call me free. Otherwise it was long distance. Oh,and it cost...but "cheaper" than a phone bill of today is for local service. RIP Bell.
I first went to work at Western Electric in test set construction in Haverhill. (We built the test sets that checked the equipment produced in Haverhill & N Andover two days after I left the Air Force. Our shop was one of the first shops that went from Haverhill to N. Andover. I left Western just before the strike in 1956 but th at didnot end my association with Western. I worked for IBM and spent many years at Western maintaining their computers and other data processing equipment. Two names come to mind from my time at Western Bill Knowles and Bob Brown as they to left the military to join Western Electric" Tim Bryant
My grandfather William R Johnson worked there. He was involved in coils and gave me one of my most-treasured possession -- a synthetic Quartz Crystal -- from around the exact time of this film.
A shame the old Bell System is a thing of the past. I recall my first phone line in 1982 - it cost $12 per month and that was WITH the rental of the phone.
Incredible to see this. Probably all union jobs that paid decent wages. Then some CEO came up with the brilliant idea of shipping this production to China. Even though at the very moment this video was made (early 1970's) China was a bitter enemy of the U.S. Holding mass rallies denouncing the "imperialists". Arming the Vietcong and North Vietnam. But never mind all that! (the CEO told himself), just DIG THOSE LOW WAGES AND LACK OF REGULATION!!!
well at least you proved you stoped learning about trade wars at around your middle school. maybe you will see trade wars only hurt consumers. therefore never hurt empires, but only help.
jason9022 nope, the boomers gave you a lifestyle you wouldn’t have otherwise. Instead of being jealous of a generation that worked for what they earned and stop whining because life is too hard. Get off your ass and give instead of take. You’d take whatever you could n a heartbeat without thinking about anyone but yourself. So it’s really not the “boomers”, that’s just your generations excuse for laziness, selfishness and no willingness to do for your country just yourself.....now go wallow in your miserable millennial life and pay your own college tuition.
@@AristonSparta redundancy means others similar technology keeps running simultaneously... but obsolescence guarantees replacement. All of that tech was replaced.
@@BillDerBerg eh, I'd disagree with your definition of redundancy. Redundancy is when you have a broken card reader, so you take the payment with those carbon paper slide machines, or take cash. Redundancy is a back up plan.
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I worked at Western Electric from 1965 to to 1980. I was one of the last to receive a vested pension when the Baltimore Plant closed. I used to laugh and say, MOM BELL would someday pay for my phone bill when I retired, and sure enough, today that check pays my phone, cable, internet, plus other utilities bills! Good old Mom Bell. I earned my AA Degree while working for Western; they paid employee's tuition when you passed classes. I worked night shift and went to college during the day.
Verizon does ALL of this for thier workers today right? (sarc.)
@@john497 And now you see why the US economy is in for a long slow grind to the bottom. Free trade didn't lift all boats, it sank the largest boat and only slightly rose all the other boats (excepts china's boat). And the dude who got the fully vested pension ... I wonder if the investment team has survived the ups and downs or the market? You know they aren't in risk free treasuries.
@@john497i looked up that Telephone exchange in
Columbia Maryland, and it does show it's Verizon now!
This film looks like a movie in high school, every class had a AV nerd avail to fix the broken film! Little did I know in the near future I'd be working at Western Elect. service center in Minneapolis! Closed down in '84!
My late father worked at the Western Electric Kansas City Works till 1989.
I sure do miss this kind of quality. You never have to worry about dropped calls with these baby's and last a life time. I have one one of 3 of those "black ones" she was talking about from the 40s. 80 years later and they still work like they just left the factory.
True, but you couldn't take it out to your car during a call and drive away with it. Even so, they were marvelous for their time.
Yeah, the big difference was the integral responsibility. So a broken phone was the problem of the company and so they made them almost indestructible. Same for the cables, connectors and every other equipment.
Nowadays it's completely turned around and every problem is in first place the problem of the consumer. So the boxes we get use to much energy, are not completely reliable and break after 10 times putting a ethernetcable in and out.
Same for other equipment and we accept a broken screen as normal.
I grew up in Middletown Ohio. Most of our central office was 50 years old. No new poarts for repairs, only what could be salvaged from updated central offices. It was quite common to have to call two or more times for a good connection. Ohio Bell told us that t would be five or more years before we would get a new central office. The old Strowager system was 50,000 lines, with 10,000 for a local steel mill and some other businesses, bt the mill was the biggest customer for that CO. They were fed up and gave Ohio Bell a year to upgrade, or they would go private. WE sent a trailer mounted 10,000 line ESS to town, while a new building was being built to hose a new CO. It was supposed to be the 16th ESS CO built.
18:05 That is amazing that tech companies used to recondition and refurbish used equipment for further use. That would really aid in the waste and disposal issues of our world today if that process was continued.
they did that because the customer did not own the phone/device, the company did. so they would refurbish as much as they could and put it back into service with another customer
thanks for sharing AT&T Tech Channel
I lived in an "A5A" CO..and the Bell System was next to none.. The types of phones You got depended on what You paid a month..and each extension was extra..plus the "style" of the phone. And I had an "FX" (Foreign Exchange) from another town in my home,so I could call there,and they could call me free. Otherwise it was long distance. Oh,and it cost...but "cheaper" than a phone bill of today is for local service. RIP Bell.
I first went to work at Western Electric in test set construction in Haverhill. (We built the test sets that checked the equipment produced in Haverhill & N Andover two days after I left the Air Force. Our shop was one of the first shops that went from Haverhill to N. Andover. I left Western just before the strike in 1956 but th at didnot end my association with Western. I worked for IBM and spent many years at Western maintaining their computers and other data processing equipment. Two names come to mind from my time at Western Bill Knowles and Bob Brown as they to left the military to join Western Electric"
Tim Bryant
My grandfather William R Johnson worked there. He was involved in coils and gave me one of my most-treasured possession -- a synthetic Quartz Crystal -- from around the exact time of this film.
A shame the old Bell System is a thing of the past. I recall my first phone line in 1982 - it cost $12 per month and that was WITH the rental of the phone.
who remember coding those messing around
With inflation that's 36 bucks.
Vcs são ótimos pena não termos narrado ou legendado em português do Brasil
VERY GOOD
6:56 - FREE HUGS!
I didn't notice that originally... now I can't un-see it. Haha!
@8:23 - Janeway, is that you?!
It does sound like her inflections a bit!
Good history
Fawaz Wesa Riyadh
AT&T should have added a postscript to this film: "Guess who's paying for all these wonders, Mr. Customer? You are!"
Incredible to see this. Probably all union jobs that paid decent wages.
Then some CEO came up with the brilliant idea of shipping this production to China. Even though at the very moment this video was made (early 1970's) China was a bitter enemy of the U.S. Holding mass rallies denouncing the "imperialists". Arming the Vietcong and North Vietnam. But never mind all that! (the CEO told himself), just DIG THOSE LOW WAGES AND LACK OF REGULATION!!!
After the labor unions got fat and greedy...
Yeah it seems that unions were in cahoots with corporatists (not real free market capitalism).
well at least you proved you stoped learning about trade wars at around your middle school. maybe you will see trade wars only hurt consumers. therefore never hurt empires, but only help.
Yet the US government broke up Ma bell....Yea not the CEOs.
jason9022 nope, the boomers gave you a lifestyle you wouldn’t have otherwise. Instead of being jealous of a generation that worked for what they earned and stop whining because life is too hard. Get off your ass and give instead of take. You’d take whatever you could n a heartbeat without thinking about anyone but yourself. So it’s really not the “boomers”, that’s just your generations excuse for laziness, selfishness and no willingness to do for your country just yourself.....now go wallow in your miserable millennial life and pay your own college tuition.
All of that "technology" is obsolete and that phone hardware ended up in the landfills.
Without those, you would never typed that
One thing about Western Electric, is they recycled nearly everything metal and otherwise.
Obsolete? More like redundant... what do we do when new tech breaks? Currently... we sit around and wait for others to fix it.
@@AristonSparta redundancy means others similar technology keeps running simultaneously... but obsolescence guarantees replacement. All of that tech was replaced.
@@BillDerBerg eh, I'd disagree with your definition of redundancy. Redundancy is when you have a broken card reader, so you take the payment with those carbon paper slide machines, or take cash. Redundancy is a back up plan.
you*ll are dead