Ma Bell

[woody 73]

Like Sears and Montgomery Wards The Bell Telephone Co. from 1877 - 1984 did not make their own tools instead they contracted out to other companies like Bridgeport, Stanley, Utica, Klein, Pexto, Crescent and others to make their Bell Systems Tools for their workers.

Special notes:

In honor of GJ member Jeffmoss26 I am sure he would like this post very much. I sent him a pm some time back with a few questions and he is still in the process of asking a few of the bell system employees my questions.

Some links to the Bell History and a note I found amusing when Bell died on Aug. the 4th 1922 millions of phones went dead; in his honor the phone service was silent for 1 minute. (not sure if that could happen Today).

Today the tools are fun to collect and if you ever go on E-bay you can find several nice examples to look at.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System

http://www.corp.att.com/history/history3.html

 

[PFSard]

woody 73:: Another great posting on company history. And because of Jeffmoss26's contributions. to GJ, I have been buying every tool I encounter with Bells' moniker (I used to leave them for someone else).

 

[jjjrmx5]

Thanks Woody.

And I;ve got several friends that live in Phoneton,OH just up the road from me just north of Dayton proper ( and just down the road from you) if that counts for anything. LOLZ.
It's also why finding Bell System goodies in my area is not too shabby.

Phoneton (also known as Phonetown) is an unincorporated community located at the junction of the Old National Road (U.S. 40) and Old Troy Pike (S.R. 202) in southwestern Bethel Township, Miami County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.

At one time, it was the center of telephone communications in America. The American Telephone & Telegraph Company (Bell System) established operations there in 1894 and the town eventually served as the junction of three long-line telephone wires: the Pittsburgh-Saint Louis line, the Maumee Ohio-Cincinnati line, and the Point Pleasant, West Virginia-Marion, Indiana line.

The company constructed a three-story brick building to house the switchboards and operators to relay calls moving over its lines across the country. The town, which received its name in 1899, grew to supply the AT&T workers by providing housing, food and shopping for sundry items. The Phoneton Hotel was constructed by the company to house workers. A general store existed until the 1960s and also housed the local post office, which ceased operations in 1978, though the telephone switching ceased to operate early in the twentieth century due to automated call switching.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneton,_Ohio

Time for a Woody roadtrip in the spring I guess...

 

[woody 73]

yes indeed a road trip is in order...

 

[RM209]

Woody, thanks for posting. I run across the hand tools occasionally.

I've got an ad running in the GJ Classifieds for some Bell tools; might be of interest for a memebr looking to begin a collection.

RM209

 

[hammlm]

Love the old bell system stuff.

Like Ma Bell, got the ill communcation.

 

[jeffmoss26]

My favorite!!
If you want to see more, check out a video I did.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I should ask my uncle how many bell tools he has laying around. He's a retired lifelong career bell serviceman.

 

[kctyphoon]

There's a cool hatchet that you can find on ebay, with a square cut out for the line hardware, I'm assuming it's 1" since that's the most popular size nuts/bolts we use.. The old bell labs site, which is not far from me, I'm told is going to be turned into condos.. It's a shame.. The technology that came out of that facility changed the world..

 

[7echo]

I still have a copper line at my house. The last tech that came out said his department has shrank 80% over the last several years. A lot of knowledge about the copper lines has retired or passed away I reckon.

I have seen tool bags with the Bell logo, might try and find one of those.

 

[maddawg1952]

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Peavey log lifter roller timberjack railroad tie mover Antique - $70 (Chelmsford, MA)







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condition: excellent

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At least 40 years old this peavey stands 4 feet high.
The hard wood handle has no rot or cracks, smooth finish .
It is branded on the handle " BELL SYSTEM ", probably used to handle telephone poles.

The Peavey is called many things:
Cant hook
Cant dog
RR tie mover
Log roller
Timberjack
Log lifter

This tool is strong and in working order.
Can be for decoration too if you collect old tools.

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[woody 73]

Way cool a peavey for moving phone poles.

 

[Outlawmws]

Dang, now I
l'll have to see if my peavey has that stamp...

Cool Thread!

 

[jjjrmx5]

Dang, now I
l'll have to see if my peavey has that stamp...

Cool Thread!

Ha.
Only our own GJ Outlaw would have one of those damn things "layin' about".

LOLZ.

 

[gungatim]

I've got a huge soldering iron marked bell system. (actually 5 of em). was gonna scrap them for the copper when the price goes up, but since I saw this thread, I may keep one. My grandpa retired from bell in Detroit when I was a kid (70's era). He gave us grandkikds his old linesman phone (had it hooked up in my bedroom as a teen) and lots of those bell issue flashlights and other tools. sadly I got rid of all that "junk" when I was young and stupid...

 

[woody 73]

I've got a huge soldering iron marked bell system. (actually 5 of em). was gonna scrap them for the copper when the price goes up, but since I saw this thread, I may keep one. My grandpa retired from bell in Detroit when I was a kid (70's era). He gave us grandkikds his old linesman phone (had it hooked up in my bedroom as a teen) and lots of those bell issue flashlights and other tools. sadly I got rid of all that "junk" when I was young and stupid...

Grasshopper don't feel so bad after all that is what makes the collecting value rise so fast, I still cry after my mother got rid of all my comics and baseball cards.

 

[Outlawmws]

Ha.
Only our own GJ Outlaw would have one of those damn things "layin' about".

LOLZ.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Grasshopper don't feel so bad after all that is what makes the collecting value rise so fast, I still cry after my mother got rid of all my comics and baseball cards.

Oh Woody73, I hear it all the time.
My Mom passed back in April, but she and my father kept all my old goodies in thier barn or thier storage facility until it all got cleaned out this summer.

I got back a lot of my youth goodies.

I present my Hotwheels bought new lunchbox and thermos, and as my father was good friends with the local Texaco station owner just up the street, the Texaco fire chief helmet. With intercom speaker. Let me find that pic

And all my old baseball, football and basketball cards came back.
Incuding Oscar Robinson.


I love it when old things come back to find you.

 

[kctyphoon]

At least they're not being torn down. Seen a lot of that here in the South and some of the older cotton mills were red brick and actually somewhat pretty. So many newer buildings are drab in comparison.

I'm not sure you could appreciate the SIZE of the main building without seeing it, let alone the entire facility... It's huge.. Been sitting empty for years..

 

[maddawg1952]

12 May 2007, North Andover, Massachusetts.
Former Western Electric Merrimack Valley Works at 1600 Osgood Street. One of Western Electric's largest manufacturing facilities, the Merrimack Valley Works was built in 1956 and later expanded to employ more than 12,000 workers at the height of its production. Merrimack Valley Works researched and manufactured transmission equipment for AT&T and its regional operating companies. Research and manufacturing of technology and equipment was conducted here for TD and TH microwave systems, L-series coaxial lines and T1 digital lines. Merrimack Velley Works became a Bell Labs facility after the 1984 AT&T divestiture and later became Lucent Technologies. Lucent's presence in North Andover faded after 2000 and in 2005 Lucent sold the plant to private developers for reuse as a multi-tenant medical R&D facility. Now it's an office park and Town offices too

 

[jakemac]

My grandfather worked for Bell Labs as an Electrical Engineer for 37yrs, after 11yrs in the Navy. He was transferred to the North Andover facility in 1974 from the Patterson, NJ site, and worked there until he finally retired in 1984. I remember taking tours there as a teen, and picking my grandfather up at the security gate (on the right side of the photo) after work when I needed to borrow his car, or if his carpool wasn't running in the afternoon.

The tools he brought home for his home shop are how I learned my love of Utica Tools. It still breaks my heart to drive past the Osgood complex and not see the big Bell logo out front.

To the previous post, I would add that the Osgood facility also designed and built communication equipment for International sales, including government contracts in the Middle East.

 

[southalabama]

Dad did 30 plus at AT&T in the long lines division. Microwave towers and fiber optics.

When he retired the tool box got to come home with him. After using their tools from the 1960s-early 90s it's hard to use lesser tools.

I've had good luck buying stuff on ebay.

 

[kctyphoon]

few years ago, verizon did a MASSIVE clean out of many of the construction garages in my area.. 40 yard dumpsters were filled with old/out dated tools, diagostic equipment, furniture, and other inventory.. if it was sitting somewhere taking up space and not being used, it was just thrown away.. even material we still used was tossed, just in a effort to make locations "appear better" if upper management or corperate people came to visit any of those locations. you guys would have a heart attack if you saw what was being junked..

 

[kctyphoon]

this was just one location (not mine). that first dumpster is filled with all current FIOS equipment..

just from whats being thrown away, i would guess that location does mostly installations.. at my own garage, the dumpsters were filled more with old tools and truck mounted equipment, desks and chairs..

true story - they came into our office and threw out any chairs that didnt match. so in an office that 18 plus lineman reported to, they left us with 3 chairs for weeks until they sent in new furniture.. i cant even tell you how many old metal desks / work carts were just tossed..

 

[woody 73]

Makes me sick watching that video what a waste of taxpayers money.

 

[Outlawmws]

Actually that would be stockholder's $$...

 

[kctyphoon]

Actually it's both.. Verizon received tax money to help build out FIOS, (in NJ anyway) and verizon stopped the FIOS build a few years back.. So now people that were billed with the promise of getting a fiber optic network have not, and may never get it.. They have bought out enough poloiticans at this point to get away with that, and much more..

Btw.. That was the same case at every verizon location I know of.. Nobody could believe what was happening.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Wow...

 

[RonnieC]

Oh Woody73, I hear it all the time.
My Mom passed back in April, but she and my father kept all my old goodies in thier barn or thier storage facility until it all got cleaned out this summer.

I got back a lot of my youth goodies.

I present my Hotwheels bought new lunchbox and thermos, and as my father was good friends with the local Texaco station owner just up the street, the Texaco fire chief helmet. With intercom speaker. Let me find that pic

And all my old baseball, football and basketball cards came back.
Incuding Oscar Robinson.


I love it when old things come back to find you.

I got that same Hot Wheels lunch box back in '70? '71?
When I got it home, someone had switched out the thermos and it was a Snoopy one. And I'm still bitching about it 44 years later.

 

[bonneyman]

I have a few Bell System drivers. The curved handle shape makes them stand out in a crowd.

 

[SHOCheapRacing]

I'm not sure you could appreciate the SIZE of the main building without seeing it, let alone the entire facility... It's huge.. Been sitting empty for years..

I worked in this building for 7 years with Lucent. I think it was built to house 6k employees? Could it have been that many, it was 12 years ago when I left.

 

[CNGsaves]

Actually it's both.. Verizon received tax money to help build out FIOS, (in NJ anyway) and verizon stopped the FIOS build a few years back.. So now people that were billed with the promise of getting a fiber optic network have not, and may never get it.. They have bought out enough poloiticans at this point to get away with that, and much more..

Btw.. That was the same case at every verizon location I know of.. Nobody could believe what was happening.

You already KNOW the answer to that fiasco !!

Scoop up all that thrown away FIOS / fiber optic gear. Setup up XYZ fiber repair company, and BILL VERIZON to go make repairs to their network with the very gear that they threw away !!!

SOLUTION: You become a consultant to fix the very thing that bloated company can't / won't do !! They WILL pay for it . . just in little chunks.

Chances are USF (universal service fund) paid for all that gear by phone customers all across the country. Verizon just lost the gumption to proceed with FIOS rollout that they had promised when they accepted the USF funds. Now customers are left with half old-school copper / half updated fiber as project of complete fiber job mis-managed by Verizon management.

 

[jakemac]

I'm not sure you could appreciate the SIZE of the main building without seeing it, let alone the entire facility... It's huge.. Been sitting empty for years..

I remember my grandfather working in that Bell Labs facility when I was a kid in the 60's. Two of the cabinets in my shop came from there when they let my grandfather take them home before they put them in the dumpster. Those days are gone. I wish I had two more.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Any of the old phone company tools from any era are good stuff...
A minor shopping tip for current tools:
1. Get a dog.
2. Walk dog.
3. Stop with dog at every pole that has the climbing pegs and a big box upstairs.
Kick through the grass...these guys seem to drop stuff continually. You will frequently find those neat scissors, pliers, screwdrivers, connector widgets for small gauge wire, etc. Be sure you are working a bit ahead of the dog, for sanitary reasons...
You will certainly find a lot of cut off small gauge wire, some of it in substantial length.
The pole climbers must have zero accountability on tools, at least around here, I find so much basic stuff.

 

[wiwest]

Bell Systems "drilling hammer" from what I've read on this site. I would like to replace the handle and use it as I don't have a style this size yet. I'm fairly sure the handle is original due to it unmistakable small size.

 

[kctyphoon]

Any of the old phone company tools from any era are good stuff...
A minor shopping tip for current tools:
1. Get a dog.
2. Walk dog.
3. Stop with dog at every pole that has the climbing pegs and a big box upstairs.
Kick through the grass...these guys seem to drop stuff continually. You will frequently find those neat scissors, pliers, screwdrivers, connector widgets for small gauge wire, etc. Be sure you are working a bit ahead of the dog, for sanitary reasons...
You will certainly find a lot of cut off small gauge wire, some of it in substantial length.
The pole climbers must have zero accountability on tools, at least around here, I find so much basic stuff.

there is no accountability for ANYTHING, unless youre caught steeling time or stealing inventory.. a pallet full of cordless drills can come in, and they dont even keep track of who takes what. then guys purposely dont lock doors to work vechicles and say "its not my stuff i dont care if it gets stolen". most of those guys HOPE it walks - just so they can say "oh well, guess i cant do anything" - and ultimately wind up getting sent to "help" someone else. the big hiring they did for FIOS was their biggest mistake. they just hired anyone, so we basically inherited all the workfoce nobody else wanted... the lastest rumor is management is paying to have Fastenal install, and maintain vending machines in every nj location to track and dispense anyting that will fit into a machine.. so no youll have to scan an id just to get screws and anything else.. storeroom clerks are certainly NOT happy about this, but its no surprise with all the waste that goes on..
i seriously dont comprehend the "lets sabotage our own company" school of thought many of these guys have.. it just strikes me as idiotic that so many people bleed the very company that their 401k is invested in.. and they wonder why so many people in this country are against unions..

 

[SantaAna12]

I used Bell system tools and have many fond memories. A lot of people put alot of thought into them. The tools were more than an accountant funding tool "X" based on bean counting.
An excellent example is Bells modular splicing system, and how all of the components work together so seamlessly.
Other examples abound......the ease of use of the 110 punchdown system, the "waffle" cases, hell.....anyone ever see one of their splicer ladder seats with the foot rest?
I met and worked with a few of the people tasked with the 710 original design when I was a young Journeyman, and I miss working and talking with them.

BTW Verizon is a different operating system, with different tools, and a different ethos in my experience. I mean no disrespect. But it is an important distinction.

 

[kctyphoon]

BTW Verizon is a different operating system, with different tools, and a different ethos in my experience. I mean no disrespect. But it is an important distinction.

verizon is the old bell atlantic..

 

[SantaAna12]

verizon is the old bell atlantic..

Verizon uses the Ms square system. I worked for both. I mean no disrespect.

Bell system tools speak to another time and place. Where innovation and quality and giving the tech the correct tool.....not the best tool for the dollar.....was job one.

 

[kctyphoon]

Verizon uses the Ms square system. I worked for both. I mean no disrespect.

Bell system tools speak to another time and place. Where innovation and quality and giving the tech the correct tool.....not the best tool for the dollar.....was job one.

none taken - and i have no idea what that is anyway.. lol.. but yes - some tools have gone down hill.. the chain hoists they are buying these days couldnt be more "unsuited" for what we need in a line gang.