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This color educational film is about Western Electric and Bell Systems Telephones. This was made in 1956.

Opening titles: Presented by Western Electric - TOOLS OF TELEPHONY, its a report on the work of the Western Electric Company (:07-:28). Shots of different telephones, men with telephone wire, women working at the phone company. Switching frames for the wires, warehouses that house phones, telephone trucks (:29-1:29). Information on the Western Electric Phone Company. Phone booths are shown. Our narrator gives us a rundown of information on the company while we are shown numerous jobs/products within the company. Supplies/materials are being shipped. Used equipment is brought back, what can be salvaged is, the rest is discarded. Copper is always recycled. Every instrument returned must always be checked (1:30-4:49). Telephones get replacement parts and are tested. Bad weather is shown, weather can cause phone problems. Men get wires ready to assist in fixing downed wires due to storms. A tractor trailer is packed and brings its cargo to problem areas (4:50-6:43). Western Electric purchases supplies from 3000 cities in the USA. Loggers cut wood, wood is sold for telephone poles. Different parts/materials are discussed. Copper, steel, plastics, and others are purchased (6:44-9:15). Bell System laboratories experiment with parts and perform experiments. exterior shots of factories. Manufacturing cheaper keeps wages up and costs down. Shots of telephone machinery at the phone company is shown. Western's Allentown, PA plant is currently doing experimentation on making things smaller and more efficient. Factory workers work on small things that go into phones. Wires are shown in ice, rain, and heat. New wires are being worked on in Baltimore, MD. Men work on the new coating for wires (9:16-14:38). Another new wire coated in plastic is shown. Making that wire thinner is shown. Different types of parts are shown and explained (14:39-18:42). The Indianapolis, IN plant is shown. What is made and worked on is shown (18:43-20:01). The factory assembly line is shown, the production is fast and swift. Phones are made and boxed (20:02-20:37).
Women work in the factory. 120,000 men and women work for the company. Different cities make and do different things (20:38-22:39). 16 cities house the installation centers. Information on what the job is is explained. Dial lines are explained (22:40-24:03). Installers are scattered in small groups from coast to coast. Men working are shown. These are the most important of the jobs. More information on this is shown and explained (24:04-26:00). Executives discuss. A load test is conducted on the cables to see if it passes. It does and when this happens the installers clean and move to the next job, possibly in another city (26:01-26:49). A missile system is created by Western Bell. A missile test is shown. The navy at sea. Arctic research brings Western Electric to create a defense system (26:50-28:25). A summary of what Western Electric is and does. Exterior of Western Electric neon sign (28:26-29:56). End credits (29:57-30:08)

The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that was officially founded in 1869 and served as the primary supplier and purchasing agent to the Bell System and AT&T from 1881 to 1996. The company was responsible for many technological innovations and seminal developments in industrial management.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com