In a Bell System ad in a 1950's National Geographic, the photos of a Service Rep is credited to Ansel Adams. He was a famous photographer noted for beautiful outdoor scenes.
The photo shows a service rep dialing on a colored phone. Seated next to her is a man (in his 50s) in a business suit holding a slip of paper.
Another photo shows the woman with a blind man and his guide dog; in her leisure hours she raises money to provide such guide dogs.
The ad reads in part:
One of the nice things about the telephone business is the way it brings us close to people.
Many, many times each day -- in your community and in coutless communities throughout the land -- we have the opportunity and the privilege of friendly contacts with those we serve. Sometimes they are by telephone. Very often they are personal visits.
"What we like people to do," says (Mrs. Robert) Gaye Evans, Busn Office Service Rep, "is to think of us as their personal representatives at the telephone company. Whenever there's any question about service or a bill or you're moving or needing more service, we're here to help in every way we can."
"It's nice to have people think of the telephone company as a place where they can always find courtesy and consideration. That's our job and we try to be good at it."
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Today regretfully there are no more offices open to the public.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only are there no more offices open to the public, but many office staffs are being outsourced to India and/or Hong Kong and the Phillipine Islands. They can hire their help a lot cheaper in those places. Telco, like many other large corporations prefers to hide behind the anonymity of the telephone. That topic is worth a discussion on its own merits I think. PAT]