Norman Rockwell (1894–1978).

Bell Telephone’s advertising agency commissioned this work from Rockwell. A letter from the agency to the artist suggested a scene with a lineman repairing damage after a storm explaining that "The work of the linemen for the Telephone Company is filled with opportunities for personal sacrifices and acts which stem only from devotion to national welfare, so that it seems a fitting work to honor by such a painting."  Rockwell, who always worked with models, found lineman John Toolan working on a line in Cheshire, Massachusetts and asked him to serve as his subject. The original painting is now in the Norman Rockwell Museum.

This photo is from an article detailing the impact of the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 on the Bell System.  The Thanksgiving weekend storm had the triple threat of wind, snow, and ice. The New Jersey Bell System was the hardest hit with 2,000 cables downed and 135,000 telephones dead.  According to the article, 5,000 lineman were on the job by dawn the next day “to tackle the biggest repair job they had ever encountered.”

Image Courtesy of Bell Telephone Magazine, Winter 1950-51.

The pole this lineman is working on was unique in that it supported “open wire circuits, both voice frequency and carrier; cable circuits; and a radiotelephone transmitting installation.”

Image Courtesy of Bell Telephone Magazine, Autumn 1952: Vol 31 Issue 3.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

The outside plants, like the lab in Chester, or the one pictured here in South Plainfield, served as training grounds for employees working with telephone equipment. Mock electrical boxes and telephone poles were used for drills of complicated or dangerous work.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Collection of the Allan Family.

Collection of the Allan Family.

Part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work. The belt / strap was cinched around the pole and the safety hooks at each end clip into another belt worn on the lineman’s body.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work. Wrenches were used for a variety of purposes, including putting climbing spikes into telephone poles.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

These were part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work. Wrenches were used for a variety of purposes, including putting climbing spikes into telephone poles.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Part of the specialized tools linemen needed on a daily basis to complete their work.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

This hard hat belonged to Doug Smith, an electrical engineer who worked at the Bell Telephone Laboratories of Whippany and Holmdel. Early on, workers commonly wore felt hats to prevent life-threatening electrical accidents. Need for better protection against higher voltage combined with advances in plastics made way for hard hats.

Collection of Marna Golub-Smith.

This portable set was used for testing the electrical currents supplying power to telephones via phone lines. Lineman could check to see if interruption of phone service was electrical in nature. The Weston Milliammeter dial shows the amount of electrical current.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Another portable piece of equipment, this set measures and diagnoses the cause of  interference along telephone circuits. It’s description in the Bell System Practices manual says that it is “fully transistorized and powered by a single, self-contained 45-volt battery.” The set here is shown without its cover.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.