1966 AT&T Bell System Ad "Our boss, Meg Rawls"

Description: 1966 AT&T BELL SYSTEM vintage magazine advertisement "Our boss, Meg Rawls"

~ Our boss, Meg Rawls - Not long ago we visited a young A.T.&T. share owner. We hope her questions and our answers may interest you. Each year, across the country, Bell System management people visit share owners of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. They sample opinions, answer questions and explain the company's practices. Share owners to be visited are selected at random. Their names and addresses give no clues as to business acumen or age. - James Thompson of Southwestern Bell Telephone, an Associated Company of the Bell System, was assigned to visit Miss Margaret Rawls of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. When he telephoned for an appointment, he was startled to find that she was seven years old. But Meg Rawls was in her best dress, hairdo and business mood when Thompson rang the doorbell of her parents' home. The next hour and a half put Thompson through the hoops. The young lady's questions were basic and to the point. She wanted full answers and the figures that went with them. Finally, when Thompson stood up and shook hands, Meg decided that she was pleased with the way things were going in her company. For now, anyway. Here are some questions Meg asked a few months ago. These answers go a little beyond Jim Thompson's. But not much. He says Meg wanted facts and our opinions. - "How many people work for the Bell System?" - The Bell System now includes nearly 800,000 men and women -- more than the populations of Oklahoma City and Tulsa combined. But they work all over the country, and in all kinds of jobs. They're sort of a team. In the Associated Companies, they operate the local telephone service. At Western Electric, they make the phones. At Bell Telephone Laboratories, they invent new phones. Last year alone, 3000 college-trained young people joined the Bell System because they, like us, see an exciting future in the telephone business. - "What kinds of phones are there?" - Phones come in many sizes, styles and colors. Some are small for bedside tables. Others can hang on a kitchen wall. The new Touch-Tone instruments have push buttons for easier, faster calling and will someday let you pay your bills by phone! Trimline phones put the dial right in the handset. The Picturephone sets in Chicago, New York and Washington let people see as well as hear on the phone. Data-Phone sets actually let machines talk to each other at high speed. Other surprising new phones are coming along. - "How many people own telephone stock like me?" - Nearly three million people are now share owners of A.T.&T., parent company of the Bell System. The United States is one of the few countries where you can own part of the telephone company. - "Why do I get a check every three months?" - That's your dividend payment -- your share of Bell System earnings. Only by a good return to you investors can we raise the money we need to give this growing country the service it needs. - "What does the Bell System do with all the money it gets?" - We spend it to keep our present services working well and to have more ready when and where they're needed. This is money spent on land, buildings, wire and cable, equipment and supplies -- nearly $4 billion this year alone. Then, we pay our employees over $6 billion a year to work for us. They spend their money to buy things. This helps business all over the country. Taxes we pay amount to more than $2 billion. Dividends to you share owners are over $1 billion. Just like your family, we try to earn a little more than we spend. It takes profit to keep on being a lively, going, growing business. - "Why do we have to pay extra to call my grandmother in New Hampshire?" - Oklahoma to New Hampshire is what we call a Long Distance call, and it takes more of our wire and equipment than a local call around town. Even so, Long Distance is a lot cheaper than it used to be. In the past 30 years, there have been more than 20 reductions in Long Distance rates from state to state. The most recent was just last year and saved $100 million for telephone users. - Some of Meg's stock is more than half a century old, having been left to her by a great-grandmother. Some is recent, purchased by her father who is with Oklahoma City's Liberty National Bank and Trust Co. Meg's grasp of business is partly the result of overhearing her knowledgeable parents' discussions, and partly native curiosity. She earns money doing chores and weeding, spends carefully, knows her savings to the penny. - We're working for Meg today. Someday, we'll be working for her grandchildren. Our scientists and engineers -- indeed, all of us in the Bell System -- are not content with good service today. We are planning better things for tomorrow, and then making tomorrow happen just as fast as we can. - American Telephone & Telegraph - AT&T Bell System - Touch-Tone, Trimline, Picturephone and Data-Phone are trademarks of the Bell system. ~

Size: The dimensions of each page of the two-page advertisement are approximately 10.5 inches x 13.5 inches (26.75 cm x 34.25 cm).

Condition: This original vintage two-page advertisement is in excellent condition unless otherwise noted (slight edge tanning).