The keychain is of the C&P Telephone Co. Truck.
The family of the Estate of Frances Zellman (not related to the Zellmans of Zellman Funeral Home) brought our ‘casual historian’ a few very special items for the Havre de Grace History MuZeum in Bahoukas Antique Mall. Frances Zellman gave 30 years of service to our local C&P Telephone Co. (Chesapeake & Potomac). At one time C&P was located in the McCombs building (corner of Union & Franklin), later it moved across the street (Franklin), in the 1940s-1950s it moved to 319 Stokes Street, and in the 1960s it moved to 650 Fountain Street.
For her 30 years of service, Frances received this beautiful watch with an inscription on the back that reads “Frances Zellman 30 yrs of service C&P Telephone.”
In addition to the above, Frances also had this pin from the Telephone Pioneers of America. Below, we have information about this organization which started in 1911 and still exists today!
The Pioneer Triangle
This unique triangular-shaped pin has a most interesting story. We hope to learn more about Frances Zellman in the near future. I’m sure her involvement in this organization has a story or two worth sharing.
From the very first, the Pioneer symbol was a double triangle around the words “Telephone Pioneers of America,” and, in the center, the Bell system’s traditional bell.
from newvision-sherwin pioneers
…
The date 1875 commemorates the experiment of June 2, when Bell verified the theory of the electrical transmission of speech; the second date, 1911, the organization of the Telephone Pioneers of America.
This organization began in 1911 and continues today:
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network, founded and more commonly known as the Telephone Pioneers of America, is a non-profit charitable organization based in Denver, Colorado in the United States. The association was organized in Boston in November 1911 by 246 pioneers active in the early days of telephony, including Alexander Graham Bell who received membership card No. 1. The first elected president was Theodore N. Vail, president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).
from Wikipedia
As of 2009 the organization has grown to about 620,000 members, consisting primarily of actively employed and retired employees in the telecommunications industry, making it one of the world’s largest corporate volunteer organization. Pioneers volunteer more than ten million hours annually responding to the individual needs of their communities throughout the United States and Canada. It is funded through company sponsors and public charitable donations. In the United States, the organization is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
In a future post, we have a few more items from the Estate of Frances Zellman related to her school days that we will share. Again, we thank the family for sharing these remarkable items. We also hope that they return with a photo of Frances and maybe more of her story.
REMEMBER, don’t throw the Havre de Grace ‘stuff’ out when you’re cleaning out a home, settling an estate, or just ‘downsizing,’ without checking in with George. Don’t give him cause to cry!!!
Our ‘casual historian’ is always waiting for your stories and any memorabilia you may want to share.
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