Television Commercials: Telephone (1970)

This film reel, titled "Television Commercials: Telephone" presents a collection of telephone advertisements from 1970. The film reel consisted of three commercials; one meant for a St. Louis audience, a very similar one for a Mount Washington audience, and one advertising the telephone by explaining the history of its creation. The various commercials use similar tactics, such as highlighting the coast-to-coast connections made possible the phone, or by giving it a "fantasy" type of description by explaining that "they said it couldn't be done... but it was". 

One of the tactics used by the commercials to promote the use of the telephone is the comparison to the building and development of the cog railway in Mount Washington. The cog railway is depicted as a revolutionary way to literally climb mountains - making more connections within the world, allowing ease in exploring and building experience and character. By comparing the telephone to it, the commercial's producers are implying that the telephone has these same abilities. 

This holds weight in the modern teachings of communication infrastructure because it shows that the telephone truly does hold a place in the "social networking" community - it could even be considered another form of a social network since it also builds relationships and creates connections. Furthermore, the final commercial in the film reel, explaining the drop in the prices for long distance phone calls as time progresses, demonstrates the accessibility of the telephone for universal use. This may be helpful in a modern understanding of past telecommunications because it can be compared to the various ways in which long distance phone connections occur today - through calling cards, special telephone company plans, etc.