Vintage Pacific Northwest Bell Lineman Belt Buckle Gold Diamond Citrine OC Tanne

Description

Vintage Spirit of Service award belt buckle from Pacific Northwest Bell telephone company; buckle is made of brass, back is stamped "O.C. Tanner" (maker); the front of the buckle features a high relief image of pioneer Bell Telephone lineman Angus Mac Donald checking telephone lines on snow shoes during the blizzard of 1888 that threatened the newly installed long distance lines between Boston and New York City. During this mission he and his crew not only kept the lines repaired and open, but also snowshoed to a nearby town after finding a train that had been stalled for on the tracks for two during the storm, bringing back food and drinks for the passengers. Agnus MacDonald, who was with Bell for fifty years, posed for the image (originally a drawing) that was used as part of the "The Spirit of Service" advertising campaign--stressing Bell's dependability and the importance to the company of maintaining service; the image was later used on service awards as an inspiration to generations of Bell System employees. The buckle is roughly 3" tall x 3.5" wide; there is a gold Bell Systems telephone logo emblem in the lower right corner applied to a backing with the initials "PNB" (Pacific Northwest Bell) and a small diamond set between two citrines. Excellent condition. Comes in original presentation box.  Nonsmoking home.