American Telephone & Telegraph Company | Glossary

Description

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Vail, facing. Around, on raised rim, THEODORE NEWTON VAIL / HE MADE NEIGHBORS OF HVNDRED MILLION PEOPLE; signed, barely visibly, over right shoulder, LUINI

The reverse bears old-fashioned phone receivers connected by wires on raised rim. In center field, PRESENTED · BY · THE / AMERICAN · TELEPHONE · AND / TELEGRAPH · CO · TO · THE · TELEPHONE / PIONEERS · OF · AMERICA · AS · A / MEMORIAL · TO · HIM · WHOSE · LIFE / CHARACTER · AND · INDUSTRY · WERE / AN · INSPIRATION · TO · THE / MEMBERS · OF · THAT · SOCIETY / MONTREAL (oak leaves) CANADA / SEPTEMBER · 10 · 1920

This is the first version of the Theodore Newton Vail medal. It was delineated by Harry Bates Thayer, company president, honoring famed American telephone pioneer and company founder Theodore Newton Vail. The medal was only issued for the four years between 1917 and 1920. Adolph A. Weinman designed and modeled the later version of the medal that was used from 1922 onwards.

The circular medal measures 76.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Tiffany & Co. of New York. No mintage is reported. The medal probably exists in at least silver, probably even a few pieces in gold, but I have not seen any evidence of those variants.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6
diameter	76.6mm
weight	185g
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Jan 28, 2018 18:52

Bronze

Description

The obverse bears likeness of Theodore Newton Vail. Above, THEODORE NEWTON VAIL; on left and right, MDCCCXLV / MCMXX. Around, 250TH ANNIVERSARY / 1697; signed at lower right of field, (JF monogram).

The reverse bears two nude male figres flanking clothed female figure. Around, THE VAIL MEDAL FOR NOTEWORTHY PUBLIC SERVICE; in exergue, AWARDED TO / DARWIN PAUL HOLTZMAN; signed on lower right (AW monogram).

The edge is marked 1114 - 1944.

Theodore Newton Vail (July 16, 1845 - April 16, 1920) was a U.S. telephone industrialist. He served as the president of American Telephone & Telegraph between 1885 and 1889, and again from 1907 to 1919. Vail saw telephone service as a public utility and moved to consolidate telephone networks under the Bell system. In 1913 he oversaw the Kingsbury Commitment that led to a more open system for connection.

The center figure represents the Service, the right Loyalty to Service and the left Devotion to Duty. The three figures are holding telephone cables. They are speeding the winged message over the wires.

This medal is most commonly encountered in bronze, but silver and gold versions exist as well. The bronze medals were awarded to individuals in each Bell company by that company's awards committee. A Bell Systems Committee then reviewed these cases and selected those of "especially outstanding excellenceor importance" for silver or gold medal awards. Bronze medals could also be awarded to groups of employees if the noteworthy act was a concerted group action. The depicted bronze medal was awarded to Darwin Paul Holtzman.

The medals measure 63mm (2.5in) in diameter and were manufactured first by Tiffany Co. of New York and later by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References: Baxter 184, Marqusee 394

Variant Details

This section contains a table of detailed variant information. Currently, I am only aware of 2 variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any others or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6
diameter	63mm
mintage	unknown

material	Silver
edge6
diameter	63mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 17:07

Description

The medallion's obverse bears Hermes, the messenger god, bearing a banner inscribed with UNIVERSAL SERVICE; over him, a bell from which lightning emanates. Around centerfield, within intricately patterned border, · AMERICAN · TELEPHONE · AND · TELEGRAPH · CO · AND · ASSOCIATED · COMPANIES ·

The reverse bears, within intricate border, Bell / Advanced / Management / Program / ANTHONY J. RIZZO / Presented by / (signature) / W.S. Cashel Jr. / October 1978

This large medallion is unsigned and somewhat hard to identify. The closest I could get—corresponding nicely with the medallion's style—is to identify the original designer as Paul Manship and the sculptor as Tom Rogers. Dick Johnson lists a 1980's medal modeled by Tom Rogers, based on a 1916 7 foot diameter floor plate designed by Manship and cast by Gorham. Two such plates originally resided in the Western Union Building at 195 Broadway, New York City. He also references Murtha 75 which describes the floor plates as

"low relief of a male figure carrying a bell which emits flashes of electricity"

This sounds close and together with the corporate connection, the stylistic match, and the absence of other candidates, it sounds like a plausible match. The only mismatch is the 1978 award date, which precedes the 1980's range listed by Johnson by a few years, but small discrepancies in medal dating are not uncommon in reference works.

I have thus tentatively filed this medallion under Manship and Rogers and would love to receive confirmations or rebuttals.

The circular medallion measures 100mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. No mintage is reported.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6
diameter	100mm
weight	414.5g
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 15:56