From the Far Corners of the Earth. Western Electric Company. (1927)

Blast from the Past: From the Far Corners of the Earth. Western Electric Company. (1927)

Vintage illustration with a group of people from various cultures walking together. The text reads 'From the Far Corners of the Earth' in green font at the top, with 'Blast from the past (1927)' overlaid in a black banner across the middle.

2nd page from “From the Far Corners of the Earth,” with text inside a decorative border. The title 'THIS BOOK' is at the top, followed by text explaining the book's purpose, which is to educate readers about the origins, extraction, and uses of raw materials from around the world. It mentions locations such as Pennsylvania, the Rocky Mountains, the Klondike, India, and Malaysia. At the bottom, the book is noted to be published by Western Electric Company, manufacturers for the Bell System since 1882, with the copyright year 1927."

Since Western Electric is intertwined with the Eastland Disaster it’s useful to get to know this company better. After all, they played such a big role in the story we've been exploring.

Here's a section of a vintage document from 1927 (12 years after the Eastland Disaster), published by the Western Electric Company (Chicago). It’s called "From the Far Corners of the Earth." This book's purpose was to educate people about the world's raw materials, their origins, extraction processes, and uses. It's a trip back in time, showcasing attitudes about industrial might during the early 20th century.

What's in store? Get ready for a wild ride through the phone-making world of a century ago! We're talking a treasure trove of materials - from fluffy cotton and cozy wool to shiny copper and sleek aluminum. Oh, and did I mention LEAD??? Yep, that too! It's a material madness that'll make you see your old phone in a whole new light!

The Story of Lead: This section dives into the importance of lead, highlighting its widespread use due to its lower cost and flexibility. The images show a typical lead smelting plant, the separation of lead and copper, and the refining process to extract other metals like silver and zinc. It's amazing to see the intricate processes that were involved even back then!

In Your Telephone: Did you know that lead played a crucial role in the development of our early telephone systems (!!)? This part of the book explains how lead was used in telephone cables and connections, ensuring durability and protection. It also touches on the historical significance of lead use dating back to ancient Rome!

Global Reach: The book covers the journey of raw materials from places like "the hills of Pennsylvania, the treasure-laden Rocky Mountains, the Klondike, and faraway lands such as India and Malaysia." It paints a vivid picture of the global trade and industrial connections of the era.

Page titled 'The Story of Lead' which is part of the “From the Far Corners of the Earth.” book. The page features several black-and-white photographs and illustrations depicting the lead smelting process. The top image shows a large lead smelting plant, labeled 'View of a typical big lead smelting plant.' Another image shows an interior view of a furnace, labeled 'Below—Lead and copper frequently are found together and part of the process of separating them is to smelt them in a blast furnace like this.' Additional illustrations include a diagram of molten lead being poured from a furnace nozzle to form 'pigs,' and an image of refining furnaces that separate silver or zinc from the ore. The page number at the bottom is [22].

Page titled 'The Story of Lead' which is part of the “From the Far Corners of the Earth” book. The page features text discussing the uses of lead in various industries, especially in telephone cables and connections. It includes two black-and-white photographs: one of a telephone switchboard operator, labeled “On telephone switchboards and on the large central office switching system, there are nearly 500,000,000 soldered joints containing lead,” and another of workers handling large spools of cable, labeled 'In this familiar scene the cable spools are being raised to the top of a lead-covered cable stationary.'