British Columbia Telephone Company (B.C. Tel./Telus) Telephone Talk: Bound Issues January, 1911 Through December 1911 *CONTAINS FIRST ISSUES EVER PRINTED*

Telephone Talk was the glossy bimonthly publication of the British Columbia Telephone Company. It was written by employees for employees to present information of interest to those engaged in the plant, traffic, commercial, operating, accounting and other departments of the service. Each issue is replete with black and white photos and information on topics such as: company, industry and technological news, traffic levels, expansion plans, personnel announcements, publicity and social events, deaths, weddings, lists of exchanges, and more. As such, these issues serve as a vital preserve of rare and fascinating British Columbia history. This volume covers topics including: Photo portrait of the late J.M. Lefevre - father of the company; The Year Ahead; Development of the British Columbia Telephone Company until now; Vancouver rejects dial telephones; Simultaneous telephony and telegraphy; Selling telephone service; Lesson in Telephone Life; Portrait of Mr. H.W. Kent, former company General Superintendant; Company meeting the situation; First Telephones in British Columbia; Portrait of Mr. C.F. Bollschweiler, General Superintendant of Plant; New North Vancouver Office; Rough tests on Toll Circuits; When Phones were Novelties; Exchanges ranked in order of per cent good toll calls as of January 1911; Statement of Development - # of phones operating in each exchange as of 1 February 1911; Construction activity; An ideal telephone office - Mount Pleasant; Canada's telephone business; Canada - Birthplace of the Phone - summary of events since; Portrait of A.L. Littig; Coast-Kootenay Telephone Line; Many Messages over single wire; San Francisco Telephone Rates; New Telephone Office for Victoria; Photo of George McCartney; Loaded Cables in Submarine Work; Criticism of Government Service regarding phone installation in Winnipeg; What makes a good supervisor; photo of Victoria Exchange; Handling Press Messages by Phone; photo of new Fairmont office; Endorsement for Measured Rate System; Electrolytic Corrosion of Cables; Seymour Office Load Curves; Photo Portrait of George H. Halse; Telphone Cable Development; What the Two-Number System Is; photo of frame of new Victoria building; photo of aftermath of Grand Forks fire; Photo Portrait of Mr. William Farrell, Company President; Trend of Electrical Practice; Photo of Conduit Trench along Broadway in Vancouver; Nineteen arguments for telephone directory advertising; Photos of two Vancouver operators; Toll Operators' Contest; Aerial Cable Across the Fraser - two steel strands replace cable washed away last year - photos; Portrait of Miss Mary Dickson, Chief Operator at Seymour; Long Distance Telephony; Renewing Section of Gulf Cable, with photos of several cable-laying scenes; Continuous service now in Ladysmith; Photo portrait of B.C. Tel. Officials; Nice photo of new Bayview office in Vancouver; Handling a Long Distance call; New Bayview Branch Exchange - model office - 3 pages; and more. Half-leather binding. Front board loose but present. Backstrip open along front and missing chips. Back hinge open. Signature of (later) company executive E.P. LaBelle upon front free endpaper. Mr. LaBelle's initials penned to top edge. Textblock sound. Book