By 1947, over 60% of American households had landlines and telephones for personal use, which prompted the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) to produce an educational program for school aged children.
“Adventures in Telezonia” was introduced in 1950 as an 18 minute film that explained proper use of the telephone, with an accompanying teacher’s guide. The program was updated in 1964 and retitled, “We Learn About The Telephone - A Story About Communication”. (shown above)
The program included a 25 minute film and a 24 page booklet for students, and a teacher’s guide. For schools that didn’t have a film projector, the program offered a film strip, and certain schools had access to a teletrainer device where students could practice dialing a number and phone manners as outlined in the booklet.
Students learned about communication prior to the development of the telephone, how the telephone was invented, how sound waves work, and how the telephone works. More practically, the booklet illustrates how to use a telephone directory to find a number, and how to dial for help in an emergency- prior to the 911 system, children were directed to dial “O” and speak to the operator.
