Abraham Lincoln Junior High School - Annual Yearbook (Rockford, IL)

Page 6 text:

INTRODUCTION It was at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia that the telephone was first demonstrated before the public. Among the people that witnessed the demonstration there were those who felt that it was an invaluable invention. In fact, William Thomson, a well-known British scientist of that era, called it the greatest marvel hitherto achieved by the electric telegraph. Little did he realize how true his words were. Over the years the telephone has grown in importance. The first people to have them were branded as llimpractical, and the few phones were thought of as mere novelties. But soon the novelty of the telephone wore off, as it came into being in offices and homes across the entire nation. It was not long before this great invention spread to nations all over the world. Today the United States has more phones than any other country, in a ratio of one for every three persons, although Sweden and Canada are close seconds with one telephone for every four persons. Why did the telephone grow in popularity? This is an easy question to answer. With- in a few years of the invention of the telephone it was no longer thought of as knick- knack for the homes of those persons wealthy enough to spend their money for such folly; it had become a great convenience geared for the American way of life. We all realize how important the telephone is to our way of life. Without it we could not exist as we do Communications at a moments notice could not be made, long distance messages would take days to reach their destinations, and national or interna- tional news would never be news by the time most people heard it. So, you see, we owe a lot to Mr. Bell. Now that you've read about this year's theme and why it is so important, let's all plug into the Lincoln party line and see what happened here this past year!

Page 5 text:

ockford, Illinois 4;. Volume xxxw Mg 4i? . 244 .10? 16 l96l ?Qaw?

Page 7 text:

TABLE OF CONTENTS INDEX