Service Men's Telephone Handbook
Chicago, IL: American Telephone and Telegraph Co., Illinois Bell Telephone Company, 1943. Presumed First Edition, First Printing thus. Wraps. The format is approximately 3 inches by 4 inches. 24 pages. Map. Illustrations. Unmarked. RARE. This has an Eagle sitting on a circle of stars on front cover. Light burgundy soft cover. Bell System logo on back cover. 1943 and 1944 calendar on inside covers. Clean, tight, no marks. Contains map of downtown Chicago. Contents include a brief history of U. S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois; Service Men's Centers, USO Clubs, Places to Visit in Chicago (includes Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Art Institute, Public Library, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Technology, and Historical Society); Downtown Chicago Churches, Railroad Stations, Map of Downtown Chicago, Service Men's Telephone Centers, How to Call Long Distance, Handy Telephone Tips, Station-to-Station Telephone Rates, area for Names and Numbers, area for Notes, and 1943 and 1944 calendar inside front and back covers. Naval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only current boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois, along Lake Michigan. Naval Station Great Lakes is the largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training station in the Navy. The base has 1,153 buildings situated on 1,628 acres and has 69 miles of roadway to provide access to the base's facilities. Within the naval service, it has several different nicknames, including "The Quarterdeck of the Navy". It is also referred to as "second boot camp" for those attending Training Support Command. The original 39 buildings built between 1905 and 1911 were designed by Jarvis Hunt. The base functions similarly to a small city, with its own fire department, Naval Security Forces (Police), and public works department. One of the landmarks of the area is Building 1, also known as the clocktower building. Completed in 1911, the building is made of red brick, and has a tower over the third floor of the building. Great Lakes was approved in 1904 by Theodore Roosevelt. Construction was supervised by Navy Captain Albert R. Ross. Chicago-area architect Jarvis Hunt designed the original 39 buildings and Lt. George A. McKay was the civil engineer for the construction on the 172 acres wilderness location. President William Howard Taft dedicated the Naval Training Station in 1911. On 3 July 1911, Joseph Gregg was the first recruit to arrive. He would graduate in the first class of 300. Fifty-five years later, he was buried at the Naval Station Cemetery 5 July 1966. Legendary band leader and march composer John Philip Sousa was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War I. He led the Great Lakes Naval Station Band from mid-1917 until shortly after the Armistice was implemented in November 1918. Great Lakes also had a Radio School including two 400 ft towers constructed in 1915. From 1911 to 1916 around 2,000 recruits a year were trained at Great Lakes. At the start of 1917, just prior to the United States entry to World War I, Great Lakes was under the command of Captain William A. Moffett and had 39 permanent brick buildings, over 165 acres, and about 1,500 Sailors. At the close of the war, there were 776 buildings, with 1,200 acres and about 45,000 Sailors in training; 125,000 had been trained at Great Lakes during the war. Recruit training slowed after the war and halted in 1933. In 1932, Great Lakes had 102 buildings on 507 acres. On 1 July 1933, Great Lakes was closed and placed in a maintenance status. It was reopened 1 July 1935 after lobbying by local businessmen and the Congressional Delegation from Illinois. On 9 December 1940, the Class A Service School opened for its first class. On 7 December 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan, and around 6,000 sailors were training at Great Lakes. This grew to 68,000 in six months; by September 1942, over 100,000 Sailors were training at Great Lakes. The base grew to 1,600 acres in the next 10 months. By mid-1943, there were over 700 instructors at the Class A service schools. The Navy selected Great Lakes to be the site of the first African American trainees. On 5 June 1942, Doreston Luke Carmen of Galveston, Texas was the first recruit to enter the segregated training facility at Camp Robert Smalls. In September 1942, segregated "Negro Service Schools" were opened. The policy of segregation led to small service school classes with only four or five students in a class. By 1944 Great Lakes began to integrate training and all training was integrated by mid-1945. The Golden Thirteen were commissioned in March 1944 after training at Great Lakes. Four million served on active duty in the Navy during World War II. Over one million Sailors were trained at Great Lakes. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Handbook, Telephone, Chicago, Great Lakes Naval Training, AT&T, Illinois Bell
[Book #91202]
Price: $45.00