Name/Title
pendantEntry/Object ID
1959.790.005Description
Pendant. Small gold-color pendant in the shape of a wall-telephone; separate earpiece is wired into cradle. Back is a single, flat piece of black glass. 1.125"h x .75"w x .375"d. Small loop at top for attaching to chain, pin or bracelet. Given to Mary Bostwick Shellman by Alexander Graham Bell c. 1885-1890.Context
Mary Bostwick Shellman installed the first residential telephone in Carroll County, on the second floor of her home, on July 12, 1884. The next year she became the first manager of the Westminster Division of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company. In 1885, Alexander Graham Bell visited Mary at her home. Noticing the worn spot on her elbow (what she called "the badge of the telephone operator”), Bell told her she deserved a better badge and later sent her this miniature telephone pendant.Acquisition
Accession
1959.790Source or Donor
Card, L. C.Acquisition Method
GiftGeneral Notes
Note
The first residential telephone in Carroll County was installed on the second floor of the Shellman House 12 July 1884. Mary Shellman was day operator and system manager. Reputedly, Alexander Graham Bell visited in 1885; he sent the pendant to Mary shortly after. After Mary's death, the pin was inherited by Rev. & Mrs. Paul Reese who loaned it to HSCC several times.
