larock@software.org (Curt Larock) (01/06/90)
While in Chicago over the holidays I attempted to visit the Telephone Museum. The museum, alas, has been closed - permanantly. According to the Illinois Bell receptionist the museum was dismantled due to the renovation of the building now underway. Some of the exhibits were given to the Chicago Historical Society, but there are no plans at present to put them on display. [Moderator's Note: The museum closed permanently a couple months ago when the IBT Headquarters Building was in the process of being renovated. The loss was extremely unfortunate. The people at IBT who seemed to have some say-so about whether the museum should be there or not apparently have no interest in any link with the past. Its as though they feel the telephone somehow came into existence 1/1/84 or thereabouts. Their own internal history -- let alone that of the industry in general -- is fascinating, but I guess no one there felt it had anything to do with telephony as we know it today. Even the Telephone Pioneers were given no choice in possibly supporting the museum at some other location. PT]