General Telephone Mugs
Description: General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (GTE ), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company was founded in 1934, with roots tracing back well into the 1920s. GTE's groundwork was laid by Wisconsin-based Associated Telephone Utilities Company in 1926, going bankrupt in 1933 during the Great Depression, and reorganizing as General Telephone & Electronics Corporation in 1934. While the company went through countless branding changes before being bought out by Bell Atlantic in 2000, this particular design is one of the most well-known logos that were in place throughout their last thirty or so years of operation.