this Bicentennial Minute is brought to you by

Another ad from the July 4, 1976 Richmond Times-Dispatch:



Though the above image can be clicked for a closer look, I rather liked the logo (and vaguely remember it from phone books gone by):




And here's a clickable & somewhat less blurry look at the Virginia Independent Telephone Association members as of 1976:



Actually, from what I can tell these nearly 32 years later, close to half of these independent phone companies still exist on the membership roll.

But the "IT" in VITA has since switched to "TI" as in the Virginia Telecommunications Industry Association (VTIA). And joining the locals are big dogs like Cox, Comcast, Sprint and Verizon.

Such changes notwithstanding, the existence of these small independents is of interest . . .