Classic Rotary Phones: Repair, Refurbish, Restore Vintage Telephones

I’ve always been very curious about the cartoon-like “mascots” that were used in Bell Telephone and Western Electric promotions. The ink-blotter shown above includes a good example of an early character, one that was used countless times. The image isn’t dated, but the calendar shown likely makes it from 1934, although 1945 would also be possible. Although “Mr. Phone” (my term) seems to be a model 202, he remained in service for the duration of the 302 era, even after “Mr. Switchboard” (right) came onto the scene. Mr. Switchboard (again, my name for the character) didn’t seem to have as long a career as his predecessor, but was used heavily for a time.
Who created the art for these characters? Did they have names? Everyone remembers “Reddy Kilowatt”… how could these great cartoon characters not have been given names? I’ll bet that someone (or several someones) know all about these two mascots, and with a little luck maybe they’ll read this and share the stories of “Mr. Phone” and “Mr. Switchboard” with us.

Taken by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration, this photo from February of 1939 shows a Harlingen, Texas “ice house”. Our intrepid ice man is surrounded with the tools of his trade, including a telephone that was already obsolete in ‘39. It is a testament to the durability of the phone (a Western Electric model 20?) that it could survive outside in the harsh Harlingen climate. Photo is courtesy of Dave from shorpy.com, a website you need to visit!

I’ve been working away on a new page, an archive of vintage advertisements. This will include ads for telephones, telephone service, and even ads for unrelated products if a phone is featured prominently. The vast majority of the advertisements will be for Western Electric, but General Telephone, Bell Labs and many others will also be included. You can browse the small, thumbnail images and left-click to view the large, high resolution versions. I’m making every effort to maintain the accuracy of color and sharpness of detail that is found in the adverts, and will make digital repairs if significant damage is present on the original. This will be a long-term project that will see the page grow steadily, with additional ads posted as I find the time. If you have old ads to contribute that you think would be suitable for inclusion, please drop me an e-mail. The page can be accessed from the Home page, or you could just click here.

Besides my visit to a favorite local flea market this past weekend I also hit a previously unexplored venue, the Mid-Cities Antique Mall in Hurst, Texas. Antique malls aren’t generally noted for their bargain prices, but every now and then a good deal will surface. I picked up this early non-dial 302 (I believe this to be a model 302EW-3) for $20. Given its condition I don’t believe I would have bid that much for it on eBay, but not having to pay an additional $20 or so for shipping strongly influenced my decision to buy. As you probably know, these early examples have a zinc alloy housing, and this one is in desperate need of paint. I’m also a little nervous about the handset, as it has a bad case of the pitting that is often found on bakelite.
Something I found particularly interesting about the phone are the “instructions.” Over the number card is a sticker (reinforced by yellowed cellophane tape) that says, “Local Calls 25¢ Ea.,” and written on a large sticker below the fingerwheel is, “Local Calls 25¢ Ea., Switchboard Hrs. 8:AM to 10:30PM.” All this is hand-written in ballpoint, you understand. Part of me looks past this rough exterior and sees what could be, but I can’t help but wonder if I should leave it alone. This phone was used for decades, and has a history that is written all over it, however crudely. This is a topic I’ve touched on before: should the years be erased or preserved? My personal view is leaning more often towards repair rather than restoration, but I suspect that what this well-worn 302 might deserve is detailing. Somewhere in that murky area between simple repair work (fixing) and restoration (making as new) lies detailing. Yep, that’s going to be the ticket.

Peripheral collections are great aren’t they? When you’re out hunting for whatever it is that you collect and having no luck, you come across something that ties to it. I combed through the stuff at my favorite flea market yesterday in hopes of finding old phones, but instead I came home with an interesting telephone-related item. At first it appeared to be a toy telephone, but upon closer inspection I could see that this accurately rendered model 500 served another purpose, one that I’ve yet to determine with total confidence. The seller said it was an inkwell, but I found that highly unlikely. After all, how many inkwells were produced in the Model 500 era? In the center of the dial (where the number card would be) is a hole that does indeed look like the opening of an inkwell, complete with ink remnants. But before we go into full mystery-solving mode, let’s go over the details of this little beauty. Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps you too have fond memories of Clutch Cargo, the circa-1959 cartoon series that featured “Syncro-Vox” (patent #2,739,505), an interesting animation technique that had “real lips” do the talking. (Some of you youngsters might have seen this technology in action on “The Adventures of Mr. Incredible and Pals” on Conan O’Brien.) One thing about Clutch Cargo that I didn’t discover until recently is that the automobiles and airplanes, particularly the airplanes, were drawn with great accuracy… they represented actual models/types of cars and planes. I’ve heard it said that the producers of the cartoon had to have been aviation enthusiasts, as the planes depicted are typically the more interesting, exotic types. I wonder if telephones were rendered with the same fidelity? When Clutch wasn’t working on his Adventure Log Book, fighting crooks or rescuing Spinner from quicksand, he might spend some of his down-time on the phone, perhaps chatting long-distance with his old pal Swampy. In this photo Clutch appears to be, ahem, “clutching” an F1 handset. So, any Clutch Cargo fans out there? Let’s hear from you!

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This post may (or may not) be the first in a series of articles comparing the Western Electric models 302 and 500, the undisputed champs of 20th Century telephony. Those of you who are old enough, and were paying attention, are liable to recall that electrical/mechanical gadgets got smaller over the past 50 years or so. Radios, once the size of refrigerators, shrunk down to breadbox size, and then to something resembling a cigarette pack. Television experienced a similar reduction, if not in over-all size, then at least in the screen-to-cabinet ratio. The first half of the century also witnessed progressive size reduction among telephone sets. But that trend came to a halt in 1949 when the Model 500 was announced. The 500 was noticeably larger than its predecessor, the 302, and this curious size increase is today’s topic. Read the rest of this entry »

$6266.66 - AT&T Picturephone Set
$1346.99 - Elston Candlestick
$1244.00 - Kellogg 925 “ashtray”
$1125.00 - Western Electric 102
$685.00 - Automatic Electric AE50
$676.00 - Western Electric 500 1957 (NOS)
$600.00 - Western Electric 553A
$559.00 - Stromberg-Carlson 1211
$550.00 - Western Electric 302 (red thermoplastic)
$510.00 - Stromberg-Carlson 1212

Several significant milestones have occurred during the evolution of the telephone, not the least of which was the all-in-one structure of the Western Electric Model 302. Placing the ringer within the body of the phone was a big step to be sure, providing a glimpse of the design efficiency that would become such a significant aspect of 20th Century technology. But what of the Model 500? Wasn’t it the phone that best represented “modernity”? Yes, but perhaps not in the way one might think. The styling was a dramatic change, and quite bold considering its 1949 roots. Radical though the design may be from a visual standpoint, the big news was the ringer, one that featured an adjustable volume control. Given the importance of earlier advances in telephone design, should anyone be dazzled by a volume control? Absolutely, if not because of what it was, but what it represented. As the only game in town, the Bell System wasn’t in the habit of catering to the trends or whims of the subscriber, and to be honest, the public hadn’t made any overtures for change. But mid-century America was an era of affluence, and consumers began to seek style in the products they purchased, not merely function. The model 500 was the first small effort to accommodate the preferences of the customer and, as with all great design, is a superb representative of its time.

There’s more than one way to clean vintage telephones, and most everyone develops their own technique over time. Beginners however, are often at a loss as to how to proceed, so to I’ve enlisted the help of Dennis Markham (VintageRotaryPhones.com), who generously consented to a Q&A on the subject:

Beyond resolving any functionality issues, I’m sure that cleaning is your first priority when restoring a vintage phone. How far do you typically “tear down” a phone for this process?

For purposes of this discussion I will describe my method as it relates to the Western Electric model 500, but it is pretty much the same for any phone I clean.
I begin by tearing down the phone completely. I separate the phone into three parts, the plastic, the internal parts (including screws, washers, nuts, etc) and the cords. Following that I break down the internal parts into another three areas, the ringer assembly, the dial and the network block. I use large plastic bowls to keep the parts separated.
The only parts left standing are the switch hook stack, the feet (which are riveted in place) and the dial governor. On the model 302 the feet are removed for cleaning.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I was in a discussion about all the information that can be drawn from the various types of website statistics programs. Most “webmasters” (I hate that term) are familiar with one or more of these statistical generators, Webalizer being one of the more popular. These programs, typically run/updated daily, show the number of visitors and “hits”, as well as where the visitors came from. The volume of data they compile is staggering. Much of it isn’t of interest to the average guy that operates a modest personal site, but one part that I personally attach great importance to is the “search strings”… the words and phrases that people typed into their search engine of choice (usually Google) that ultimately sent them to my site. I’ve studied these search phrases for years on my other websites, and it has helped me to groom the content of the sites to more accurately address the things that my visitors seek. ClassicRotaryPhones.com is new, but has been quickly indexed by Google. What do you suppose people are looking for when Google sends them to this site? It’s invariably something along the lines of “my phone won’t ring”. As you may have read in a previous post, I’ve recently dealt with that issue myself. Perhaps this is a good time to address the subject in greater detail… Read the rest of this entry »

The study of designers, the artists/engineers that develop products for mass production, has been a hobby of mine for years. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for the impact of visual design, the power it has to leave a positive, or negative, first impression. My first foray into this arena was to research the life and work of Howard Kron (1914-1991), a multi-talented ceramics designer. While the focus of his efforts were on what might be called decorative ware, he shared a trait found in most all great sculptors of utilitarian products: his passion to go beyond the visual aspects of a thing. He had a strong interest in, and understanding of, the ultimate purpose of an item… its function. It is that sort of vision, simultaneously broad and focused, that results in great products. Henry Dreyfuss was a master of this, of studying the multiple aspects of a project and seeing how they should come together. Read the rest of this entry »