Classic Rotary Phones: Repair, Refurbish, Restore Vintage Telephones

$1,500.00 - Western Electric A1
$889.99 -Interstate Electric oak wall phone
$800.00 - Stromberg-Carlson “oilcan”
$712.00 - Northern Electric pay phone
$720.10 - 1908 Western Electric Catalog
$655.50 - Western Electric model 653 wall phone
$531.90 - Stromberg-Carlson model 1157 wall phone
$501.99 - Automatic Electric pay phone
$482.77 - Western Electric model 500 (brown)
$480.00 - Automatic Electric AE40 (ivory)
$439.00 - Automatic Electric pay phone (red)
$428.00 - Automatic Electric AE50 wall phone
$409.00 - Automatic Electric pay phone (pink)
$396.01 - Western Electric 202 w/634A ringer
$392.00 - Vote Berger oak wall phone

Once I identified my miniature model 500 as being a pen holder, I began keeping my eyes open for other miniature phones, pen holders and the like. Next thing I knew, I had won this dandy princess phone pen holder on eBay, complete with its original matching pen. (Is it just me, or is there something odd about eBay using the term won in regards to something purchased?) Even the cardboard box it came in appears to be original. The bottom of the box is stamped, 1206 BEIGE, while on the top is hand-written, Michigan Bell Telephone. (possibly written by the seller or a previous owner) Clearly a promotional piece released by Bell Telephone during (or before) the introduction of the princess phone, the number card features a tiara with the words “The Princess” below, and the underside bears the frequently used slogan:

The Princess phone . . .it’s little, it’s lovely, it lights!

And little it is. Proportionately smaller than my model 500 pen holder, the princess is just over four inches long…nearly an inch and a half shorter than the pen that accompanies it. Speaking of proportions, the accompanying photos show how accurate the form of the telephone really is. Though mine is light beige, I would be surprised if these pen holders weren’t also produced in the other four original Princess colors: white, pink, light blue and turquoise. Now just how and where these spiffy little phones were distributed is unknown to me, but it appears that a nearly identical miniature was given away at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. That version is marked across the handset in gold, Bell System Exhibit, Seattle World’s Fair, and doesn’t have any provision for pen holding. Given that so many telephone collectors/historians are former Bell employees, I would expect that a number of people could probably shed some light on these miniatures.

I told you I brought a nifty phone home from vacation, didn’t I? Here it is, a Western Electric model 5302, fresh from an antique mall in Reno, Nevada. (on right below) I haven’t gone over it with a fine tooth comb, but for my $20 investment I can’t have done too poorly on the deal. So what makes a model 5302 so special? Here’s some background:

The photo above illustrates the most obvious difference between the 5302 and the 500 it emulates: the footprint. The 5302 has the same diminutive stature as the 302 it’s based on, so the body is chopped-off behind the handset. Several models of phones have acquired nicknames, the “Lucy phone” and “mushroom phone” coming quickly to mind. In fact, I’ve even heard the AE40 called “the Shirley Temple phone”. (stop, you’re killing me.) The 5302, on the other hand, has the dubious honor of being called the “transition phone”. By nature, nicknames tend to be overly simplistic, but in the case of the 5302 it is simply incorrect. Because the set consists of a 302 chassis topped by a model 500 look-alike body, it is mistakenly believed that the 5302 was a stepping stone, a “toe in the water” stage before the 500 was fully implemented. That scenario wouldn’t have made much sense for Western Electric, but the truth also has an air of the illogical, particularly in the light of today’s manufacturing and marketing practices. Read the rest of this entry »

You may have already read about a nifty phone that I picked up while on vacation in Reno (its identity is still a closely-guarded secret), but that wasn’t the only phone that followed me home. I also got an interesting toy phone/bank combo made by The Gong Bell Manufacturing Company of East Hampton, Connecticut. I’ve recently begun the study of toy phones and the companies that made them, and one of the most important of those companies was definitely The Gong Bell Manufacturing Company. Gong Bell was founded in 1866 as a manufacturer of door bells, with toys being added to the lineup in 1872. Toys, made of cast iron, wood or stamped steel, eventually became their primary product. The company was probably associated with, and possibly a subsidiary of, the N.N. Hill Brass Company. Among the numerous phone models produced by Gong Bell were the Speedphone, Dial Phone, Dial Pla Phone, Wall Phone, Ranch Phone, Pla Phone, Pla Pay Phone, TV Pay Phone, Jumbo Pay Phone, Country Phone, Pay Bank Phone, Voice Phone, Unitphone, Duchess Phone, Electric Dial Hand Phone, Future Phone, and the Disney-themed “mousekaphone”. Whew! While they didn’t invent them, Gong Bell was almost certainly the first company to make extensive use of bells, gongs and chimes that were actuated mechanically during play, typically ringing with the turning of a wheel. Gong Bell made many types of toys, including hobby horses and other riding, pushing and pulling toys, but phones were always a major part of their production. Toy phones were in fact invented at Gong Bell, by Clifford M. Watrous in 1921. They made good use of an extraordinarily compact ringer, a clever design that was awarded several patents. With this simple technology they were in position to capitalize on the growth of an important household item, the telephone. Read the rest of this entry »

Betcha thought I fled the country, didn’t you? My bank account wishes that were the case, but in fact my wife and I went to Nevada to do a little gambling. Actually, we did a lot of gambling, going to Laughlin, Vegas, and the Tahoe/Reno area. We hit a lot of casinos to be sure, but as often happens, they saw us coming and hit back. This was pretty much expected, so we didn’t over-extend our budget and still had a great time. Those new (at least I think they’re new) eBay slots are a blast, and the only machines I’m aware of that actually seem to reward technique… at least to some degree. Consisting of a row of individual machines connected to a large animated screen above, they pay off randomly with “community free spins” (the community being whoever is playing in the joined row of machines), and things get interesting when all the machines are played simultaneously.
I know this doesn’t have a thing to do with telephones, but I haven’t gotten to the important part: When we weren’t gambling we were looking for old phones! Reno in particular had some good antique malls, with prices below what is typically found in Texas. Even though we found quite a few phones, most of them were too common, too expensive or in poor condition. But I did come home with one that I thought was pretty darn spiffy, and I’ll share it with you just as soon as I can get a few photographs taken.

I’m proud to announce that, after a little cleaning and new cords, the first of my North Electric project phones has a dial tone, dials numbers reliably, and rings. Score!!! My paranoia over the possibility of their having frequency ringers was, thankfully, unfounded. A friend made the observation, “It makes me wonder how long it was silent and who heard it ring last.” Indeed. There’s still more work to be done, as the cleaning was mainly superficial and the ringer definitely needs an adjustment. Oh yea, and I’ve got to get that swell light to work. So far this is going entirely too easy… stay tuned!

I finally got up the nerve to “pop the hood” on one of the Galions, and get a load of that dirt… maybe a trip to the car wash is in order! Click on the image to see the larger version.

You know, eBay is a funny place. You search for, say, “bakelite telephone”, with no real intention of bidding. It is, after all, great fun just to see what’s out there, right? That’s how this got started. I spotted an auction for four (four) North Electric “Galion” telephones, and they weren’t seeing much action. Now I didn’t need four Galions, but gosh-darn-it, it would be a shame to let a bargain slip right through my fingers! Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to share some fundamental “secrets” to finding good buys on eBay. The reason I say fundamental is because these tips can apply to most anything one might purchase at auction, including vintage telephones. Here’s the crux of this whole thing: The more desirable a given auction item appears, the more bidders will participate and the higher the winning bid will be. That is the essence of the auction process in a nutshell. “Well dang, Mark, am I just supposed to bid on the crap that no one else wants?” That is certainly one approach, I’m going to suggest another… find the phones that don’t appear to be as desirable. Read the rest of this entry »

$21,100.00 - Charles Williams Jr. telephone (late 1800’s)
$2,333.01 - Automatic Electric AE40 (jade green)
$1,412.99 - Kellogg model 1000 (factory red)
$1,225.00 - Western Electric 202
$849.99 - Stromberg-Carlson “oil can”
$711.99 - Ludlow Telephone (late 1800’s)
$636.00 - American Electric candlestick
$565.55 - Western Electric 20B candlestick
$510.00 - Western Electric candlestick, brass
$500.00 - Automatic Electric AE34 (mahogany color)

I don’t blame you guys for loosing patience with me. After all, I’ve been writing way too many posts whose subjects are sort of “out there”. Well, here’s one more, then I’ll try to get back to the business of talking serious phone repair, restoration and history.
OK, let’s get started. First I’d like a show of hands… how many of you are familiar with Connecticut Telephone and Electric? That’s great, almost everyone. They’re probably best known as the company that made the TP-6-A, that cool, art-deco styled phone that is sometimes called the “toaster” or even, believe it or not, the “Soviet Princess”. They were used primarily by the military (as well as seeing extensive intercom and dictaphone use), and are awesome phones. Too bad the government used the bejeezus out of them, ’cause there’s not many around in good condition these days. [Note: More than one phone carried the TP-6-A designation, as it was also applied to the North Electric "Galion" (H-series). It's been said that TP-6-A refers to military phones made specifically for use in tropical climates, which seems plausible.] Connecticut made countless other products as well, including the EE8-A army field phone, but did you know about the Velvetskin Patter? If Connecticut has a skeleton in their closet, this is it. (click image for full 1930 ad) Read the rest of this entry »

The Bell System never ceases to fascinate. So massive that it should have been crippled by its own weight, “Ma Bell” was in fact capable of astounding efficiency. Perhaps because fear of big-business had yet to encompass the public consciousness, the sheer size of the organization didn’t appear to intimidate the average subscriber. While government monopoly concerns caused ulcers throughout most of the 20th Century (on both government and Bell sides), Joe and Jane Consumer simply enjoyed their dependable phone service.
In spite of the uneasy truce, Bell often placed ads in magazines whose purpose was to explain their place in the world, presumably in a way that the public could understand. This, of course, was tantamount to explaining 90mph in a 50mph zone… the less said the better. It is on that note that I present this fabulous bit of flim-flam, published in 1945. (by all means, click on the small image to see the larger, readable version) The bottom-most text isn’t particularly outrageous, and even imparts some good old-fashioned flag waving, but the boldly rendered “chart” that fills up the better part of the page is a real classic. Let’s face it, when a company tries to dazzle the common folk with terms like “syllogism” and “raison d’etre” it’s definite cause for concern. If they weren’t worried already…