What’ll $20 Buy These Days?
A Stromberg-Carlson Model 1243!
Collecting, Repair/Restoration, Telephone History June 21st. 2008, 5:16pm
I just love bargains. Not the junk that’s “cheap for a reason”, but genuinely good prices on good stuff. I’ve already carried on in another post about how to find bargains on eBay, but I left out one thing: “Buy It Now”. The best bargains I’ve ever gotten on eBay have come from seeing a Buy It Now just moments after it listed. Such was the case with this dandy Stromberg-Carlson 1243. The Buy It Now was $10 and so was the shipping… sold! So what did my $20 get me? A pretty decent phone, actually. The alloy body is missing paint in the usual places, but the bakelite handset is free from damage (although the receiver cap is pretty pitted), the dial turns and returns as it should, and all the internals are present. I can’t comment on functionality yet, as I’ve yet to replace the well-worn line cord.
My first Stromberg-Carlson. I’ve gotten a fair amount of experience with 302’s, and even North Electric Galion’s, but this one seems different. I know next to nothing about S-C, except that they were owned by General Dynamics for a few years, 
the company my father put in close to forty years with. And to think, I thought all they made were bombers and fighter planes! The 1243 is sometimes dismissed as a 302 clone, but it’s nothing of the sort. There are visual similarities to be sure, as they didn’t want to stray too far from the Bell “look”. The public perception of the Bell System was one of quality, and the independents felt, rightly so, that too great a deviation in looks could be perceived negatively. But Stromberg-Carlson kept a distinctive style, “chopping off” the corners and sculpting a handset that transforms the phone into something almost art-nouveau in appearance.
I’ll need to break down the phone further before I can detail this feature, but the bottom has a cool-looking plastic window, vaguely like the canopy of a WWII fighter. (I’ve just found the attraction General Dynamics had for the company!) I’m not sure I get the significance of this plastic bubble, but it is certainly a unique feature. 
Although I’m baffled as to the purpose it could serve, I doubt it would be there without a good reason. Could it be that I wasn’t meant to understand? The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that it represents one of those technology jumps that could only have been achieved via extraterrestrial intervention. Just a theory. Popping the top on a 1243 reveals a very modern-looking network and, what’s this… something that looks like an ancient parchment clipped along side it. With the utmost care, like an Egyptologist handling ancient papyrus, I remove the delicate browned paper. It’s a wiring diagram. (scanned and available here in two sizes, large and huge) This is great, the phone came with a road map! I may not know where I’m going, but now I know how to get there.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Hi Mark,
I am new to collecting and repairing old telephones. I just bought my first old phone, a Stromberg Carlson 1243. It came to me with a handset that didn’t look quite like the one in on-line photos of other 1243s. A close inspection reveals that I have bought a 1243 with a Western Electric F1 handset. My question is, What kind of problems, if any, might this be likely to present? Thanks, Michael
[Hey Michael,
I'm aware of no issues as far as functionality goes (someone chime in if I'm wrong), but you may want to keep your eyes open for an original S-C handset, if for no other reason than to restore its distinctive look. You might find one of them on eBay, and could even come across a good handset on an otherwise damaged or incomplete 1243. Good luck! - Mark]
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Mark,
I just came across a 1243 that belonged to my grandfather. I would like to clean it up and restore it to display in my office, next to an old typewriter of his. I don’t necessarily need it to work, but I want it to look good. It is scratched all over and has some paint droppings on it as well. Any suggestions as to the best way to clean it up? If you know of any websites that would help, that would be great.
[I hesitate to make suggestions regarding a family treasure, but here goes: I'm assuming you don't want to repaint, but rather refurbish the existing finish. First I'd try some automotive polishing compound. Hopefully that will have sufficient grit to remove the paint drips and the scratches. Once the drips are off, shine it up with an automotive wax, the type that's often called a cleaner/wax. There's no "magic bullet" to doing this job, and you should be prepared for the possibility of messing up the finish, which would make repainting necessary. If you'd like to discuss this further shoot me an e-mail! -Mark]
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Hi Mark,
I recently purchased a SC 1243, working phone. I would like to use this phone in my home, but noticed a crackeling noise when I use it. I was thinking about replacing the phone cord, as a friend suggested this might be the problem. What do you think? Do you know of any good place online that sells repro cords for this model?
Thanks - Rachel
June 11th, 2009 at 5:14 am
Hello,
I have a SC 1243 that I bought on ebay for a movie prop several years ago. As an avid antiques collector, however, I decided to keep it for myself and try and refurbish it and set it to working order. In fact, it prompted me to start looking for and collecting vintage phones and other electronics. In my searches for answers and items I have stumbled upon your site. I too was intrigued by the window in the bottom. I am also trying to figure out what the spring-loaded lever under the receiver cradle with the “Stromberg-Carlson” name imprinted on it is for. It doesn’t seem to be directly connected to anything electronic when looking at the inside, although it is directly on top of the hook-switch assembly. Any ideas? I have read that this model was the first telephone with a proper network circuit, beating WE. I don’t really know anything about the nitty gritty techno-electrical babel here or even what a network circuit is, but I wonder if it has something to do with that.
Thanks
Janson
June 11th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Hi Janson, the handle is simply called a “lift” and serves only that purpose. It was just another type of design. I checked with a couple phone collector friends and each said the same thing about the lift. It has no other purpose. Thanks for posting a note on the blog! Check out the forum (see the link on the right hand side-bar of the main page) and join in on the conversation about Classic Rotary Phones!
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am
Hi All,
I’m new to this site, and I think I like it.
Finally something I have the answer to!!
Sometime around or during WWII, Western Electric/The Bell System ran out of 302s, so they bought 1243s from Stromberg-Carlson. When they needed repair, they used “Genuine Bell” parts, which would extlain Michael’s F1 handset on a 1243, and my 1243 haveing a WE #5 dial when I bought it.
Hope this info helps,
Keith