Estate Sale Whim Purchase westeren electric bronze d1 phone novice help!!!!

[adamjs07]

I picked up this phone at an estate sale just today because it looked neat and vintage and know they can be valuable.  Ive been googling images and it looks like a d1 with an F? talking piece. But the gold/copper color also throws me off. Oh yea, its a four prong plug so I dont know if it works or not. Can anyone guide me on what I purchased? Thanks in advance!

[baldopeacock]

I think you may have found a hard-to-find one.   Hard to say just looking at the pics, but the pics suggest that this could be one of the factory-painted colors like Old Brass, Statuary Bronze or Dark Gold.

Paul F's website has a wealth of info.

http://www.paul-f.com/color.htm

Someone else with a lot more knowledge than mine is going to have better info, I'm sure.   Meanwhile, I think you could have found a winner.

[poplar1]

This is a Western Electric D1 with WE handset, Automatic Electric dial, and imported 4-prong plug. These were sold to the public in the 60s-70s by retailers such as Metropolitan Teletronics in New York City. The cords and paint job are probably not Western Electric.

[Dennis Markham]

Looks like the handset is an F1W?  That would make sense considering the A.E. Dial.  Western Electric made handsets marked F1W for sale to non-Bell Telephone companies.  The two (handset and dial) have probably been together for a long time.

By the way, welcome to the Forum!

[adamjs07]

thanks! I couldn't believe how solid it felt when i picked it up. This patina was a sell for me too.

[poplar1]

Can you furnish some photos of the inside?

If there are only two wires connected to the handset, and two wires used for the line cord, this would be another indication that this was a retailer set and not wired by a phone company.

From 1941 to 1955, 202s were no longer available in colors other than black except by special order*. And the handsets on color 202s would have been painted over brown Bakelite without grooves, except after 1955 for Imperials and Continentals. (I don't think this was one of the Continental colors in any case.)

I don't think AE was making clear plastic finger wheels in 1940 or earlier; this dial--or at least the finger wheel--is much later.

*C30.111, Issue 4, 1-2-41

[adamjs07]

I would take pictures of the inside but it is covered in felt. Does it harm the phones value or look if i take it off?

[poplar1]

Normally, the felt should stay with the baseplate when you loosen the two screws; however, if you don't feel comfortable doing this, then you could also just unscrew the transmitter cap and see how many wires from the handset cord are connected (2 or 3), or open the 4-prong plug and see how many wires are connected there (2, 3, or 4)...if you want to.

Of course, this doesn't prove that this isn't original Western Electric paint, just that in its last rebuild it was wired to be used alone rather than with a bell box/subset on the wall.

[adamjs07]

Here is what I found.

[TelePlay]

poplar1,

I'm curious, what does the A-7 stamped into the base metal right next to the III-36 base date mean?

[poplar1]

So it is definitely hotwired so that it can be used without a subset...i.e., not original . The black wire for the handset appears to be from an installer's test set.

The dial is an older AE (Automatic Electric) that they added the plastic finger wheel to. That dial originally would have had a metal finger wheel painted or chrome-plated.

A-7: I don't know if there is any particular logic to the characters chosen, but codes like this are usually found inside D-1 handset mountings.

[adamjs07]

well that stinks to hear it isn't original. Is there any value to this phone? or did I lose on my $40 I spent on it?

[poplar1]

In my opinion, it's still worth about $60. At some point you may want to invest in some new cloth cords and/or a Western Electric dial, but that's up to you.

[poplar1]

poplar1,

I'm curious, what does the A-7 stamped into the base metal right next to the III-36 base date mean?

This was part of the molding process and has nothing to do with the color of the phone.

[Sargeguy]

I see you have it up for sale: 

1936 western electric D1 202 w/ F1W statuary bronzed pre-war antique phone