Cheap Heemaf in the USA

[tubaman]

These aren't rare in Europe but probably don't come up very often in the US.
This one looks pretty decent and is very cheap.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PTT-Black-table-top-telephone-made-in-Holland-rotary/254052155341

vintage black dial desk telephone, PTT, made in Holland, 10-65, NO.s on phone NEEMAF, 34g 125, 6 w- x -8d -x-5h ,looks to be in very good condition, no cracks, very heavy might need a little cleaning, dial turns freely, sold as is, no returns,buyer pays all shipping and handling costs.

If you do buy make sure to ask that they pack it really well as the Bakelite on these is pretty fragile.

[rdelius]

the 3 1950s-60s bakelite Dutch sets are common in the US because Radio Shack imported thousends of them in the 1970s. The Standard-PTT sets are harder to find. The Bakelite fingerwheels are a problem to find intact

[tubaman]

the 3 1950s-60s bakelite Dutch sets are common in the US because Radio Shack imported thousends of them in the 1970s. The Standard-PTT sets are harder to find. The Bakelite fingerwheels are a problem to find intact

Thanks for that info.
So do I gather this is one of the harder to find ones?

[rdelius]

I put the Heemaf in the center.The Ericsson-Ruen is the most common.At the time Radio Shack sold these, they were not legal to connect to your telephone line- esp Bell lines. They had instructions for connection and you had to buy a 4 prong connector.I cannot remember the price they sold for.

[LarryInMichigan]

These are not entirely uncommon in the USA, but of the three Dutch PTT models, this one is the least common and the most "exotic" looking.  The asking price for this one is quite reasonable IMO.  I might buy it if I didn't already have a very nice one in my unwieldy collection.

Larry

[AL_as_needed]

If these phones were not legal on the greater Bell system, how were they advertised/sold without getting too much flack from Bell?

It is interesting to see that even then, people were boot-legging and the equivalent of "jail-breaking" devices to get something over on big brother.

[rdelius]

They were sold for Private use such as intercoms.Nothing illegal about owning a telephone but most telephone companies esp Bell had rules about anything that connected to your telephone line such as answering machines  or attached to your telephone set such as penholders of sanitary mouthpieces.The Carterphone decision in the late 60s started changing things .You had to use a telephone co interface to isolate your device (sometimes callad a Beeper) on answering machines

[Doug Rose]

I found two I have that have not been cleaned up or made to work. I was surprised at the difference in them. These are a very cool design and different from the other PTT phones which I don't care for as much....Doug