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Clear Telephones (by Jim S. and others)

Started by Jim Stettler, December 29, 2009, 12:06:36 AM

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Jim Stettler

Quote from: Duffy on September 20, 2020, 01:44:50 PM
Seen this on Facebook.

German W48 Clear
You should get it. I already have one .
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

countryman

Is there anything known who made them, and how they came across the pond?

.....



Jim Stettler

You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.


.....

Jim

These two pictures were sent to me with the possibility of buying these phones
The rotary looks to be an AE, but I'm not sure about the touch tone.
Is it a Western or ITT, I don't think it's a Northern. All thou these phones are in Canada.

I'm going to ask for more pictures and information on them.

What do you think?

rdelius

The first set is a AE type 80. It has a older chassis. I think the 2nd set might be part  WE but the face plate and possibly the touch pad might be replaced

HarrySmith

Agreed. More pictures would be helpful in making a definite ID.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Jim Stettler

#114
Quote from: Duffy on September 21, 2020, 08:10:04 AM
Jim

Is it a Western or ITT, I don't think it's a Northern. All thou these phones are in Canada.
Quote from: Duffy on September 21, 2020, 08:10:04 AM
Jim


The rotary looks to be an AE, but I'm not sure about the touch tone.
Is it a Western or ITT, I don't think it's a Northern. All thou these phones are in Canada.

What do you think?


What do you think?
the first appears to be an ae80. It looks like the handset is a different age or different plastic or both. My guess is that it is a different plastic.
Possibly sample plastic on the handset and/or housing.
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ae did make some water-white clear sets on purpose, however most sets seem to be yellowed or brownish tint. the yellowed and brown tint I think were sample plastics.
the water-white is on an ae 70's style buttset. this set was made at the request of an employee that did school talks, his buttset was popular so he requested a clear one to take to the schools for the the talks.
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My guess on the 2500 is most likely we.
the only clear nt 2500's I have seen are the smoke tint like the one you own.
I have only seen 1 itt marked itt . it is yellowed.

all the others are itt/cortelco and are non-yellowed clear, they came in full clear or novelty clear with painted parts.
the itt/cortelco's have a number molded inside the housing. (above the touchpad)
it is a 5-6 digit number, whenever I have compared numbers on the itt/cortelco sets, the number has been the same. I don't have one out to check the number.

I think my itt branded set was made with sample plastic, I don't think it has the molded number. If this set is branded itt, buy it.
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the 2500 set is hardwired, which is harder to find. Most of the clear we 2500 sets were used in displays at phone center stores. Many of the hardwire housings got notched (and cracked) at the phone stores. these are probably 1972 or 1975
these ended up in the hands of phone center employees after the break-up.(along with clear trimlines and princess phones)most of the phone center trimlines are sq. button.
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Most  of the we hardwire 2500 sets have a clear ribbed faceplate,

You can take a back-painted ribbed face plate and strip the paint off ( I did it  with brake fluid and a small parts brush). I used a glass pie tin and very little brake fluid, checking it constantly and removing paint as soon as it was loose.

Good luck , I hope you get them.
Jim

btw, I have heard there were unmarked clear housing for 500 and 2500 sets. I don't know if these yellowed or stayed clear

Years ago there was an ebay seller that had a bunch of clear we 2500 housings that they made into phones, however the housings were mod
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

.....

The handset colour being different than that of the body did concern me. But when I looked at the picture of my clear one off the red clear AE 80 it's not yellowed. I think that the handsets are made with a different plastic.

I also attached a picture of the AE clear handset and Ray Kotke's.
Ray's is the bottom one.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Duffy on September 21, 2020, 06:59:33 PM
The handset colour being different than that of the body did concern me.
It never bothers me . Just another challenge to find a matching parts for both pieces.
mis-matched means that it was assembled by someone other than factory (in my mind). It makes me lean towards sample plastic being used.

the 2500 set may have different date stamps between the housing and handset. that is not very unusual if the phones are made from pieces/parts.
Get them if you can, I am interested in them if you aren't, we can figure out a win-win  trade.
Jim

Mis-match parts are common on back-door swirl sets as well.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

.....

There's a couple other issues, but not deal breakers. The AE looks to have a crack on the lower front left of the body.
The Touch Tone has a loose screw. Either it's stripped or just loose.

.....

I spoke to the owner yesterday and he is going to take pictures from all angles of both phones. He also said he had another clear that he would sent pictures of as well.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Duffy on September 22, 2020, 05:25:59 AM
There's a couple other issues, but not deal breakers. The AE looks to have a crack on the lower front left of the body.
The Touch Tone has a loose screw. Either it's stripped or just loose.
I saw the crack and the screw.
the crack is probably internal, Clear shows abuse much easier than color sets.
the screw looks like a replacement to me, the finish appears wrong, possibly the wrong size,  the original  base screws are hard to lose,
  I wonder if the phone was 'created' with clear plastics and a spare red phone, that was missing a base screw.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.