Two Line....10 button......

[John S]

Here are 2 phones I found over the weekend in Chicago.  I really like the 2 line 10 button phone.  Both phones will need some TLC.  I picked up the phones for 3 bucks each.  I am going to try to bring the blue one back to life.  It will be a project, but fun......

John

[foots]

  Wow John, not bad at all for $3! I wonder what a 2 line, 10 button one would bring on ebay?
  I've been looking for a plain old hardwired WE 2500 for a while and haven't found squat and y'all northern folds keep popping up with 10 button phones left and right, and for super cheap at that   

[Dennis Markham]

John, you seem to be in a hot-bed of old phones over there in the Windy City.  It's only a 5 hour drive from here.  Hmmmmmmm.........

[Dan/Panther]

If Chicago is a hot bed of vintage phones, I live at the South Pole.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

John sure seems to get his share.  What's he had now, a prototype, a couple of Mahogany 500's (one being a two-line) and how the 10-buttons.  Sounds like a hot-bed to me.  Dan you can stop there in Chicago on your way to the BBQ at my place.

[bwanna]

very nice.  i HAVE been thinking about going to chicago

ps. briny is going to hate you.

[jsowers]

It was explained to me by a phone collecting buddy who knew another collector who lived in Chicago back then that Illinois Bell had something called the "Family Plan" during the late 60s-early 70s and that consisted of a line for the kids and a line for the adults and all the phones in the house were changed to two-line phones. It was a promotion to sell second lines to families. So there may have been more than the average of two-line phones installed in Chicago and vicinity for that very reason.

But out in the rest of the country, they are rare as a heat wave in Michigan.

Anyone else ever heard of the "Family Plan?" All we ever had when I was growing up was a party line AE40, so two private lines in 1967 was quite a luxury.

Here's a link to a black 1555B that sold not long ago...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280400750123

[McHeath]

3 dollars, what's with all you folks finding cool phones for 3 dollars??!!

I guess if I ever relocate to another part of the USA the availability of old phones should be taken into consideration.  Don't bother coming to California to find an old phone.  We got unemployed folks in large numbers however, sadly, but not many old phones. 

[John S]

I go to Chicago, about 2-3 times a month.....I am in lower MI, so its not a bad drive.  I have a friend who lives there, so we make a whole day out of estate sales, garage sales, and Antiques shops.  Its a great way to spend the day. There are times when I come home with nothing...and times where I come with some nice phones....The blue 2 line was in the garage, still in use....The owner said, I could have it, if I took it down.  Most people will not let you have it, if it is still  in use, and hardwired into the house....I think I will keep the blue one for myself.....for my collection......

John

[bwanna]

can't believe they sold it off the wall for only 3bucks. they can't even buy a cheapo replacement for that price.

hey, another michigan member!

[John S]

COOL...

West Michigan here.......close to the lake.......

[bwanna]

we might have claim to "state w/most members", now. edging out california.

i live in a town known as "the gateway to the thumb".

michigan,  where you point to your hand to show where you live

[jiggerman]

I wish I could find a ten-button phone but I've never seen one up here in Quebec. The nuns are having a huge flea market at the monastery this weekend, maybe I'll find something interesting. Jiggerman

[McHeath]

They let you pluck it off the wall for 3 dollars?!  Like bwanna said they won't even be able to buy a cheap Wal-Mart replacement for that amount, what's up with that?

And why don't I live near these people?