North Electric 500 Sets, black and color

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Great 541, Doug! I, too, love the way the fingerwheel is flush with the bezel!

Bill:

Ironically, the handset itself is probably by far the least valuable part of that phone. Color 541s are extremely difficult to find, and many of the more elite collectors have trouble finding even one. The red handset cord is probably an early WE straight cord found on a WE 500, and was most likely originally attached to the handset. That alone is an exceedingly rare feature found on some early 1955-1956 color 500s.

[Doug Rose]

Thx Christian....it is a neat phone


Bill the red 541 is amazing, even with a WE handset....great phone!....Doug

[skyrider]

Thanks for all your comments, no wonder I knew so little about the North 541's. I will send more pictures of the insides and check the straight handset cord. We are in Dayton, Tennessee to see the eclipse so I will not be back home until Tuesday night or Wednesday. I had seen a gray North 541 on eBay listed for $925.00 but had no idea what the value would be. You never know what you will find, that what makes it fun.


Bill Compton

[skyrider]

We're back from viewing the eclipse so I,ll post some more photos of the red North 541. The red handset cord is a H4BG III 56 the mounting cord has no markings.

[AL_as_needed]

Is that the original number card and overlay? Nice touch either way. While the resecced finger wheel is a slick design detail, I can see that being a difficult area to clean out. With the AC on, my black WE 500s seem to be showing a lot of dust.

[LarryInMichigan]

One frequent problem with those North dials is that the soft plastic bezel shrinks over time, and the finger wheel can no longer turn freely within it.

Larry

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I have what was an Ivory North 541 wall set. I still have the dial, handset, and chassis, but the housing is missing. It came from a collection that was in a fire, so the bezel is slightly warped at the top and the fingerwheel has broken pieces. Somehow, the handset and cord are in great shape.

I wonder if it would be better to sell each individual part, sell them as a whole, or wait for the correct Ivory housing to come along (probably impossible to find) and sell it as a whole phone. I'd love to keep it, but I'm trying to limit my collection to mainly WE phones.

[LarryInMichigan]

Those colored soft plastic plastic North finger wheels are very fragile.  Most of the ones I have seen were cracked or missing chunks.  On mine, I carefully cleaned the dirt out of the cracks and then introduced tiny drops of super glue to hold the sides together.  I have a nice ivory 541, but I wouldn't mind finding other colors for cheap.

Larry

[skyrider]

I don't know if the number card is original or not, but it is very different from most dial cards. The dial does stick but will return if you pull it. I'm afraid to be too rough in case it could break. I will be on the lookout for a red North Electric handset, wish me luck.


Bill Compton

[LarryInMichigan]

I will be on the lookout for a red North Electric handset, wish me luck.
Bill Compton

You will need plenty of it.  A red North soft plastic handset is about as rare as they come.  If someone does have one, they will probably want a big price for it.  You would probably be best off painting a black bakelite one red to match the shell.  The bakelite and colored plastic handsets are the same shape.

Larry