What is a 593, and who made mine?

[MaximRecoil]

I have a 593 wall phone (looks like a 554), but it doesn't say Western Electric anywhere on it (except for the housing which I doubt is original to the phone). In fact, I can't find any indication of who manufactured it.

[TelePlay]

Scroll down to the 593 at this link: http://www.paul-f.com/we500typ.htm

"Wall set sold to independents without a ringer, marked "Western Electric"  "


or go directly to photos at: http://www.paul-f.com/we591.htm

Someone else can speak to the "W".

[MaximRecoil]

So Western Electric made my phone, despite it not being marked with "Western Electric" anywhere? Well, like I said, it has a housing that is marked "Western Electric", but it is a soft plastic housing from 1957, and since the dates on the phone itself seem to be from 1960 (1968 for the dial), I doubt the housing is original to the phone.

[twocvbloke]

Looking at some of the dates, they appear to be the standard Northern Electric date markings (no month, just the year, and the network stating "Patented 1954"), all signs it's originally from Canada...

[Jester]

The hash marks next to the date indicate the yearly quarter the part was made in.  Twocvbloke is correct-- this is a typical marking for NE

[poplar1]

The dial is marked something-G which means the dial is Kellogg

[MaximRecoil]

Interesting. Did Northern Electric do the same thing as Western Electric with the 554 vs. 593 naming, or were all of their 554-type phones marked 593?

This phone does in fact have a 228 (NE228A4) modular backplate (which I removed for the picture to show its actual backplate), dated '79, and marked Northern Telecom, Made in Canada.

Back in 2000 (before I had a PC, much less the internet) I decided I wanted a wall phone like the one we had on our wall when I was a kid. I didn't even know what they were called, but I went to the library to use their internet and tried to find out what I could. The only markings I remembered from the phone we had when I was a kid was that it said it was property of the phone company and not for sale. So I managed to find out that what I was looking for was a Western Electric Model 554, and I found a site that sold these. I wrote down their phone number and went home to give them a call. I told the guy on the phone that I wanted a black Western Electric Model 554 with a clear plastic dial and fully modular, and it had to say "Bell System Property Not For Sale" on it, because that's what I remember being in our kitchen when I was a kid. The guy said that they used to refurbish these phones for the phone company.

So this is what they cobbled together to fill the order I guess; a Northern Electric 593 with a modularized soft plastic 1957 Western Electric housing (and a Kellogg dial apparently), and a modularized handset that had been sanded/buffed/polished so hard/ineptly that the ridges along the sides of it were completely smoothed/rounded off. And as a "bonus", as a result of their "deft" use of a notching tool on the soft plastic WE housing, a crack developed in the corner of the notch which I fixed with super glue years ago.

I didn't suspect anything until recently (due to what I've learned here on this forum); at the time I noted that it said "Western Electric" and "Bell System Property Not For Sale" on it like I wanted, and I simply hung it on the wall and used it for years. I'm kind of annoyed now though; but it has been 12 years and I can't even remember the name of the place I got it from anyway. Plus I recently replaced it with a real Western Electric 554 with a natively modular housing and handset (and never been sanded/buffed/polished either), so now I truly have the same type of phone on the kitchen wall as was here when I was a kid.

[Jester]

The 591/593 were basically the same phone as the 500/554 models, but were made for purchase and use for independent telcos.  On American sets, this would mean that "Bell System" was not anywhere on the case or handset-- just Western Electric.  This was not an issue in Canada, as Northern Electric had been devested from Bell by this time.  This model also didn't have a ringer installed, because most independents used selective partyline ringing, which Western/Northern Electric did not use or make.  I see by your photo that a standard line ringer has been installed in yours, so all is good.

[G-Man]

These instruments were identical to other comparable 500-sets with the exception they were shipped without ringers since Western Electric/Northern Electric had stopped manufacturing frequency ringers by the time these sets were manufactured.

The W denotes "without Bell markings" and the R in the catalog description
indicates a retractile handset cord.

Northern Electric was owned by Bell Canada when your instrument was
manufactured, hence the use of the W in the model number for instruments
that were intended for sale outside of the Bell System.

Of course the same was applicable for Western Electric and their relationship with the Bell System.

                      Western Electric
           No. 500 Wall Type (Con't)

                 Harmonic Ringing Service

      Nos. 593BRW-3 (Black) and 593BRW-50 (Ivory) telephone
  sets are used on common battery selective party lines using
  a harmonic ringing system. Same as No. 554BRW-3 set except
  ringer is not furnished and they are equipped with No. H4BH-3
   (Black)  or  H4BH-50   (Ivory)   retractile   cords.   Replace No.
  252   type   telephone   sets.   For   manual   service,   necessary   to
  substitute  No.   95B-3   (Black)   or  95B-50   (Ivory)   apparatus
  blanks. This telephone set replaces No. 252 type.

       Harmonic Ringing Service

     Nos. 591ARW-3 (manual) and 591BRW-3 (dial) telephone
   sets are used on selective party lines using harmonic ringing
   system. Components are same as 500CRW-3 (manual) and
   500 DRW-3 (dials sets except ringer not furnished. Includes
   42A-9 connecting block furnished as a loose part.

       No. 591BRW-3 available with housing assembly and hand-
set in colors. Includes components indicated when furnished
in color.