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Western Electric BELL System TELEPHONE Push Button Yellow

Started by Contempra, December 25, 2014, 06:12:23 PM

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Quote from: Contempra on December 25, 2014, 06:12:23 PM
This is a nice yellow phone, and not too expensive .

Yes, it is pleasant looking but the $20 shipping added to the $39 BIN makes it a phone on the high side. Free shipping would have been better.

Also, the seller states the phone is "Used" and "Good used condition - No cracks or chips - Some light scratches . . . " which is all well and good. However, the seller does not note the modification used to run the line cord out of the bottom left of the phone and the missing sliding modular connector, the big empty hole in the back.

Someone chipped out that line cord hole. Still a nice phone but slightly not original.

Phonesrfun

Also, notice the hard-wired handset cord going into what was a modular handset.  A fairly common thing, but suggests it was changed out at some time.  I don't know if phone company installers ever did that, but I suspect they might have.
-Bill G

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Quote from: Phonesrfun on December 25, 2014, 09:17:41 PM
Also, notice the hard-wired handset cord going into what was a modular handset.  A fairly common thing, but suggests it was changed out at some time.

Good eyes on that catch. Was right in front of me but I didn't see it while concentrating on the line cord nibble hole.

So, being a hardwired handset cord, does that mean the handset could have been changed out sometime after the phone was built or was this new style handset married to an old style base by WE when built in 11-72? IIRC, modular began showing up in phones about 1972.

jsowers

A 1972 original would have "Operator" on the touchpad on the zero button. This one has OPER, which means it's from about 1974 or later. So this is a refurb, and that chipped-out hole makes it pretty much worthless to a collector except for parts.
Jonathan

ESalter

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't think that hole is chipped out.  There's a notch in the metal base/wall plate at that location, and I believe there's some sort of strain relief at that location for a cord as well.  I have several early (hardwired) 2554s, I'll look at them later today and see if they have those small mouse holes or not.  Also, one of this era wouldn't have the modular slide wall connector on the back, it would have been mounted to the wall and hardwired(either through the hole in the back or the mouse hole in the bottom.  They made modular adapter back plates for these just like they did for Trimlines and 554s.

---Eric

paul-f

Quote from: ESalter on December 26, 2014, 12:51:38 PM

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't think that hole is chipped out.  There's a notch in the metal base/wall plate at that location, and I believe there's some sort of strain relief at that location for a cord as well. 


Right, Eric.

Hardwired 1500- and 2500-type wall sets had two notches for cords -- handset in the center and phone line on the left.  As you pointed out, the installer needed the flexibility of routing the wiring out the back, if fished through the wall, or out the bottom if run down the surface of the wall to the baseboard.  It wouldn't do to have housings notched in the field.

The hole on the yellow set needs a bit of tidying up.  It was designed and sized for the more rigid inside wiring, rather than later modular cord stock.

It's fairly common to find both wall and desk sets that were originally hardwired with a modular handset handle.  Probably refurbed after hardwired plastics were no longer available.
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