News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Newer 500 phones

Started by phoneguy06, September 06, 2008, 05:12:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

phoneguy06

I realise that for many collectors the words "newer" and "500" in the same sentence usually equal "I don't want it". By "newer" I mean very new, as in very late 80s up until the end of 500 production in 2006. I recently bought a NOS black hardwired ITT manufactured in July of 1989 form a telecomm supplier. It fascinates me that a full 40 years after the introduction of the 500, a hardwired black phone could still be purchased. There are many differences "under the hood", but nonetheless it's still a black rotary desk phone. I also own a 1991 500, and the components in that phone are a different ball of wax altogether. The receiver element is plastic and made in China, and the transmitter element no longer features a protective moisture barrier behind its openings. The ringer is Cortelco's 1990 re-design which allows for a REN of .5, but replaces the metal clapper with an all-plastic magnet-driven assembly prone to breakage. The positive about it is that it can actually be completely shut off if desired. I'm interested in these new phones because of their differences and not because of their quality, which I know is significantly lower than much older 500s. Any thoughts?

Mark Stevens

I admire your courage, phoneguy06...I would never admitted such!   ;D  Just kidding with you.  Actually, believe I know just what your talking about. There's all this history of the 500's that is studied by so many people, but you've taken an interest in the facet of it that others ignore...hence its appeal.  Am I close?
You clearly know more about that era than anyone I've come across.  Do you have a collection of these late phones?

McHeath

I too confess to having an interest in these late model phones.  Something truly amazing about being able to buy a consumer object first introduced when Truman was president that still, externally, looks the same.  I've pulled a few of these phones apart, including one made in 2002, and for all the differences what's most surprising is how much is the same.  Still wires going all over the place to familiar terminals like "K" and "BK".  Still the same type of microphone and a similar receiver.  The last of the Cortelco's have a volume control in the handset, it's pretty clever in how they made it fit and work.  Still have a "network", but it's a far cry from a 425A, but it still has one, that's unique.  You would expect that the internals would have been microchipped, and that the bell ringer, albeit the cheap 1990 redesign, would be an electronic device.  But it's not, if you open one up it still looks a heckuva lot like a golden oldie, even the bottom plate of the chassis is the exact same stamped outline.  The microphones of the late model still say "ITT" on them, but most of it has been blocked out, but you can still read it.  They do have a moisture barrier on the last of the last phones, it's blue and transparent.  No date codes of any sort on anything except the very bottom, where there is a sticker which tells the date made, various regulatory details and the inspector.  Also a Made in USA sticker is on the bottom, and molded into the handset where it used to say "Bell property etc".  Cortelco, aka Kellogg once upon a time, is still making the 2500 which I've also pulled apart recent models of, they are still essentially the same phone as the original, just everything cheaper and lighter.  That there is still a market for 1964 technology is befuddling, I'm guessing that business is a lot of their market.  My school site recently bought Cortelco 2500s and 2554s for all the classrooms citing their durability.  While they pale next to a solid Western Electric phone of 40 years ago, they are probably far more durable than just about anything else made today. 

And AT and T still offers a version of the Trimline that is almost an exact duplicate of the original, externally at least.  (Dialpad looks different of course) Sure it's made by V-tech in China, but it's also interesting to me that there still is a market for the Trimline of 1965.  My mom has used her 1977 model 2554 since it was new and probably will until she expires, and frankly it does the job quite well.  Our local Rite Aid has a section of "Northwestern Bell Phones" using the old post 68' Bell logo, claiming that the phones have "Legendary BELL quality".  Uh, maybe not as they are made in China, but the fact that a segment of the population in 2008 remembers this fact and still wants their phones to have cords and say "BELL" on them is evidence of how deep that cultural memory of telephone quality goes. 

Mark Stevens

I'm one of the many that's never paid the slightest attention to the "clones", but my curiosity has been piqued by this message thread. My other collecting interest, ceramic lamps from the '50s, is full of history regarding companies who declined, changed hands, and whose products morphed into odd, but familiar, versions of the originals. This is good stuff!  It would be interesting to see, in this forum or elsewhere, a side-by-side comparison (photos) of the original 500 compared to the later versions and copies.

McHeath

I don't have access to a late model 500 anymore, but I do have a recent build 2500.  I'll try to get some photos on the internals to post placed next to an early 500.

HELLO CENTRAL

http://members.dslextreme.com/~zuperdee/telephones/

I found this page looking for info about a 1970s Stromberg Carlson 500 I saw at a thrift shop today.  Didn't buy it.  It was ten dollars.  Will be there again, and if it is still there I will.

Walt S. :-[
HELLO CENTRAL.

McHeath

Found this company still selling a late model Cortelco 554.

http://www.phonemerchants.com/itstanwalcor3.html

Since Cortelco officially stopped production of the rotary models on Jan 1, 2007 these 554s may be left over final year production. 

Frill free phones also seems to have some of these phones. 

Mark Stevens


Quote from: McHeath on September 08, 2008, 11:45:03 PM
Since Cortelco officially stopped production of the rotary models on Jan 1, 2007 these 554s may be left over final year production.
I doubt that many people would see it this way, but those are probably future collector's items. It's just too bad that they want the price of eight vintage phones!  :-\

phoneguy06

So here are some pictures of a 1991 Cortelco 500. Interesting that by 2002 they had changed the label to read "Assembled in USA with Pride" as that's really what this one ought to say as well, because it too contains the same Asian parts.

phoneguy06

Forgot a label closeup! Here it is!

Mark Stevens

#10
Great photos... thanks phoneguy06!  It's actually a nice-looking phone, although I don't have a lot of confidence in the ringer.  Funny how Made in USA became Assembled in USA.  It's even common now days to see Designed in USA:-\

HELLO CENTRAL

 :o I remember, many years ago my father was so happy he'd found something USA.  Except all the parts were made elsewhere.

Yes, I did return to the thrift shop and purchased the Stromberg Carlson.  It's Beige.  I also discovered I have a black wall mode Il think it's a 500? 
HELLO CENTRAL.

McHeath

Stromberg Carlson morped into Comdial if memory serves.  Curious how after the Bell system was pulled apart on Jan 1, 1984 all the old telecom companies imploded and exploded.  I've got a 1987 Comdial phone that is similar internally to the Cortelco I photo essayed, but still has a more traditional ringer, albeit lots of plastic.

phoneguy06

Here are some images of a NOS 1989 hardwired Cortelco 500 I bought from a telecomm suppler. While it came in its original box along with its wiring schematic and a fresh number card, unfortunately it was missing its warranty card and instruction manual. There was no crazing whatsoever on the handset or the cradle, so I'm still sure it was unused. I still haven't been able to figure out how to get the FedEX shipping label off the front of the box without wrecking the box.

I find it interesting that 40 years after the introduction of the 500, it was still possible to buy one that was hardwired, even if the handset cord is the newer "flat-profile" type as opposed to the older, thicker type. The ringer is different as well, both in that the clapper, while still metal, is not brass, and in the fact that intstead of having the right gong rotate to control volume, there is a small metal prong that presses against the clapper to varing degrees, and which does not allow it to strike the gongs at all when set to the lowest position. Lastly, this phone is interesting because it still features a metal receiver element and a transmitter element with the traditional black moisture barrier. Enjoy the photos, unfortunately the phone was coated in cardboard dust when I took them!

phoneguy06

And more!