Lightning strikes again! WE Mahogany 500, nearly date matching 11-17-56.

[Russ Kirk]

Lightning strikes again! 

I was in a local antique store yesterday with my wife.  I see a brown 500 sitting on a table.  I'm thinking to myself, "Oh another ITT brown phone, but I have to check it anyway."  I pick up the receiver and look; I was shocked.  It is a Western Electric G3!  I look at the bottom expecting to see the newer gold/silver tone finish; I was shocked again to see the matte black finish and the 11-56 date.   

My wife walks over and sees my excitement. I have her hold the base as I'm taking the receiver apart. Elements 11-56, transmitter cap 10-56, receiver cap 11-56. I have her hold the receiver and open the base, cover 11-17-56, all parts inside 11-56.  She asks me, "How much is it?" I tell her, "$43.99 and it's probably worth 8 to 10 times that amount. This is not brown, it is date matching Mahogany 500 and one of the top 2-3 rarest Western Electric 500 phone colors."  I put the phone back together and holding it close to my chest, quickly walked to the front counter. Another great antique store find and time to do more shopping.

There are couple small marks in the case and it is missing the mounting cord (maybe one was never installed), but other than that it looks like it has spent its entire life sitting on a shelf. I wish it still had the dial card; maybe I will make/buy a "phone number to nowhere" dial card.

[Russ Kirk]

more photos...

[Pourme]

Congratulations!

Isn't that THE best way to find a keeper like that? No competition...no shipping!

Truly a red letter day for you and a ray of hope for the rest of us who spend too much of our time walking through these dusty shops! I'm happy for you!

Benny

[HarrySmith]

COOL! Great find, Congrats!

[Doug Rose]

Very nice Russ....it is a beauty.....Doug

[paul-f]

Well done, Russ.

It's days like that that keep us coming back!

[Jim Stettler]

Find of the month material for sure.
Jim S.

[Pourme]

Find of the month material for sure.
Jim S.

For sure....I'd vote for it!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Fantastic find!

There is nothing on Earth that compares to the feeling you get when you find a rare phone locally, especially one hiding in sheep's clothing like this example.

It's definitely a FOtM contender to me.

[tubaman]

It's beautiful!
There's something special about that lovely deep rich mahogany colour.
Well done.

[FABphones]

It's beautiful!
There's something special about that lovely deep rich mahogany colour.
Well done.

This. Very nice find. 

[SunriseEarth]

What a beauty!   Definitely a find of the month!

[19and41]

Be-you-ti-ful!  Congratulations!

[Partyline4]

Nice!

When can we expect that eBay auction???

[Russ Kirk]

Oh, in a few decades.