Have you seen one of these before?

[Dewdrop]

I haven't. What can anyone tell me about it? This is one of two old telephones given to me recently (like three days ago). They came VERY dirty. Started cleaning the exterior of this one today. I did notice the two cracks on the front. Will try and post pictures of the other telephone later.

Thanks for any information.

Debbie

[HobieSport]

Hi Debbie,

Foots may have one of those, a Signal Corps model with metal shell.

Here's a little info on the company from Bingster:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1271.0

-Matt

[foots]

     Hello Dewdrop. I do have one of these - mine is a metal housing and happens to be a Signal Corps model.  I have seen only one other plastic housing before. It was some kind of intercom model and had a speaker where the dial goes. Yours is the first actuall telephone that I've seen before.

[Dewdrop]

Can this phone be hooked up to use? It has only two wires.

Debbie

[LarryInMichigan]

Debbie,

You only need two wires.  It should certainly be able to work.  Hook it up and see.

Larry

[bingster]

Debbie, if you take the cover off your phone jack you'll probably find four screws, and two of those screws have red and green wires connected to them.  Just match up the colors in your cord to the proper screws with the same colors, and you're good to go.  The other two wires (yellow and black) aren't needed.

[Dewdrop]

Wow, Larry it works!!! Calls out and receives calls. Even with the two noticeable cracks it's not a bad phone. The phone was free. Do you think this is a rare or unusual phone?

Thanks
Debbie

[LarryInMichigan]

Debbie,

It is definitely unusual.  I wouldn't mind having one myself.  I really like the gray color.  You may be able to fix the crack with super glue.  there are some experts here on doing that.  A little polishing with plastic polish will make make the phone really beautiful.  Maybe you could introduce me to your friend who likes to give away valuable phones

Also, your second picture shows that the phone has a 20 Hz ringer, so it should work fine on your phone line.


Larry

[Dewdrop]

Do you think it has some value? Since I have not seen one like this on eBay I'm clueless of value. The other phone I was given is a black WE 302 without a dial that's connected to a wooden box. I'm going out to the garage and look at it again. OK, the wooden box has a crank on the side and two black metal gongs (I think that's what they're called) on the front of the box . I'll try to post pictures later.

Debbie

[Jester]

I think your phone has definite collector value, Debbie.  Pictured below are shots of a gray ConnTel I bought through a Second Chance Offer on ebay a couple weeks ago.  I lost the original auction, which was about a month ago now, but the winner backed out.  I paid over 150 times your price, Debbie, so you came out WAY ahead.  And Larry is right--with the right touch, you could make those cracks all but disappear.

[Dewdrop]

Jester,

What is the date of your nice, shiny phone? Mine is stamped in red on the bottom (the picture is posted). I can't tell if it's 1956 or 1958. What do you think?

Don't know if I have the repair skills to fix the cracks.

Debbie

[Dan/Panther]

Insides look like a 302 knock off.
D/P

[LarryInMichigan]

Debbie,

The Connecticut phone has value, but I don't know how much.  If it works well, I would guess that it could go a pretty decent amount on ebay.

The box with the other phone is a local battery subset.  The crank is connected to a magneto which generates a voltage when turned to ring the bells of the phone on the line.  The box would have been connected to a 3V battery.  To place a call, the caller would crank the magneto and wait for the person at the other end, typically the phone co. operator to answer.  If you turn the crank while the phone is on-hook, the bells should ring.  I do not know what was inside of a 302 case when it was connected to a magneto subset.  Did 302s in this configuration includes networks and ringers?  Perhaps someone here knows the answer.  It would be nice if you could post pictures of the phone and subset and especially the inner contents of the phone.



Jester,

I remember seeing your phone on ebay, but I do not recall the bid amount.  Whatever you paid was infinitely more than Debbie's price, since hers was free.


The insides of the phone certainly do look like a 302.


Larry

[Dewdrop]

When I got the two phones a few days ago, I thought maybe I have been a good girl this year after all and Christmas came early. Don't think any phones will be under the old Christmas tree (which we haven't gotten yet). I'll try to post pictures of the WE 302 and crank box tomorrow, but we're suppose to get the tree tomorrow and do some Christmas shopping.

Jester,
Do you think mine should have a gray curly cord instead of a black one?

Thanks for your helpful responses
Debbie

[JorgeAmely]

Hi Debbie:

Welcome to the forum. Maybe a week or two ago there was an auction of a phone similar to yours.

If you hurry up, you may be able to see the pictures still posted. Ebay number 230410542072