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Salesman Samples, Promos and other Miniature Telephones

Started by Dewdrop, October 16, 2010, 04:31:11 PM

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WEBellSystemChristian

#105
It seems that whoever actually created these for Bell had Light Beige confused. They made the mini Rose Beige sets (or at least Light Beige with white digits) well after solid center fingerwheels were used on full-sized 500s--they even come with mini solid fingerwheels, like the bottom right phone in the above picture.

It's possible that Bell gave the mini phone manufacturer the color samples of the new Pastel color line when it came out, but they must not have known that the new Beige had black letters, not white. They probably stopped making mini Rose Beige and started with Light Beige, but never changed the digit color appropriately.

I've also noticed that the minis actually changed from Tenite to ABS along with the 500s! That should be a good indicator of how old yours is! My Rose Beige mini has a solid fingerwheel and is ABS, but yours was probably made while Rose Beige was still in production.

EDIT: Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but that almost looks like Light Gray in yellowish light. The mini versions also used white letters, for whatever reason.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

HarrySmith

I got the mini 500 yesterday. Not even close to Rose Beige. It's Grey!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: HarrySmith on September 30, 2017, 05:40:18 PM
I got the mini 500 yesterday. Not even close to Rose Beige. It's Grey!
Yeah, I thought so. Sorry, Harry! :(

At least you can add it to your Light Gray mini 500 collection!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

NikeTelephone

Ive got 5 so far in my Salesman Collection! :)
Phones, Who Knew! :)

AL_as_needed

....and that's why you dry your phones on low-heat, to avoid shrinking!  ;D

Nice orange 500 NikeTelephone 
TWinbrook7

HarrySmith

I just picked up a Brown mini. It is to commemorate New York Telephone, stamped on the handset. Dated April 19, 1956. Now I need 1 more color! Med Blue! Anyone?
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

.....

Here are a couple small princess phones I picked up a couple weeks ago.

oldguy

Gary

.....

Quote from: oldguy on November 04, 2018, 11:30:44 PM
Very cool Doug, where did you find them?


From another collector who is selling off his collection. Seems to be a lot of that happening lately. Collectors downsizing.

HarrySmith

I finally got my Mini 500's together for a family photo. I did notice one has a broken fingerwheel. I am going to need to replace that. Does anyone have a mini 500 that is damaged, maybe a cracked or broken body, missing a handset, cradle ear broken off? I need one to steal the fingerwheel off. Color is unimportant.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Jim Stettler

That is quite a nice looking collection. Are you going after AE80's next?
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

HarrySmith

Thanks! No AE's for me. I am keeping my eyes out for the elusive Gold or Silver ones. Also there is a set of mini's that was supposed to be for introducing the colors. They come in a plastic tray. I would like to have a set of those someday.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Jim Stettler

They also made mini Trimlines and princess telephones.
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

jsowers

Quote from: Jim Stettler on December 23, 2018, 06:00:33 PM
They also made mini Trimlines and princess telephones.
Jim S.

But Trimlines only in white, I assume. So it's not like you can collect all the colors. Has anyone seen a Trimline promo in a color other than white? They also made 2500 promos in white.

Harry, I like your shots of your collection. When I saw the first shot, I thought they were taken on your chest freezer, and then I realized it was a Chrysler trunk. Can you add the names of the colors of all of your promos, just in case someone wants to know? It looks like you have both black and brown, but they both look black in the pictures. Are you missing light beige? Anything else? I like how you have the Bell logo in the center of all the promos too.

They did make a salesman case with a plastic cover (see below--not mine) and they made a 500 set keychain clear case with all the colors. Both of these sell in the hundreds of dollars and don't come along very often, so good luck!
Jonathan

Russ Kirk

- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI