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Non-Dial 500 Sets

Started by benhutcherson, February 16, 2009, 10:04:14 PM

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benhutcherson

I'm just curious as to how many of you folks have non-dial 500 sets in your collection.

Although they certainly do exist, they seem to be in much shorter supply than other non-dial versions of dial sets, such as 151ALs, D1s, and 302s(H1s).

I have one myself-a nice soft plastic date-matched black '59 set with a G-1 handset. Although I have everything I'd need to change it over to a dial set, I've left it as is more as a curiosity than anything. I probably wouldn't have bought, but couldn't pass on the $2.88(local) price.

So, let's hear all of your tales.

Thanks,
Ben

Dennis Markham

I have two non-dial 500's.  Actually one on display and I have a Mahogany dial blank for my Mahogany 500.  I bought the phone from a collector with both the brown dial and the dial blank.  I'm told the dial blanks are more rare than the dial version.

The other is a black 500 with a bottom date of 1/1953.  The dial blank is one of the older "puffy" looking blanks.  The G1 handset is very shiny and dated 12/1952.  The 6 hole cap is dated 11/1951 with the U1 element dated 1-10-53.  The T1 transmitter is dated 1-14-51 with the mouth piece cap dated 12/1952.

The cover is dated 1-22-53 2.  The C2A ringer is dated 1/1953.  Network is 1/53.  The handset cord is dated 55 and is the heavy, thick cord.  The long line cord is undated.  There is an original dial card from the 717 Area Code (Philly area) with a telephone number and extension number.  I was able to Google the number and believe it is from a Hunt Club in the Philadelphia area.  I stole this off eBay last year paying under $20 (not including shipping).  It's one of my favorites.

McHeath

That's a sweet phone Dennis!  Love the early dial blanks, and that fat cord really finishes it off.  I have no blank dial phones of any sort, but I've sure been eyeing them.

Dennis Markham

Thanks Heath.  I never had an interest in them until I saw a couple up close.  I would still like to get one in black with the newer blank.  I had my eye on one recently on eBay but it got higher than I wanted to go.  When I opened up this one I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the dates.  That thing is as shiny as it looks in those photos.  The caps screw on with no effort...I can start the cap and catch the thread then twist it and it will spin itself on.  I got lucky for once.

benhutcherson

Dennis,
Love the dial blank on that one, and that's one of the nicest G-1s I've seen. It looks like that one's a real keeper.

I've not ever seen a dial blank in that style, come to think of it.

It's not surprising to me that the blanks for early colored sets are pretty unusual. From what I've seen, non-dial telephones were a very, very small percentage of total 500 production, so it only makes sense that the most rare colors in general have the most rare dial blanks. In addition, I suspect that a non-dial telephone would likely have been found in some place like an office building or hotel, where a no-nonsense black phone would have been preferred over some other color.

benhutcherson

By the way, here's a "file photo" with my one non-dial set in it. I still need to pick up a number card ring, which I understand should properly be chrome and not black.


Dennis Markham

Ben, that's the type I would still like to add to my collection.  Yours looks very nice.  I haven't heard that about the dial card retainer ring being chrome.  As you can see the one on my phone is black.  I'm sure that's the way it was born.

Attached is a file photo I found of my brown one.  It's difficult from the photo to tell it's brown but it is....Ironically I see my retainer ring is chrome.  I guess I never noticed that before. 

BDM

WOW, for non dial sets, those are nice looking. Big black and shinny ;D
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

Dan/Panther

Ben;
In your photo I see what I assume is a 5302, did they come with white number dials, or is it just a filler ?
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Dan/Panther

Awhile back a guy was selling an auction lot of former defense department phones. They all had loose lips type stickewrs on them. One of them was a dialess Red phone,  I really wanted that phone with the defense stickers on it, I imagined it was the HOT LINE phone. The guy was an Ebay whimp, and told me he only accepted Pay-Pal as per Ebay rules. I told him all that was doing is costing hoim potential customers, and I told him I would offer double the winning bid, just for the red phone and he could keep the others. He said he just couldn't because ebay would ban him.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

benhutcherson

Dan,
That is in fact a 5302 to the right. It was a local $20 purchase.

It threw me off when I first saw it, as the dial bezel had black paint over the numbers, and the number/letter porcelain.

I'm sure that this one was originally a 5302, as it's marked as such on the baseplate. I assume, however, that someone somewhere along the line needed to replace the porcelain, and couldn't locate the proper one. Thus, they painted over the numbers on the bezel, and just used a common number/letter plate.

I've intended for a while to order the proper plate, which Oldphoneworks has for $17-I just never have gotten around to it. I've also seriously considered using an overlay, as the plate on there currently is pretty rough anyway. I haven't decided yet what I'll do, but I'll get around to it one of these days.