This is the kind of find I fantasize about...

[Greg G.]

This is over a year old, but I just stumbled upon it.  An article in Collectors Weekly about a guy who came across NIB phones that were in a forgotten warehouse for 60 years:

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/4678-my-best-find-ever--kellogg-phones-store

[Just4Phones]

I had the same experience but on a smaller level.  Years ago I was flea marketing in the woods of Wisconsin and I asked a vendor if they had any phones.  He said sorry all I have is this old phone in a box.  I think he thought I was looking for a new phone.  Anyway he came out with a MIB Kellogg Red Bar with the original packing slip and receipt for $8.95.  Apparently it was shipped to a company in Madison and they never installed it.   I was so excited my palms were sweating and I bought it for $5.00.  I smiled for about two weeks after that.     Joel

[JorgeAmely]

I had a close experience with a 1958 WE500 in White color. Arrived in the original box, never been in service.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator/NeverUsedBeforeWhite1958WesternElectricModel500
( dead link 03-09-21 )

[rtp129495]

Thats the cleanest i've ever seen. and until this day I had never seen what a western electric box looked like that phones came in. Thats really cool!!!

[cihensley@aol.com]

Jorge:

Beautiful! Are you going to try to bleach out the spot from the ringer grommet outgassing?

Chuck

[JorgeAmely]

Jorge:

Beautiful! Are you going to try to bleach out the spot from the ringer grommet outgassing?

Chuck

Hi Chuck. No, I will not try to eliminate the stain. It is inside the plastic. The ringer grommet out-gassed some dark gaseous compound that got trapped inside the Tenite plastic. Now that the phone sits in a shelf and not in a trapped, quiet atmosphere, I am hoping that in a decade or two, the stain will go away on its own. Or it may not. I really don't want to disturb the original look and feel of the phone. I just want it to look "factory fresh".