News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Hello to all from the newest forum member kwatter04

Started by kwatter04, August 21, 2011, 02:54:25 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

kwatter04

Hello all,
My name is Kyle Watterworth. I am 24 years old, and from Toledo, OH. I just joined the forum today and wanted to introduce myself. I am very new to all of this, having purchased my first vintage phone on June 12th of this year. I didn't even intend on collecting the phones when I purchased that one, I just wanted one functioning rotary phone to use in my apartment on my new landline. Once I received that phone (a 1974 bright red ITT 500) I was so captivated by how well it worked and how good it looked for a 37 year old phone that I was hooked. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to have just 1...and within a few days purchased my second phone, a 70's cherry red WE Princess in almost new condition. after receiving that phone, I was REALLY hooked. I now have 13 phones (all working), consisting of:

6 WE princess phones (pink, black, cherry red, beige, white, yellow)
5 WE 500's (black, white, beige, moss green, yellow)
1 ITT 500 (red)
1 AE 80 (black)

My favorite phone in my collection thus far is my 1957 WE 500 in black. it is a birthday phone, with all parts marked 4-57 (except a T1 element dated 3-19-57). When I bought it, I didn't even know what a birthday phone was, I just wanted it because of the black metal dial.  I also thoroughly enjoy my 1964 Princess in pink, another birthday phone is fabulous condition.

At this point, I am focusing on getting as many different colors of 500's and Princesses as possible. My collection is currently all-rotary and will be for the forseeable future.  I have all my phones on display in my apartment and keep one hooked up for use on my landline (usually the black 500). my landline is no-frills, with no caller ID, call waiting, or voicemail, the way it would have been when these phones were originally put in to use.  I have taken the covers off of all my phones to examine the insides, but have not gotten up the courage to do anything beyond that (although there really is no need at this point, these phones all work great!).  

What I find most interesting about these phone is their durability.  I have grown up in an age where phones (and most electronics for that matter) seem to only last a couple of years at most.  I am still wowed every time I pick up the G1 handset on my '57 black 500 and hear a nice crisp dial tone.  Just a few short months ago I was oblivious to the fact that there were 50+ year old phones in perfect working condition that could be had for such reasonable prices.  

Ok, so I've definitely ranted for long enough.  If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me! I look forward to acquiring more vintage phones and learning more about them.   I have been poking around the forum for a couple weeks now (I have been especially captivated by the 65-page topic about the '48 500....i'm on page 46 right now).  You all seem to be very passionate about these vintage phones, and I am glad I stumbled upon this forum.  

Doug Rose

Hey Kyle....Welcome to the Forum. There are quite a few members just like you who feel one vintage phone is not enough. Myself included. Its a fun place with many knowledgeable collectors....Doug
Kidphone

HarrySmith

Hi Kyle. Welcome to the forum! Is'nt it amazing how fast these things multiply? I call it phoneitis, it is progressive and incurable!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

Tom B

Hi Kyle and welcome to the forum.
You're going to enjoy your new pastime, believe me!
Tom

LarryInMichigan

Welcome Kyle.  Some of us are "phone"atics about collecting.  We cannot take responsible for what might happen if you hang around here :)
It's nice to have another member who is (almost) in Michigan.

Larry
 

GusHerb

Welcome Kyle! You sure collected those phones awfully fast! One word of caution is you might wanna pace yourself, they multiply VERY VERY quickly.
I've been into phones since I was pretty much a baby. My first two were a couple of touchtone Trimlines that my grandma had in her house, I swapped them out with some electronic Trimlines so I could have them... muhahaha.  I'm up to at least 70 phones now, and that's with LONG periods where I wasn't even looking for them, they just multiply so fast!

The biggest benefit for us collectors is just how well Western Electric made these phones, they are literally meant to last decades if not much longer then that.

Pictures of your collection would be awesome!

Jonathan
Jonathan

jsowers

Kyle, your Princess collection sounds like a great start. There's an ivory one on eBay right now that's a little high, but it's a fairly hard color to find in the older rotary Princesses. If you want the link, send me a PM (personal message) by clicking on my handle and scroll down to "send a personal message." They sort of frown on posting links here to auctions that haven't ended, which I totally understand.

When you get around to polishing them up and taking off the dirt, those Princess phones are fairly easy to work on and clean. The only part that gets regular damage is the sides of the housing, which can crack when the phone is dropped. Be sure to get one or two 6VAC adapters so you can make them light up.

Good luck getting ivory, aqua blue, turquoise, moss green and especially light gray. There are still good deals to be had on Princess phones.

I totally agree about how well the phones are made. I've had a white Princess in use since 1998 next to my bed and it has never had the first problem. It was a Goodwill purchase for $5 and even had the original faceplate attached to the end of the cord. It reminds me of the one my aunt and uncle had since Princesses first came out, which was the year they were married.

Welcome to the Forum! I look forward to seeing your collection.
Jonathan

JorgeAmely

Welcome to the forum Kyle.

You are experiencing the first symptoms of the phone-itis disease as Harry mentioned below. First you want to collect one or two rotary phones. Then you visit Paul's site and learn that there are color codes for the 500 series and you set a goal to collect all of them. Then your learn about the different styles of handset cords and need to have a few of those too. As your horizons expand, you learn about the other manufacturers and their color schemes too, and of course, you need to have one of each also.

Soon you will discover how advanced the disease gets when you see Doug or Dennis collections.

As the disease advances, you may expand into getting a PBX or gasp!, getting into the before 1950s phones. That is a whole new enchilada where sidetone and anti-sidetone will make you wonder if you are going deaf.

In the terminal stages, terms and phrases such as Bakelite, Tenite, soft plastic, ABS, wet sanding, will become as familiar as learning a new language. Gurus such as Terry and Stub, the AE guys, Dennis the 500 guy, Doug as the home museum guy, Paul as the documentation expert, etc, will start to surface and you will know their emails and phone numbers just like you learned your ABCs.

We warned you .......   ;)

Jorge

Dennis Markham

Nice post Jorge, but you shouldn't mention my collection in the same breath as Doug Rose's collection.  His left-overs out number my collection.  Also Kyle, Jorge is being modest.  His collection of soft plastic telephones is fantastic.   He is an expert in his own right on refurbishing the plastic telephones.  If you can find a couple of links to his web albums you will be amazed.  If you need help finding those links, let me know.

kwatter04

Thanks to everyone for such a warm welcome!! It is amazing to hear from such a dedicated group of phone collectors!! I find myself searching eBay practically every day looking for new listings! I tried a local antique mall as well, but the ONLY rotary phone I found there when I went last month was a Mickey Mouse Design Line phone from 1976....no thank you!! I will have to keep checking back there. I am able to light my princess phones, as the first one that I got (my red one) came with an original WE transformer. 

Here are some pictures of my favorite ones (pics lifted from the eBay auctions, as my digital camera is pathetic, I will have to photograph all of them when I can get my hands on a better one)


This one looks as good in person! if only it wasn't full modular (I didn't know any better at the time!)


This is the phone that started it all, and even has a 419 number card (which is my area code)






my 6 princesses thus far....hopefully more of them to come soon!!!

JorgeAmely

Kyle:

Mickey already knows where you live. And he won't take no for an answer.  ;D ;D ;D ;D
Jorge

paul-f

Quote from: kwatter04 on August 21, 2011, 02:54:25 PM
At this point, I am focusing on getting as many different colors of 500's and Princesses as possible. My collection is currently all-rotary and will be for the forseeable future. 

Welcome!

A few years ago, several of us were in the same position and wondered just how many colors were made.  It turned out that the answer wasn't simple, as the color palette changed over the years.  Our simple checklist turned into a chart...

  http://www.paul-f.com/color.htm#WE500

Then we wondered how many variations of the 500-series were made.  We're still looking...

  http://www.paul-f.com/we500typ.htm

There's years of enjoyment to be had in phone collecting.  We've seen some fantastic collections, but no one seems to have them all -- yet!
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

jsowers

Kyle, thanks for posting the pictures. FYI, the Princess you called beige may actually be ivory. Look at Paul's excellent site for the color chart. Light beige is a little darker than what I saw in your picture. But it could just be your camera. You have a very good start there collecting the Princesses. The black one is a knockout!

I'm afraid Mickey knows where I live too. Years ago I found one of those Trimline Mickeys and it came home with me because it was cheap at a thrift store. Garfield keeps him company (a present from mom) and a chestphone, a Country Junction, an Americana and a Delft blue Accent stand guard as well. Lately I've tried to concentrate on phones from the 50s, but I still can't resist a bargain. If you can concentrate on just a few models, it does make it easier and cheaper.
Jonathan

kwatter04

Quote from: paul-f on August 22, 2011, 07:51:12 PM
A few years ago, several of us were in the same position and wondered just how many colors were made.  It turned out that the answer wasn't simple, as the color palette changed over the years.  Our simple checklist turned into a chart...

paul-f, what an amazing website! I have spent some time on your website over the past couple months, and the amount of information on there is mind-boggling, especially for a newbie like me! so many colors and models!! I do want to stay with 500 C/D and 702B's for now, but do find myself lusting after other models (especially the 500U....but it looks like those are hard to find!!). I do want to start concentrating on older models and ones not refurbished (my yellow 500 for example, has a 5-61 base but appears it was refurbished with a new case and dial post-divesture  :().... I basically find that I am becoming more discerning and picky as I learn more...I'm starting to fancy the older sets with hardwired cords.... and I am really liking the 50's sets in soft plastic with G1 handsets (I LOVE my '57 black 500 with all matching dates...its so heavy, and there's a nice thud heard when the handset is placed on the base that is absent from my other 500's).

Quote from: jsowers on August 22, 2011, 09:00:17 PM
Kyle, thanks for posting the pictures. FYI, the Princess you called beige may actually be ivory.

The phone seems to photograph lighter than it looks in person, but I still don't know for sure....if only they stamped color codes on the bases!!! I'm sure you guys all wish that was the case!

GusHerb

Quote from: kwatter04 on August 23, 2011, 09:33:09 AM


The phone seems to photograph lighter than it looks in person, but I still don't know for sure....if only they stamped color codes on the bases!!! I'm sure you guys all wish that was the case!


Then it wouldn't be as fun taking it apart and trying to figure it out.
Jonathan