"Marilyn Monroe's Bedside Telephone" Auction...For Real???

[JimH]

Just saw this on ebay.  Claims to be Marilyn Monroe's bedside telephone when she died. I've seen this seller before. Is it one of us?  I didn't think Los Angeles used GTE in 1962 when Monroe died.  I googled her phone number, it was 476-1890, Which translates to "Granite-6 1890", but the number card shown is in pencil The seller doesn't state any dates on the phone.  I did find a pic of her living room, and there appears to be an AE 80 in black on the table.  It's a blurry pic. Would be cool to have if it was true.  But last I checked, the bid was up to $500. A bit too much for the phone for it to be "Might have been..."

Here's the link to the auction:

http://tinyurl.com/kqtdeq4

[G-Man]

The predecessor companies of what eventually evolved into GTE were competing with Bell prior to the start of the last century.

Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood prefix 476 was most likely originally switched by a Strowger step switch but is now switched by a VERIZON CALIFORNIA INC. (GTE) using a GTD-5EAX digital switch.

[twocvbloke]

I like how they have the provenance to go with the phone, which I don't see referenced anywhere, just a burnt letter with nothing detailing anything to do with the phone or Marilyn, maybe I should offer them one of my Canadian phones stating that it came from William Shatner's home, with no proof other than, like Shatner, it came from Canada....

[rdelius]

That card retainer will not fit that newer fingerwheel

[Matilo Telephones]

It seems to me the provenance is suggested, but not really claimed firmly. As if the seller doesn´t really believe it was Marilyn Monroes telephone.

Why is the card not on the dial? What is the significance of the letter? It is not explained. Also how it came to be burned.

I think the seller is either clumsy of deliberately vague. My guess is the last option is the most probable.

[southernphoneman]

I would ask to see a certificate of authenticity, Gregg

[Dave F]

For what it's worth, 476 (GR6) was, in 1962 (and still is today), located in an upscale section of West Los Angeles/Brentwood.  Back then, it was an SxS office in the territory of General Telephone of California.  I don't know just where MM lived at the time, but that prefix would certainly be appropriate.  That said, buyer beware!  Lots of AE 80s from that time are still packed away in garages, and it wouldn't take a big stretch of the imagination to think that some clever person concocted this story.  IMHO, further provenance is warranted.
 
DF

[Phonesrfun]

Much of LA was not Bell System, and used AE phones.  AE phones are pretty plentiful in old movies, probably for that reason

The dial on the phone in question appears to have the newer style finger wheel that is held onto the shaft with a Phillips head screw through the center.  

Marilyn died in 1962, and I may be wrong, but I believe that dial finger wheel style came out later than that.

The reason the number card that is in the nickel retainer is not on the dial is because that retainer does not go with that finger wheel.  The finger wheel with the center screw can only use the number cards that have the adhesive back.

The seller should also run a spell checker on his or her description.

[Greg G.]

A lot of hooey IMO.  No proof what so ever that it was MM's bedside phone.

[G-Man]

His claim is tenuous at best!

That said, as I noted earlier the telephone number was assigned to the Brentwood area which was served by GTE at the time of her death.

To give him the benefit of a doubt, he may have been storing the number card in an old retainer ring.

The card itself is for an Automatic Electric telephone and the fingerwheel is removed with paperclip or similar object. The slotted-screw retains the spider assembly that the fingerwheel snaps onto.

Probably the L.A. Police and County Coroner's crime scene photos of her bedroom are probably posted on-line if anyone wanted to research whether an A.E. 80 was at her bedside though I would have thought that an A.E. Starlight or other compact model would have been more appropriate.

In any event, one sucker has already bid on it.

[G-Man]

This provides instructions for removing this style of A.E. fingerwheel.

[JohnInWI]

Why would this phone have a modular line cord on it if it was from 1962? 

[Doug Rose]

As PT Barnum said, "there is a sucker born every minute." That 500 bid was there before the picture was posted. Buyer beware...Doug

[Phonesrfun]

Why would this phone have a modular line cord on it if it was from 1962? 

It would not have originally had a modular cord in 1962.  Someone has replaced the original cord with the silver colored modular cord at some point in the phone's life.  Probably another reason why it is doubtful that it was taken right from her bedroom.

[JohnInWI]

I found two photos of Marilyn in her home talking on the telephone.  It's a light color phone, but I can't identify the phone from the photos.