Cleaning out grandparent's attic....

[Tim]

I found this site while trying to find some information on older telephones.  After looking around some, everyone on here seems to know a great deal about rotary phones, so here's my story and questions...

My grandfather worked as a telephone man all around New England and Canada.  He passed away several years ago, and my family has been helping my grandmother start to clean up a lot of their possessions...In the attic there was a ton of old telephone stuff, along with probably 15-20 of these old phones. 

I've done some research the last couple of days and think that these are AE 80's, but would like to have that confirmed....they seem to look like what I've seen online, but they seem to have some differences as well.  The only place I see AE is on the inside on the rotary part, while I also see the name Leich on the outside and, on the bottom of most of them, it says The North Electric MFG Co.

I welcome all questions and comments.....Thanks!

[LarryInMichigan]

Tim,

What you have is a North Electric Galion (H6?) phone base with a Leich conversion shell and handset.  The conversion kits were made to make the North Galion look more modern.  I believe that they are somewhat rare and valuable.  The one in your picture looks to be in excellent shape, so it is worth something.  Don't throw it away (unless you want to use my garbage can ).  Look at http://www.paul-f.com/500style.html near the bottom of the page.

Leich Electric manufactured phones and parts for AE and was eventually bought by AE.


Larry

[Tim]

Thanks for the help, Larry!  As I wrote, there are quite a few of them.  At first they look to be in rough shape, but most of it is the effect of being in an attic for so long without being touched....

There are a few that have the chrome dial, a few with black, and the majority of them are plastic dials..

Do you know around what year they would be from?
And do you think they would be bakelite?  Or would it being a conversion make them newer and not be bakelite?

Thanks again! 

Tim

Yes, the green one in the link looks just like them....I believe some of them do have a longer back though...I'll have to check them out more..

[LarryInMichigan]

Tim,

The shells are probably made of soft plastic (Tenite), not bakelite.  There may be a date stamped or printed in the inside of the shell somewhere.  The North base should have at least one date stamp.  In one of your pictures, it looks like there may a "7 50" stamped on the base plate.  I would guess that the shells were made between the mid 1950s to early 1960s. 

Are all of the phones black?  Other colors, especially others than beige, will be more valuable.  One just sold on ebay a day or two ago.


Larry

[Tim]

Yes, they are all black....There are several bare shells in different colors, but I don't believe that they'd fit the same base...Most of the bare shells look newer and I believe have the name ITT on them....

However, there is one, maybe two, Leich shell's that are the conversion shells to make it a wall phone..

I have 4 of the phones at home with me now and on the base of one of them it is clearly stamped "H270 5 50"... that may be the date stamp you referred to..

[LarryInMichigan]

Tim,

The ITT shells are probably for 500s.  They would be identical to the Western Electric 500 shells and longer than the Leich shells.  I, and others here, would be interested in seeing the wall phone version of the Leich shell.  1950 would be a believable date for the North base.  Perhaps you can post some pictures when you have a chance.  At any rate, do not throw away any of the phone stuff.  All of it will be able to find good homes.

Larry

[Tim]

Larry,

I wasn't aware of a lot of things when we first were going through the stuff, so I will definitely be more aware next time....and as far as throwing away, that definitely won't happen..haha..I'm sure some stuff will be kept, but I'll be sure to post anything that will be up for grabs, and will try to get some more pictures to share and get more information and insight....thanks for your knowledge!

Tim

[Dennis Markham]

Tim, that phone even has what is called a "straight line" ringer.   So it will work on today's lines.  Many of those had frequency ringers that will not work today.  Nice phone!

Welcome to the forum by the way.  Be careful, before you're finished you will want to keep them all and buy more too!

[Tim]

Thanks Dennis..I think I know what you mean already....I'm enjoying looking at just the four ones that I have with me, and each one seems to have something different about it, either externally or internally.....Whether it's the pads on the bottom or the dial on the front...

We have tested one out and eventhough it's a little weak, it has a great ring to it....

[Tim]

Ok...went up this afternoon to check things out further...found what I thought was a Leich shell to convert one of the North Electric phones into a wall phone (pic 1 and 2)....but, it is much longer than the phones I have....also found an AE phone (maybe this is the AE 80 that I thought the others were--pic 3 and 4)....but, the Leich shell doesn't seem fit on this either....

Here's what else I found....

Pic 5 and 6:  All of the shells are ITT, except for the olive green which was a Stromburg Carleson..

Have a few more pictures of different phones, including payphones, which I'll put up shortly..

[gpo706]

Wish my attic looked like that!

You've lots of nice stuff from your Grandad there, folks on here are a very knowledgable and friendly bunch, and will go out of their way to help.

Don't hesitate to ask anything however dumb you might think it is, I've done many times and always recieved superb advice.

Scot

[Tim]

Here's the rest of the things I took pictures of...most of this stuff is just around the house, and wasn't up in the attic...but, nonetheless, thought I would share and maybe get some specifics on them?

Thanks for everything.

Pic 7:  Just like the first couple of North Electric/Leich phones, but a different color.

Pic 8 and 9:  My grandmother's phone..I think I've seen some of these online in the last couple days looking around, believe it was an AE 40 Monophone.

Pic 10:  Wall phone...had name Kellogg and ITT on it.

Pic 11 and 12:  Both AE Payphones...the one in Pic 12 fits into a corner..

Once again, any comments or questions are very much welcomed! Thanks

Tim

[Jim Stettler]

Those are nice payphones. The last one is a 3-slot panel phone.  They would be installed in a wall or in a special boothette. I have a boothette w/ a single slot phone.
The 3-slot panel phones are hard to find. I would be interested in it if you decide to sell it.
Jim S.

[Greg G.]

As I wrote, there are quite a few of them.  At first they look to be in rough shape, but most of it is the effect of being in an attic for so long without being touched....

Thanks again!  

Tim

Never judge them by the amount of grime on them.  Here's an example of the filthiest phone I've acquired so far.  All it took was an overnight bath in Oxiclean of the plastic parts, including the handset and line cord, to clean it up.  I haven't even buffed it to any great extent.  Perfectly functioning.

[Tim]

Briny --  Good job on that..I know what you mean...just today I scrubbed down 4 of these Leich phones and they look great...I won't give up on them just from some dirt and grime.....what parts do you put let soak in the Oxiclean?  I've read a lot of people do that...

Jim  --  Thanks for the information and interest on the panel payphone.. I think all of the phones in the last set of pictures will be staying in the family though.

Larry  --  I've been looking around on the site more and saw that the Leich conversion body looks to belong to the Leich 700, which you had posted some information about in the auction section..I just don't have the base to put it on I guess......maybe some more digging will find one..