AE40 found at Flea market

[Jrs1958]

Found this AE40 at a flea market yesterday.  Has the deluxe trim including the dial.  Has the butler's handle and the braided cord.  Excellent throughout!

[LarryInMichigan]

Those butlers' handles are quite rare.  I would guess that you got a $200 phone.  Great find!

Larry

[Jrs1958]

Picked it up for $80.  No cracks, rubber base is beautiful.  I am judging by past posts that there is not a good way to date these phones?

[LarryInMichigan]

There are a few differences which indicate whether the phone was early or late production, such as whether the wire insulation is cloth or rubber and whether the dial is screwed into a metal bracket or the bakelite case.  There are almost certainly others.

Larry

[Pourme]

Beautiful! Extremely nice find!

[stub]

 Jrs1958,
           Great find !! Can you post pics of the insides ? AE Catalog 4055 C , 6-1940 , pg. 9 tells about lift and pic (pg. 45 same catalog ) shows lift handle.  stub

[Doug Rose]

Wonderful find...I am still looking for my butler handle.....Welcome to the Forum!!....Doug

[Jrs1958]

Have tried to add more pictures but I get the error message that the files failed to pass security check?

[tipnring]

That is one great find.. looks great!

[Doug Rose]

I finally have a Butler Handle for an AE 40 as well. I took a Mental Health Day today and worked on it. I was surprised when I went to clean the finger wheel and the retainer ring some of the chrome plate came off the retainer ring, so I went with black until I find another chrome retainer. ,,,Doug

[stub]

Doug Rose,
                That's a very nice AE 40 you got there !!  Here's one in Nile Green.  stub

[AE_Collector]

I think you have it in backwards Doug. It should lay down almost flat on the slope at the back of the 40.

Terry

[unbeldi]

The butler handle was designed... so that the set could be carried while remaining securely on hook.

                                             ... to facilitate
moving the same by hand from place to place
by providing pivoted fingers lifting ball which
is rotatable above the handset of the telephone
for the purpose of lifting the entire telephone
without displacing the hand telephone on the
cradle.

US2200810 1940 1938 Sengebusch AEL--Desk Telephone Set

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Great find, Doug!

Maybe you could have an advantage by placing the handle backwards...instead of hiring a butler to carry the phone to you so you could answer it, you could instead hire someone to sit at the other end of the room next to the phone. That way, when the phone rings, they could pull the lever, catapulting the handset across the room for you to catch!

Somehow the idea of hiring a butler to bring you the phone sounds simpler...

[Doug Rose]

I received a North Galion yesterday that I purchased really cheap on eBay with a fantastic easi-clean chrome dial. I  took it off the North and added it to my AE 40 and put the dial  from the AE 40 on the North.

This dial is perfect with a really nice dial original card under the stick-on dial card. Snow day in Boston, I will try to get pics tomorrow. Just tops off the Butler handle AE 40.....I couldn't be happier with it....Doug