Craigslist bonanza!

[Dennis Markham]

Great haul, Benny!  Congratulations.  As it has been said, the Pekin Red phone alone is worth what you paid.  I bought a Pekin Red 302 several years ago for $400 and thought I got a great deal. 

I did also notice the Woodward dial card as I live in the Detroit area.  That other phone with the 616 Area Code is also a Michigan card.  It was once most of the northwestern part of the lower peninsula. 

Great find!

~Dennis

[Pourme]

Benny...what an amazing find. How fast did you drive those 40 miles to get there in 10 minutes!!! Congrats....it is a Bonanza! I am very happy for you...Doug

I did, Doug!...Really quick! Thanks!

[Pourme]

I love the sets with those Detroit number cards,  Woodward.

You have several B1 sets there, those with the circular base.  They are sought after usually.

You also have a nice looking ivory 202 Continental, DRexel,  would like to learn about its numbers and internals. It has a new style finger wheel, not the open center type, and those usually are only found when sets were refurbished in the 1960s.
Of course you also some some oval base black D1s or 202s, depending on wiring.

I will get some pics of these and post them. The ivory 202 is painted, someone painted it added matching cord and clear finger wheel at some point, I assume.

[Pourme]

And that is how one gets hooked into collecting large quanities of telephones .
Great buy. Sell the ones you don't like and use the extra cash to buy more telephones.



JMO,
Jim S.

I understand now...I nearly doubled the size of my collection overnight! Trying to decide what to sell now, Thanks!

[Pourme]

Great haul, Benny!  Congratulations.  As it has been said, the Pekin Red phone alone is worth what you paid.  I bought a Pekin Red 302 several years ago for $400 and thought I got a great deal. 

I did also notice the Woodward dial card as I live in the Detroit area.  That other phone with the 616 Area Code is also a Michigan card.  It was once most of the northwestern part of the lower peninsula. 

Great find!

~Dennis

Thanks, Dennis. That one large batch came from a hotel in Detroit. I'm proud to own them!

[unbeldi]

I will get some pics of these and post them. The ivory 202 is painted, someone painted it added matching cord and clear finger wheel at some point, I assume.

Well, the dates on the phone will the story.

Ivory painted 202s were available in the early 1950 as a special request, and in 1955 they became an official product, documented and supported in the BSPs.  They came in ivory, red, green, and black.    There is also documentation that they were available in all eight colors that the 500 sets came in.
These colored version were advertised as "Continental Sets".   When painted in gold and silvery lacker, they were called "Imperials".

These set came with a 5J or 6D dial, which had the case painted white and had a Lucite finger wheel.  But in 1955 it would have been an open-center wheel.

[NorthernElectric]

Bonanza indeed!  Sweet!

Which one goes into "Find of the Month"?

The lot!  Just don't sell or put any up for sale until after the vote.  Per the FOTM rules:

Please pick your best "Find" to submit for the month limiting your entry to one phone or one "Find" that might include multiple items.

Since you purchased these together, I believe that qualifies as one "find".

The item (or any of its components) cannot be put up for sale during the contest period.

A while back, another member nominated a bonanza of phones for the FOTM but IIRC was later disqualified when someone spotted one of them for sale.

[Pourme]

Bonanza indeed!  Sweet!

The lot!  Just don't sell or put any up for sale until after the vote.  Per the FOTM rules:

Since you purchased these together, I believe that qualifies as one "find".

Thanks for the clarification, Cliff!

That's what I will do...

[Pourme]

Well, the dates on the phone will the story.

Ivory painted 202s were available in the early 1950 as a special request, and in 1955 they became an official product, documented and supported in the BSPs.  They came in ivory, red, green, and black.    There is also documentation that they were available in all eight colors that the 500 sets came in.
These colored version were advertised as "Continental Sets".   When painted in gold and silvery lacker, they were called "Imperials".

These set came with a 5J or 6D dial, which had the case painted white and had a Lucite finger wheel.  But in 1955 it would have been an open-center wheel.

Here are the pics...It has a broken transmitter cap & quite a range of dates in the handset components.

[unbeldi]

Here are the pics...It has a broken transmitter cap & quite a range of dates in the handset components.

The key to telling whether it is an official Continental is the date on the dial, the dial plate, the cords (if still original), and the tone of paint.
You have a handset cap from 1955, which is a good sign.   WECo did still make Bakelite F1 handsets in 1955, so this was a new piece they used.
Remember that these were assembled from old parts, with addition of a few new ones.
At this point it may be hard to see the numbers on the dial. Take your time.  No rush for anything.
Someone did use some cord that wasn't original, and the other seems to be cut.
Enjoy the journey...

[Pourme]

Thanks Unbeldi, I will take a peek at that dial soon!

[Pourme]

The key to telling whether it is an official Continental is the date on the dial, the dial plate, the cords (if still original), and the tone of paint.
You have a handset cap from 1955, which is a good sign.   WECo did still make Bakelite F1 handsets in 1955, so this was a new piece they used.
Remember that these were assembled from old parts, with addition of a few new ones.
At this point it may be hard to see the numbers on the dial. Take your time.  No rush for anything.
Someone did use some cord that wasn't original, and the other seems to be cut.
Enjoy the journey...

Ok...I looked... 9/54

[unbeldi]

Great, 9/54 is close enough, and 6D is also the right type.
It is hard for someone to get a 6D dial with a date later than ca. 6/54, because the only telephone sets that used them from that time on are either the ivory 354 wall telephones (until end of 1955), or the Continentals/Imperials in 1955. The regular 302 production was stopped about that time, but in 1955 some 302s were available again in the 500-set colors and plastics with recycled bases, but those are exceedingly hard to find (See this discussion)

When you take the finger wheel off the dial, you will find another date on the enamel number plate, it will likely match the date if it is original.

I think, the odds are pretty good that the phone itself is an authentic Continental, not painted by just somebody.  The original open-center finger wheel may have got broken and so it was replaced in the 1960s or later with the then available wheels, the closed one, as on the Princesses starting in 1959, and on 500s in 1964.
To make them fit, the finger stop has to be bent up just slightly usually, because that wheel is a little higher, more domed.

[Pourme]

your so good...I wondered why the finger stop was bent up like that!

Thank you!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

What a great lot! The Pekin Red alone is worth $400!

Definitely enter it for FOtM!