Testing the Dials on the WE 500s in 1949

[rp2813]

Regarding lettering on the dials, I have a clean original 500 dated 10/50 (OK, I have a later coiled handset cord on it, which I find preferable to the harder to find straight type--thank you Dennis!) that has the thinner dial lettering.  I read somewhere that the original dial faces on the 500's had painted characters under a plastic cover.  This is what I have, and the word "Operator" is in very fine print under the "O" and swoops up along the curvature of the dial face just like later 500's have it.  Not long after the 500's were launched WE changed the process to some sort of plastic injection of white into the hollowed out areas for numbers and letters on the black face.  No more painted characters or plastic cover.  I think this may have started with models dated 51 or 52.

I'm wondering if the phone pictured with Mr. Dreyfuss could be a 5302 given the shorter look of the case.  It would make sense since the Z-over-Operator arrangement would be similar to what was on the 5H dials used on the 302's.  But considering the Life article was probably celebrating the launch of the 500 model, my speculation that the phone pictured could be a 5302 may be way off.

[McHeath]

Gee a 10/50 dated model 500, how about some pics? 

On Paul F's old phones as entertainment site he has a pic of an early 500 with the same O/operator/Z script as the pic of Dreyfuss, so probably it was an early 500 prototype of some sort.  Methinks. 

[rp2813]

I'll try to get some pix of my 10/50 posted here soon.  I have fitted it with a correct looking coiled handset cord for the period just for practicality.  It came with a 1962 coiled cord so the straight one on it was history long ago.  I picked up this phone for a few bucks at a thrift store back around 1980.  I was not a 500 guy at the time but this phone spoke to me because it was super clean and something special (particularly since I opened it up and found the separate equalizer inside) but basically I put it away and never thought about it again until a year ago when I put together a 50's desk scene at home and pulled it out of a box in the attic.  I did some on line research that validated my hunches about the phone's all-1950 originality, such as the handset cord retainer being built into the handset itself.  I recently purchased a bakelite transmitter cap as the handset had a plastic one on it.  Receiver cap is original and is completely flat on the inside.  Dennis helped me get the ringer properly connected using his '50 phone as an example.

Re: the elusive 500's from 1949, has anyone ever seen one or does anyone here own one?  I am wondering if all of the 49's were used for what is now called "beta testing" and then recalled and possibly re-deployed as 1950's.

I know Dennis would like to see some pictures too of my phone too.  I sent him some lousy ones many months ago so need to get some good ones posted here.