Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Talk => Telephone Historic Pictures, Signs, Directories, Advertising & Ephemera => Topic started by: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 08:52:43 PM

Title: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 08:52:43 PM
I got few bits and pieces, mostly interested in the uniform items, a GPO donkey jacket, set of buttons for my brown (unused) warehouse tunic, a GPO hat metal/enamelled badge (perfect), a couple of GPO hard hats, different designs, a linesman test set, and recently a headset for it and some croc clip leads, so thats nearly complete.

A GPO staff rules book from the 60's, and an internal telephone directory.

Also bought a BT ashtray for peanuts sees much regular use in my "den".

I also collect local bus company items buts thats like a wardrobe full of kit compared to my phoneco stuff!
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: HobieSport on August 22, 2009, 09:12:53 PM
I just have an older model WE test set, the kind with the full size finger dial. It's pretty nifty. I don't know what year it was made.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: bwanna on August 22, 2009, 10:07:32 PM
i have all kinds of bell system jazz. several first aid kits, flashlights, a battery, a couple of service pins,test sets, a box of paper clips, a printers block w/bell emblem, 1926 bell system almanac. one of my favorites, tho, is the lead ladle. way back when, the cable sheath was lead. i don't know the exact procedure for using the ladle& hot lead. but i do know it would be a real pain to work with. i can post pics if there is any interest. GPO i'd like to see some of your stuff. ;D
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 10:13:02 PM
If can get my bro's digital camera to download I'll be snap happy!

The printers block sounds an amazing find, also the hot lead ladle!

Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 10:19:09 PM
Here's a hard hat on ebay, bloke being trying to flog it for  months, its pristine compared to the same one I have, I think £25 is too rich,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GPO-GENUINE-RED-HARD-HAT-AS-WORN-BY-OMIs-in-the-60s_W0QQitemZ390077184139QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item5ad269788b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 10:23:50 PM
GPO/BT 704

Nice bit of kit and bloody useful!

http://www.britishtelephones.com/t704.htm
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: bwanna on August 22, 2009, 10:32:00 PM
that sure is a pretty hard hat! looks too shiny to be 40yrs old or used much. i of course have the ATT hat that i wear everyday.(it is not shiny at all) also ameritech & michigan bell hats.

the test set  looks cool, albeit a little unhandy for field work.

i don't know what those prices are in US$$.

i'll get some pics up tomorrow. time for sleep now, as there are phone lines to be repaired tomorrow. :o
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: McHeath on August 23, 2009, 01:36:19 AM
Quoteone of my favorites, tho, is the lead ladle. way back when, the cable sheath was lead. i don't know the exact procedure for using the ladle& hot lead.

I've got one of these sets as well, my dad was a pipefitter and they used lead to join cast iron pipe.  It was an interesting process, I saw it done, where they had a portable gas powered burner with a tripod over it to hold a heavy iron bucket.  The lead came in 5 pound cakes, I still have a few, and they were melted in the bucket and then ladled out and poured around the joint on the pipe after a rope like material had been fitted into the joint and a cover placed on the outside to hold the lead while it cooled if the joint was not upright. 
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Greg G. on August 23, 2009, 06:02:10 AM
Nothing yet, but I am on the look out for a vintage telephone directory (60s or earlier) that contains a listing of family members around at the time.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: jsowers on August 24, 2009, 05:03:10 PM
Anyone else have a Bell System toboggan? And here in the South, a toboggan is a knit cap and not a sled. I have two of them. One is blue and white with a Bell logo on it, and one is red and white from Ohio Bell and OBT on it. I have climbers and a two hardhats, but I'm leaving the pole duty to Bwanna. I have an aluminum pole tag from the pole at the edge of my property. One of the installers knocked it off and I scarfed it up. It says Lexington Telephone Co., which is my local telco and their name changed to Lexcom several years ago. I have two buttsets and some operator headsets and lots of phone company giveaways like matchbooks, coin purses, keychains, etc. Here is an entire Christmas tree of phone company keychains from 500 set ones (fairly rare) to Trimlines and Princesses.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 24, 2009, 05:38:16 PM
Thats err, quite beautiful and rather mad!

I like it anyway, don't care what the shrink says dude...
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: bwanna on August 24, 2009, 06:47:27 PM
beautiful tree jonathan.  thx for sharing. now i know, I am not crazy ;D
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 24, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
Jonathan, that is an interesting tree.  I tried on several occasions to buy some of those little Princess phones (key chains) but always got outbid.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on them.  But you have little model 500's too.  What else is on there?  What's the green 500 in the background??  Is that an Ivory phone in the foreground?  What you need is one of those color wheels from the 60's that illuminate the tree.

Here's one:  http://tinyurl.com/mpper2
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: bwanna on August 24, 2009, 08:15:06 PM
dennis,

i have a bunch of those princess keychains& some trimlines. they are pretty easy to find at the flea markets, etc. usually 1-3$. i have never seen the 500, tho.

i sure wish i had that christmas tree.

jonathan,
you can keep your climbers. i couldn't get rid of mine fast enough when i got out of "pole school".  give me a nice sturdy ladder. ;D
i have a MBT pole tag & a WE sticker off a bay in a CO
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: jsowers on August 24, 2009, 10:32:33 PM
Quote from: Dennis Markham on August 24, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
Jonathan, that is an interesting tree.  I tried on several occasions to buy some of those little Princess phones (key chains) but always got outbid.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on them.  But you have little model 500's too.  What else is on there?  What's the green 500 in the background??  Is that an Ivory phone in the foreground?  What you need is one of those color wheels from the 60's that illuminate the tree.

I think I have one glass bell (to signify the Bell System) and there are Princess, Trimline and 500 keychains and one flat Princess keychain from 1959 that was a souvenir from visiting the Shadeland Works in Indianapolis, where WE made the phones I collect. The 500 keychains are the hardest to find and come in all the 1954-59 soft plastic colors. I haven't found dark blue or brown yet. And I don't spend a fortune on them. I don't think I've spent more than $5 or so for the 500 ones and more like $1 or $2 for the others. I haven't gotten any recently.

The tree is only 3' tall, but I think somewhere in mom's attic is one of those color wheel things. We never had an aluminum tree when I was a kid, but she does have two complete trees in the box in her attic, bought from auction sales.

The ivory phone is a 1954 ivory with a matching straight handset cord, I think. I cropped out almost everything but the tree, but Dennis, you can spot soft plastic with one eye closed. :) The green promo on the shelf behind is an AE 80 with a mismatched handset. I did manage to find a green handset that matched on another promo with a broken base, so it's no longer mismatched. This was taken in 2007.

And to GPO706, I've never gone to see a shrink, so who knows? I was just trying to find a way to display all those keychains and I put the tree on display each December when I have visitors. I also collect old blown glass German Christmas ornaments and almost every type of Christmas lights you could think of. So maybe it makes more sense when viewed as the intersection of two collections. Or maybe I'm totally off my bean? I do have my full-size fir tree and the best part of my phone collection in the same room at Christmas. I think "mad" fits a lot of us around here! I've been a nut about Christmas since childhood.

Back to the topic at hand, I also collect the promo phones they gave away when you bought someone a present of phone service. They were also turned into music boxes and penholders and such by novelty companies and Junior Achievement. Most are 500s and Princesses, but there are a few 2500 promos out there.

I have another promo collection that has to be extremely rare. I've only seen the ones I have and no others. They're chalkware and made into the shape of a 500 set with little Bell System number cards and painted in the early colors. The handsets are separate and they all have the manual dial insert (no fingerwheels). I can attach a picture of them tomorrow.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: McHeath on August 24, 2009, 11:22:03 PM
The Christmas Tree Of Phones™ wins the prize for best phoneia moment, in my opinion.  We should put that on our site during the coming holiday season. 
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Jester on August 25, 2009, 07:54:43 PM


The 500 keychains are the hardest to find and come in all the 1954-59 soft plastic colors. I haven't found dark blue or brown yet.



Jonathan,

I just started picking up those 500 fobs a few months ago myself.  I have eleven different colors so far, including dark gray & dark brown.  I don't have dark blue, but am on the lookout for it.  I am also looking for dark beige-- I take it from the quote above that you have one?  Also, did they include black in this set?
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: dsk on August 26, 2009, 01:59:47 AM
Quote from: gpo706 on August 22, 2009, 08:52:43 PM
I got few bits and pieces, mostly interested in the uniform items, a GPO donkey jacket, set of buttons for my brown (unused) warehouse tunic, a GPO hat metal/enamelled badge (perfect), a couple of GPO hard hats, different designs, a linesman test set, and recently a headset for it and some croc clip leads, so thats nearly complete.

A GPO staff rules book from the 60's, and an internal telephone directory.

Also bought a BT ashtray for peanuts sees much regular use in my "den".

I also collect local bus company items buts thats like a wardrobe full of kit compared to my phoneco stuff!

Very interesting, How small could a telephone company bee in the countryside?

Norway had more than 300 "companies" before the nationalization (witch wnt over a periode of more than 70 years).  Many very small, coopertive companies nearly clubs in a small parish. The lines was buildt by the members, a local switchboard at a farm located in the natural point for connecting the lines, and a line to the next wally. They shared the costs, and payed for their outbound (??) conversations.  The smallest might be as small as 15 telephones, and the local company here in Hakadal had 46 telephones when nationalization in 1946. (We are about 4000 people here today.)

dsk
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: jsowers on August 26, 2009, 09:02:09 AM
Quote from: Jester on August 25, 2009, 07:54:43 PM
I just started picking up those 500 fobs a few months ago myself.  I have eleven different colors so far, including dark gray & dark brown.  I don't have dark blue, but am on the lookout for it.  I am also looking for dark beige-- I take it from the quote above that you have one?  Also, did they include black in this set?

Jester, I do have one dark beige 500 keychain. You can see it near the bottom of the tree. The early discontinued colors are the hardest to find, as with the real phones. Though for some reason dark blue has been very elusive in keychains. I have never seen one in black and have also never seen a 500 promo (those little music box-penholder things) in black. I do have a black 500 promo in chalkware, though. I'll post it in a separate post in a few minutes.

Down near the bottom of Paul's 500 set page, just above the color info, there is a small picture of a whole set of the 500-type keychains in the first eight colors. It's titled WE 1953-4 Colors.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: jsowers on August 26, 2009, 09:29:05 AM
Below are some very unusual promos I got on eBay in 2005. I haven't seen any others like them.  They look a little homemade, but they have blue Bell System logo number cards on them. My guess is they were used in the early days to promote the new color phones because some are two-tones and some are solid color, though one is black for whatever reason. They seem to be made of plaster. Something like old chalkware figurines. They're quite heavy for their size. The handsets are removable and have two prongs in them that mate up with two holes in the cradle. The base is hollowed out a little and the dial face is a separate casting and attached with a nut from the number card assembly. Or I assume it's done that way. I haven't tried taking them apart. One of the handsets is broken in two, but that's the only major damage.

I assume they must have been made in all the colors for some display and they could be only one person's idea, which is why I haven't seen any others, ever, in ten years of looking. Has anyone ever seen any others?

The colors, from left to right, are dark beige, red two-tone, black, ivory two-tone and dark brown. The second and third pictures are of the dark brown promo. I also included a shot of a dark beige 500 (an unfinished phone) to show the color matches and the relative size. I think it's funny they even cut the feet of the phone in the same general shape as the real feet.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 26, 2009, 10:21:41 AM
Jonathan, those are definitely "cool" and a very nice find.  I have not seen anything like them before.  I noticed that the handsets have the groove like the G1 handset even though as we all know the G3 (colored handsets) do not have the groove.  I wonder if these were some type of prototype model for future colors??  I especially like the two-tone sets as I have two-tone 500's in both of those colors.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on August 26, 2009, 04:52:00 PM
Those are really nice, wish GPO had made something similar.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 29, 2009, 12:26:45 AM
Here are a couple of items that I picked up along the way.  They were not purchased together but both advertise the 8 "new" colors.  The pocket calendar is from 1955...hmmm, a good year.  The accompanying match book also mentions the 8 colors.  Both items ironically from Southern Bell.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Jester on August 29, 2009, 02:01:56 PM
This picture shows my assortment of Bell System advertising & promotional items--& some extra stuff.  It may appear that you're seeing double with the trimline keychains.  That is because each color was offered with either a rotary handset or a ten button one-- just like the real phones!  There are seven different colors these were offered in that I know of-- I am missing one in moss green, and I only have the rotary version of light yellow.  The hardhat-shaped bottle opener is an interesting item, & I really like the D1 shaped paperweight from Northern Electric.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 29, 2009, 05:44:24 PM
Nice stuff Stephen.  How long has it taken you to accumulate those items?
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Jester on August 29, 2009, 06:36:32 PM
Dennis,
The picture above is about twenty years of collecting, but many items are very recent additions.  I've had most of the princess keychains forever, and one or two of the trimline keychains I found on ebay eight or nine years ago.  I found all eleven 500 keychains & the other trimline keychains over a 3 month period beginning in March.  The light gray pen holder is also recent.  It came from Oklahoma City, and the pen is marked Southwestern Bell.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: McHeath on August 29, 2009, 07:22:55 PM
Cool collection.  I've never seen most of this stuff. 
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 29, 2009, 07:23:09 PM
Stephen, those are some very nice things that you have collected over the years.  It's funny how collector's tastes often parallel.  One of the first things I bought when I started buying telephones was a Bell hard hat from Ohio.  Don't ask me why because I can't give a reasonable answer.  In addition to the match book and calender above, I also picked up a couple of those model 500 replicas that are pen holders.  I also have one Princess and a 500 music box.  Your collection has prompted me to post the accompanying photographs of one of the 500's.  It was apparently a gift to an employee of Southwestern Bell Tel. Co.  The handset reads:

Mrs. Hellen Binkley
5 years perfect attendence
Southwestern Bell Tel Co

I can't believe that someone would sell this keepsake on eBay.  One would think the family of Mrs. Binkley would want to keep it.  But I bought it off eBay because I thought it was unique.  On the bottom, molded into the plastic it says Mastercraft, Inc.  Tel-O-Pen, Monterey, Calif.  There is a sticker on the bottom for $3.95, F.E. Tax Included.  This one is relatively heavy and solid, unlike another that is hollow underneath and very lightweight.  It may have been a music box too but the internal parts are missing.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Jester on August 29, 2009, 08:34:47 PM
Dennis,
That is a nice looking pen holder.  I haven't seen one with printing on the handset before.  I also wonder why family members get rid of keepsakes like that.  I've been known to buy little trinkets my parents described to me just because they sounded interesting, so I doubt I'd get rid of something related to their work history.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: benhutcherson on August 29, 2009, 08:56:31 PM
A local antique shop has a Bell system first aide kit that I've been eyeing. It's a tin box with about a dozen separate smaller boxes holding the individual items, all with the bell logo on them.

I've also seen a couple of Bell system "not for sale" kerosine cans over the years, none of which I've bought but have certainly tempted me.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 29, 2009, 09:36:59 PM
I wonder if this is Hellen Binkley (from the Model 500 above).  That is an unusual spelling of the name Helen.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=120886160

Would Missouri fall within  Southwestern Bell territory?
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Jester on August 29, 2009, 11:26:08 PM
Dennis,
I'm pretty sure Missouri was Southwestern Bell territory, & I seem to recall reading that Kansas City was headquarters for this regional part of the Bell System.  I have an aunt & uncle who went to work for Southwestern Bell here in Beaumont in the early 80's.  The aunt eventually quit to raise the kids, but my uncle still works for the telco in Houston.  There was a book offered to Southwestern Bell employees that chronicled the growth of regional phone service over the first 100 years.  They let me borrow it years ago, & I have yet to return it!  I need to lay my hands on that thing.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Dennis Markham on August 29, 2009, 11:56:11 PM
That would be interesting Stephen, if Mrs Binkley's name appeared in your book.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: gpo706 on September 12, 2009, 02:19:31 PM
More bitz and bobs:

Another hat!:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270449104520&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
     ( dead link - no image attached in 2009 )

Call locker:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330355276251&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
     ( dead link - no image attached in 2009 )

Old-new number sheet:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390081114944&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
     ( dead link - no image attached in 2009 )
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Greg G. on April 24, 2014, 11:52:12 PM
I've come a long ways since my last post in this thread.

Phone company related artifacts:

Bell System Lantern glass.

Bell System Almanacs:

1925, 1928, 1930-41, 1943, 1952-53, 1961.

Bell System pen.

Bell System toy truck.

1928 AT&T Annual Report.

Not directly related to telephone company:

1939 and 1941 Seattle phone books.

Auburn toy telephone company truck.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on April 01, 2019, 09:11:48 PM
These count?
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on April 05, 2019, 07:01:05 PM
A couple more
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: andre_janew on April 06, 2019, 03:10:24 PM
I have a box of safety pins and the Bell logo is on the box!
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on April 06, 2019, 06:13:43 PM
Western Electric fans in small, medium, and large.
And the ceiling fan too!
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on July 06, 2019, 05:12:42 PM
A little more of my stash.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: AT2796 on July 07, 2019, 12:16:51 PM
What is the little black and white manhole cover?
Key chain, coaster?
Way back when I was a new splicer in San Francisco, I got a manhole job right about on the "border" of the tenderloin and financial district. I looked for this stupid hole for hours, I found a power hole, sewer, water, steam and this stupid square lid that said "TPT&Tco".
Finally gave up and called my boss and was promptly corrected!
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Doug Rose on July 07, 2019, 12:50:37 PM
It is a coaster. It is very hard to find....Doug

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=16122.msg166902#msg166902
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on July 07, 2019, 01:45:49 PM
Quote from: AT2796 on July 07, 2019, 12:16:51 PM
What is the little black and white manhole cover?
Key chain, coaster?
Way back when I was a new splicer in San Francisco, I got a manhole job right about on the "border" of the tenderloin and financial district. I looked for this stupid hole for hours, I found a power hole, sewer, water, steam and this stupid square lid that said "TPT&Tco".
Finally gave up and called my boss and was promptly corrected!

Paperweight
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on July 09, 2019, 06:02:00 PM
Here's a little more.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Key2871 on July 09, 2019, 08:07:17 PM
Very nice collection. I used to have a bunch of things, but I ran out of room for a lot of it. But I still have the brass belt buckle, and a spa is vault door marked Nynex, that's NOS, I have so little now I actually miss a lot of it.
But it's cool to look at these pictures for the memories of what I once had.
Title: Re: Anyone collect old phone company ephemera?
Post by: Whitcrane76 on October 17, 2019, 11:53:09 PM
Dug these out today.