Hello Folks,
I've seen a couple of other threads along the same lines, so thought that I'd come along and show off my own meager collection.
1) Some colored 500 sets(the one on the far left is actually marked AT&T, although most parts are from the '60s)
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0696.jpg)
2) A Butt Set, which is a surprisingly useful thing to have
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0702.jpg)
3) Another late-model 500, and an AE80
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0697.jpg)
4) A pair of older 500s, including my '52 set on the left
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0698.jpg)
5) A non-dial early 500, a 5302(with the wrong dial plate), and a pair of 564HD key phones
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0695.jpg)
6) A pair of 554s
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0693.jpg)
(More images of phone in my next post)
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=136.msg980#msg980
Nice, I can see you're a 500 series fan
It's a great collection! I saw a green 500 like yours today in an antique store, they wanted 60 bucks for it, but yours is way nicer. I really like the 500 series, nice clean modern lines, solid, mature technology, stable as bricks, comfortable to use, simple to use, good sound quality, made in a wide selection of colors. Don't think we will ever again see any phone series made for 57 years essentially unchanged, which is the sign of a good design from the start. (Geesh, if a cell phone design is made for 6 months it's a grandpa) With a touch tone adaptor a 500 can navigate the wide wooly world of the 21st century, it's really a remarkable piece of engineering, an apex of good design and worth collecting. And unlike a 57' Chevy or 49' Mercury the model 500 is an affordable piece of historic American design.
Personally, I like the AE-80. I think they're an unappreciated, undervalued design. To me they look like a W.E. 500 that a custom shop worked their magic on...like those hot-rod '49 Mercs! They've chopped and channeled it, and shaved of all the bumps. They look race-ready! :D
I'm the first to admit that I don't understand the fascination with 500 sets. But that's OK - to each his own, as they say.
Around here, anyway, antique stores and antique malls, as well as Antiques Shoppes, seem to be awash in 500 sets. Mostly black, of course, but not all. My question would be this, and if someone can help me with an answer, I'd be grateful. Are there particular colors or styles or dates or whatever that would make one more valuable to a collector? If so, I could snap it up, and since I have no interest in 500 sets, could pass it on here.
Bill
More of my phones, as promised above:
1) Two more older 500s-left all from '55, the right a US Army Signal Corp set from the early '60s
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0694.jpg)
2) A nice mid-'60s 500 set, my second old phone, and the one that really got me hooked on 500s
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0703.jpg)
3) A pair of 302s
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0704.jpg)
4) The one that started it all for me, an AE40
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0705.jpg)
5) 40AL candlestick
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0707-1.jpg)
6) And, finally, probably the best telephone I own, a 151AL dial candlestick
(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee204/ben10ben/IMG_0701.jpg)
Thanks folks for looking
===================================
Thanks folks for the comments and compliments.
Bill,
As far as 500 sets go, let me see if I can explain my interest in them:
1. First of all, the 500 set, having a rather long production life, as well as such a wide distribution, and being a relatively flexible design, has a whole lot of variations in color, assembly style, and in additional features. There are enough variations, no matter how subtle or obvious, to keep a collector busy for years trying to assemble a representative collection that even is near complete.
2. Since, to many folks, a 500 set isn't exactly old or collectible, they can often be had relatively inexpensively. This is an important consideration to me, as a college student with limited income.
3. They're just good, solid workhorse telephones that almost always work. When something does need to be fixed, they're easy to work on and easy to find parts for.
As far as what to look for:
Any 500 set made before 1960, especially if the date codes on all the parts match.
Along those same lines, I tend to buy any 500 set I find with a metal fingerwheel, provided that it's not too expensive. The metal fingerwheels continued on into the mid-60s.
Colored sets made of soft plastic are always a good investment. These, of course, would be the older sets.
Any set in red, pink, or blue is good. Again, the older the better.
Finally, anything in some sort of non-standard configuration would be good to snap up. This would include two line phones, key phones, or anything else along those same lines.
Yep, I agree with the above. Now I'm no collector of 500 sets myself. Though, if a nice pre-1960 sets crosses my path, it may get snatched up. Especially if it's red or blue. I agree, those are probably the most desired colors.
No right or wrong in this hobby. Collect what fancies you. That's what it's all about ;)
I'm always on the lookout for 2 kinds of 500 sets, the oldest and newest possible. If I could get a black 49' model and a black 06' model that would be pretty cool, but alas in that I've never seen any older than early 50's. Saw a nice 53' model yesterday, all the dates matched in the handset to the base, and it was very very clean, even the bells still shined and it still had what looked like the original phone number card. They wanted 45 dollars for it, which felt like too much, seeing as how I'm bailing out Wallstreet and all, I've got a busy financial week ahead. ;)
Someone I read once commented on how people often tend to collect things from their grandparents era, and probably newer stuff like the 500 may fit that description. Collecting certainly has a lot of personal factors involved that make it a very individual taste activity, I might be willing to part with serious money over something that another will literally toss out with the trash.
McHeath;
One mans trash.....
It amazes me when I click on an auction that says very old phone, and it has push buttons.
D/P
Yeah that's true, I've seen "really old phone" that turns out to be a late 80's 2500. Lots of young folks see those as vintage phones eh? They grew up with the throwaway cordless models of the last 20 years, and our Endless Cell Phone Treadmill of Fun™, so a 2500 is a classic to them.
nice collection, i like it
I just learned something here. It appears that a "Butt Set" is the lineman's handset. I'd always had a desire for one, and last year, in a local flea market, there were two of them,in different spaces, on the same day, and both priced at $10.00 . I bought them both.
They are much older than the red one shown above. One is in a rubber case. I sort of expect that they'll both work, only because that old WE equipmant rarely DOESN'T work!
Quote from: Doug Houston on September 28, 2008, 11:46:11 PM
I just learned something here. It appears that a "Butt Set" is the lineman's handset. I'd always had a desire for one, and last year, in a local flea market, there were two of them,in different spaces, on the same day, and both priced at $10.00 . I bought them both.
They are much older than the red one shown above. One is in a rubber case. I sort of expect that they'll both work, only because that old WE equipment rarely DOESN'T work!
How about some photos, Doug? We all want to see your butt sets! :o
Doug,
Yes, "Butt" set is sort of a slang term for a Lineman's handset. I've heard differing stories on just why they're called that. One source indicated that they were named after the guy who invented them, another that they allowed the lineman to "butt in" to a conversation, and a third that indicated that it was named as such because linemen wore it over their butt.
Anyway, the one I have is relatively recent. I believe that it's from about '82 or so. These later model subsets are internally very similar to a Trimline telephone. As you can see, they share the same dial mechanism(with the floating fingerstop) with Trimlines. I've seen this particular model subset for sale in blue, and even occasionally in green.
I'm guessing, Doug, that yours probably have a small dial on them, which can be dialed by inserting a straight pin or a pencil. I've also seen several in black rubber that didn't have any dial at all.
And, as I said above, I believe that a butt set can be one of the most useful items in any telephone collectors collection. They're just the thing for helping to troubleshoot when the telephone service goes out at your house, or when you have a bad jack. They're also useful when hooking up an old telephone to see if the line cord is live.
Many thanks for the kind responses about the 500 sets. McHeath, you're right about people collecting things from their grandparents' day. That's probably why I don't appreciate 500 sets - being old, I grew up with them, so what's the big deal?
Many years ago, I acquired the butt set in this pic. This is an early Type 1011 Test Set Phone, the one in the rubber case with pins on the dial, not the later BECO one with the larger 500-style dial. It was grubby then, still is, but like all WE equipment, you can't kill it, and I've used it a lot.
Bill
[Oops! "The upload folder is full." The photo is 800 x 600, 82K, so it ought to go ... Wassup, Mark? I'll try again later.]
Quote from: Bill on September 29, 2008, 09:53:56 AM
[Oops! "The upload folder is full." The photo is 800 x 600, 82K, so it ought to go ... Wassup, Mark? I'll try again later.]
YE GODS!!! I'm on it...
...fixed! ;)
Both of the instruments I have are equipped with full size dials. I don't know if I've seen one with a small dial. Now, the next task will be to find out how to insert pictures on this page. It looks easy, but.....
Quote from: Doug Houston on September 29, 2008, 07:39:14 PM
Both of the instruments I have are equipped with full size dials. I don't know if I've seen one with a small dial. Now, the next task will be to find out how to insert pictures on this page. It looks easy, but.....
Take a look at my post on inserting images into messages, and let me know if you still have trouble.
The post is
here (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=19.0).
- Mark
Quote from: Bill on September 29, 2008, 09:53:56 AMMany years ago, I acquired the butt set in this pic. This is an early Type 1011 Test Set Phone, the one in the rubber case with pins on the dial, not the later BECO one with the larger 500-style dial.
Here's the photo I mentioned earlier. Thanks, Mark.
Never had a butt set, but I've coveted them since I was about 8 and first saw one in action. What could be cooler than a James Bondish, well back in the day, gizmo that allows you to tap into the phone lines and make sneak calls? Someday in a fit of weakness I will seize one.
I also coveted to have one, like you mcheath, butt sets are cool gizmo's back in the days
Have several. Just like the one above, or the later hard rubber models using the #5 and #6 dials. Also the later plastic ones in both rotary & TT. The black hard rubber sets using the #5 dial always remind of Mr Douglas in Green Acres. Remember he had to climb the pole to answer the phone. They had one sitting at the top ;D
Quote from: BDM on September 30, 2008, 08:16:10 AMThe black hard rubber sets using the #5 dial always remind of Mr Douglas in Green Acres. Remember he had to climb the pole to answer the phone. They had one sitting at the top ;D
I had forgotten about that! It's been years since I've watched that show. In fact, I haven't seen it since the shows initial run! Better go get a DVD set or two...
They are incredibly cheap on ebay. The same model as the one in my picture went for $12 yesterday. There is another one coming up that probably won't do any better because the dial needs to be lubed.
Bill
This 1011 butt set has not gotten a single bid yet. It is going to disappear at 5PM Pacific time today. It is not mine - I have no connection to this auction or this seller.
230296412464
Bill
Here's another I just pulled out of the woodwork, a working 50AL. I bought this one some time in the late 80s. The number card is for a Detroit area exchange. TYLER
(http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/d/79932-1/50AL.jpg)
Nice phone. Is it original??
Bill Cahill
Quote from: Bill Cahill on October 06, 2008, 03:52:38 AM
Nice phone. Is it original??
Bill Cahill
Far as I can tell. This is another one of those estate sale finds. Family cleaning out the home of a deceased relative. I think I paid $20. I have the subset with it also, though the coil in the subset seems to be bad. I removed the badly frayed line-cord.
Nice collection Ben! The WE 151AL leaves me speechless. :o
Couple of questions: You said the lineman's set comes in handy. What all do you use it for? I was thinking of getting an older WE lineman's set and it I'd like ideas of how it could be used.
And, did anyone ever find a source for the foot base (rubber?) for AE 40's? I need one. Thanks for any info, -Matt
Matt,
There are a couple of situations where I use my butt set.
One of the most common is in troubleshooting a telephone. Let's say, for example, that I connect a telephone, and don't get a dial tone. I can, using the butt set, clip on to the L1 and L2 terminals inside the phone, and check for a dial tone. If I get one there, I know the problem is somewhere in the phone. If I don't get one, I know that the problem is in the jack or line cord. I can then trace my way from there, and, in some cases, isolate the exact location of the problem with the use of a butt set.
Of course, it's useless past the network, but very useful up to there.
With as many telephones as I have hooked up and working, I'm constantly jerry-rigging ways of connecting them. The butt set is the easiest way to test whether or not a set-up is going to work.
Finally, if you're telephone service goes out, the butt set is the easiest thing to take out to the interface box. Pop the "customer" side of the box open, and clamp the butt set on to the red and green wires. If you get a dial tone, you know the problems in your household wiring. You can then go from jack-to-jack with your butt set, and trace down where the problem is(most newer houses, at least, have the jacks connected in a big daisy chain, so bad household wiring can affect a varying number of jacks).
Also, the service will go out if bare red and green wires get crossed(as can sometimes happen with an old phone connected), so you can unplug your network wiring from the box(via a modular plug), and then check for a dial tone. This sort of situation, incidentally, is where I was first introduced to a lineman using a butt set.
Thanks Ben. Good info. One more question: Could a modular jack be put on a butt set and the set be used as a regular phone (with no ringer, I assume). If so, how would it be wired: (Red and black from butt set to red and green in jack?)
On another note, have you ever found a source for the rubber base on an AE 40? -Matt
Matt,
Sorry, I'd fully intended to answer the AE40 base gasket question.
I have yet to find a source for them. There were some reports on here a while back of reproductions being available from somewhere, but I'm not sure if the source was ever located. The gasket on mine is serviceable, but definitely could stand to be replaced. If I run across replacements, I'll probably replace mine, but until then I'm leaving it as is.
It would certainly be possible to put a modular jack on a butt set. If I were to do that, I would probably open it up, and connect it internally. The red and green wires would connect where the red and black wires were. I would then save the original cord, as it would allow it to be returned to its original configuration really easily.
I make my own modular mounting cords for old phones all the time by taking standard modular patch cord(gray or white, usually), chopping one of the modular plugs off, stripping back the outer insulation, and putting spade terminations on the red and green wires(or the center two wires if the wires aren't color coded. I can often pick up a big bag of patch cords from yard sales for a dollar or two, so the cost of them is insignificant. I then buy insulation piercing spade lugs from Radio Shack-I pay about $2 for 24.
Matt,
To better illustrate what I'm talking about, here's a series of photos illustrating what I'm talking about.
First, the making of a modular-to-spade cord from a common patch cord
And, now, showing the installation in my Butt set.
First, I show the removal of the screws(two in the rubber grip, and one under the belt clip), followed by opening the case, and then connecting the cord.
Thanks Ben, The pictures really do help.
I just picked up a cheap WE butt set from the 1970s in good shape to play around with.
-Matt
Thats a really nice collection! Especially those old ones.
Ben