Dark Brown Two-Tone Stromberg-Carlson 1543

[unbeldi]

Here is a two-tone Stromberg-Carlson 1543 in the desirable color dark brown, very much like the brown that is often called Mahogany Brown on the WeCo sets. I thought this was a nice opportunity to get a complement to the brown WE-564H set I showed earlier.

This set is quite beautiful in its own right with this dark color contrast to the black. SC followed the Western Electric tactic and produced some two-tone sets, at least in the early years of the model line. Like WE's sets, the set is basically a black set but has a brown housing.

I think the 1543 series of the SC telephones are very pretty telephones and the market place seems to have supported that notion as this model was made well into the mid 1960s, until Stromberg-Carlson finally switched to the licensed WeCo 500 design.

This set is a fairly early model (Feb 1956), judging also by several characteristics. The feet are of the larger,  trapezoidal (a cut-off triangle) shape. Later models had round feet that did not protrude out at the corners under the housing. A second indication is the old style of lettering on the dial number plate. The letter groups, including the "OPERATOR" label are arranged on a straight horizontal line above the numerals, instead of the peripheral arrangement later. Like the large feet, this dial style was used on the 1443 model line. The 1443 model line may be seen as a transitional telephone from the earlier 1243-series sets and was apparently only produced for a short period sometime from the early to the mid-1950s.

The number plate on this 1543 is black enameled metal, while later models used a similar process as WE's 500s. My 1443 has a plastic version, with paint backing.  The dial mechanism itself however, is a D-type (DE-212), rather than the original CE-212, which is still marked on the cover. It was apparently exchanged in the field in 1959.

The phone has a Bakelite handset molded in the new 1543-style shape, but still uses the same receiver and transmitter elements of the 1243 and 1443 models, which both featured a little bulkier handset.  The later 1543 sets were made with light, hollow plastic handles and used elements that were essentially the same as those of the WE-500 sets, using a different network as well.

The phone rings nicely at 33 1/3 Hz, while the clapper barely moves at 20 or even 25Hz.

The housing is molded from a thermoplastic material that appears very similar to the Tenite of the early colored Western Electric 500 sets, indeed even similar to the colored 302s. However, it is lacking the distinct smell of the early colored 500s, and appears to be immune to the shrinkage problems of the 302s.  I suspect that Stromberg-Carlson used a different line of Tenite, if this is Tenite at all.  As far as I could find documentation, there were (and are) 3 principally different types of Tenite from the Eastman Kodak company. But the plastic could certainly come from another source of cellulose acetate, it was not only made by Kodak.

Some of the differences in the development of the 1500 series may be seen in the comparison picture of a black 1443 (left), this brown 1543 (center), and a 1546 in pink (right). The 1546 is externally indistinguishable from a 1543 of the same exact vintage.

==Data==
Base: 1543FK 33 1/3~ 6 06  (Feb 1956)
Housing: dark brown Tenite plastic
Handset: Bakelite, black, 210280 in rx cup (No. 26)
RX: 210278 647 (Nov 1956)
TX: S.C.CO. 210279
Handset cord: h/w coiled black
Dial: 606-CE-212 (on cover), 29-59 DE 212 (on dial); Type D dial with black metro plate
Number ring: metal with black enamel, white lettering, straight line print
Finger wheel: Lucite, with chrome card holder, card, and celluloid window
Ringer: 83F-33 1/3  4-63; capacitor: 202858-465; (original ringer should have been 73F).
Network: potted, 210558
Line cord: h/w, 3-conductor (R,G,Y) cut off at 2"
Condition: nice
circuit/wiring diagram sheet folded and stored under switch hook assembly

[AE40FAN]

I love these earlier Stromberg models.  You have some very nice examples!

[unbeldi]

I love these earlier Stromberg models.  You have some very nice examples!

Thank you. They are fun, and in a way challenging technically.
First of all, I think close to everyone of mine has a different ringer. And secondly, SC made so many different versions of the potted network, that one has to wonder how efficient the use of them really was. The idea of manufacturing and maintenance  efficiency was that the potted networks were common and needed only be adapted by external connections. Perhaps a bit of over-engineering in evidence here, but they were on the cutting edge, being at least 3 years ahead of WeCo in the use of an all-in-one network.

The 1443, 1444 versions of these seem to be the rarest of them all, but go for pennies when you can find them. I got a set of four 1444s one time for $14, and the 1443 was somewhere there too.