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Now the Story Can be Told - 1949 WECo 500 Set

Started by Dan/Panther, March 20, 2010, 11:08:11 PM

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Jim Stettler

Sucker............
I expect to see some of your best work now.
You did great on the restore.
Now lets see what you can create............ ;D
Best wishes,
Jim
PS I will wait a week or so before sending this. I am still looking for that other item I think I have. Don't hold your breathe tho.
Plus that gives you some planning time.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

gpo706

Hehehe Jim lays down the gauntlet, actualy a half and half dremelled case seems rather daunting, but seeing how you handled the fingerwheel would be well capable with your skills D/P.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Jim Stettler

Quote from: gpo706 on April 09, 2010, 12:12:38 AM
Hehehe Jim lays down the gauntlet, actualy a half and half dremelled case seems rather daunting, but seeing how you handled the fingerwheel would be well capable with your skills D/P.
That's my thought,
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Jester

I'm thinking an old fashioned coping saw will give you better control through this material.
Stephen

Dan/Panther

The wheels are staring to spin. Can you imagine if the areas were cut from the shell, and Ray kotke could put the cut down shell, in his mold and fill in the blank area with his resin. Now that would look superb.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Jester on April 09, 2010, 12:27:20 AM
I'm thinking an old fashioned coping saw will give you better control through this material.
I was thinking a fine tooth jewelers saw. That is my first guess, D/P has 1-2 week to evaluate thoughts. Once he has it in his possesion it is up to him on   how and when to proceed. No pressure here. :o
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

McHeath

Wow, it's a phone again!!!

Many thanks to Jim S for donating that shell and handset, that's quite the find in themselves, a shell and handset from 1950.  Of course I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that 48' shell, it's got to be in a pile of discards someplace eh? :)

This has really been a great thread, we've all gotten to share in a history making moment, the finding of what is perhaps the only surviving 1948 field trial Western Electric model 500.  Many of us have at least one 500 laying about, and it's arguably the most important telephone of the second half of the 20th century.  (with contenders in the GPO 706 series and the AE 80, to name just a couple)  

We will never see the like again, a phone that was years in the development, a no expensive spared project that set new standards for ease of use, ergonomics, and reliable service.  A phone that is still in production today by Cortelco, albeit without a dial and only in red.  The G series handset of the 500 is the ubiquitous symbol of telephony that we encounter daily, it's on signs for payphones, on many of our cell phones as the "send" symbol, and still in mass production by a myriad of companies making WE 2500 and 2554 clones.  The ringer sound of the 500 is legendary as well.  I've read that at least 150 million were made and some sources claim as many as 200 million by all makers.

And D/P has the oldest one!  

That is an extraordinary thing to be able to claim, I have a couple of dozen 500s, and we see them all the time at thrift stores and the like, most are nothing all that special.  We justifiably get excited about the rare ones, the Med blue with it's original gray cords, or the yellow soft plastic, or a 1950 with the word operator curved under the 0.  But then to have the grandfather of them all, the rarest of the rare, by comparison the Med blue and yellow soft plastic are common as pebbles in a creek.  

Hats off to Dan for finding this phone and restoring it, by doing this you've done a real historical service for not only all phone collectors, but all students of 20th century American industrial and technological history.  And kudos to everyone who contributed new parts for this exotically rare phone!

I hope to see this phone in person someday at a show, I would drive just to get to see it in person.  


Jim Stettler

Quote from: Dan/Panther on April 09, 2010, 12:29:23 AM
The wheels are staring to spin. Can you imagine if the areas were cut from the shell, and Ray kotke could put the cut down shell, in his mold and fill in the blank area with his resin. Now that would look superb.
D/P
First you need to get Ray K. to do a 500 mold.
If you want to try that route, I can try leaning on Ray. I should be able to get him to  to listen to my argument.
I could play up the "historic glory" angle. It is worth a shot, if you want to try.

He will probably be at  Lyon's.
Regarding Lyon's, NE

I am planning on attending, I will have a clear display, but most likely won't be at it. ask my neighbors. They should be able to point me out. I will probably be wearing a "I Buy telephones" hat.
If any forum members attend , stop by and say hi. (I mean this sincerly)
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Dan/Panther

Jester;
Yes, and then with a dremel drum sander, to finish it smooth.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jester

Stephen

Dan

Dan, I could use my fine dental drill on that shell and cut it perfectly. You could mark it with a grey sharpie where you want the cuts to go. I could leave the polishing to you (post cutting). If you are near the Springfield Ohio  show on May 15 we could meet up there and save on shipping. Let me know
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dan/Panther

#626
McHeath;
Very well said. I sit here and just stare at the phone.  I realize how significant this phone is, and how much I feel it an honor to have it. I have to start to figuring out how I can get this out so others can see it.

Dan;
That would make things easier.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jim Stettler

Quote from: McHeath on April 09, 2010, 12:53:13 AM
Wow, it's a phone again!!!

Many thanks to Jim S for donating that shell and handset, that's quite the find in themselves, a shell and handset from 1950.  Of course I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that 48' shell, it's got to be in a pile of discards someplace eh? :)

This has really been a great thread, we've all gotten to share in a history making moment, the finding of what is perhaps the only surviving 1948 field trial Western Electric model 500.  Many of us have at least one 500 laying about, and it's arguably the most important telephone of the second half of the 20th century.  (with contenders in the GPO 706 series and the AE 80, to name just a couple)  

We will never see the like again, a phone that was years in the development, a no expensive spared project that set new standards for ease of use, ergonomics, and reliable service.  A phone that is still in production today by Cortelco, albeit without a dial and only in red.  The G series handset of the 500 is the ubiquitous symbol of telephony that we encounter daily, it's on signs for payphones, on many of our cell phones as the "send" symbol, and still in mass production by a myriad of companies making WE 2500 and 2554 clones.  The ringer sound of the 500 is legendary as well.  I've read that at least 150 million were made and some sources claim as many as 200 million by all makers.

And D/P has the oldest one!  

That is an extraordinary thing to be able to claim, I have a couple of dozen 500s, and we see them all the time at thrift stores and the like, most are nothing all that special.  We justifiably get excited about the rare ones, the Med blue with it's original gray cords, or the yellow soft plastic, or a 1950 with the word operator curved under the 0.  But then to have the grandfather of them all, the rarest of the rare, by comparison the Med blue and yellow soft plastic are common as pebbles in a creek.  

Hats off to Dan for finding this phone and restoring it, by doing this you've done a real historical service for not only all phone collectors, but all students of 20th century American industrial and technological history.  And kudos to everyone who contributed new parts for this exotically rare phone!

I hope to see this phone in person someday at a show, I would drive just to get to see it in person.  


Thanks Mcheath, I was just a parts supplier. Jim
Anymore tho, I question  if it is a '48 pre-production set,
obviously it appears  too early and undated to be a '49. but isn't a '48 an assumption?
I wonder if the '48 pre-production are  a missing link ( more on this thought later). The components of this set seem too early to be the parts that turned into the early production sets. I am open to it being pre-pre production. I have given this a lot of thought before I publicly stated it. I am comfortable with the notion it is pre'49 field trial, But it seems too early to really be an "official" '48 pre-production field trial set.
JMO I will try to justify it in later postings.

Regarding the G handset and ring armature receiver. It seems to be a very popular design. Probably the most copied handset ever. I ran into many "to-new" leads when I was trying to research the "ring armature handset receiver" not to notice the popularity of the basic design.

I am still pondering some of Paul's points. I have several pages of musings to date. They are leading to my pre-pre-production  thoughts. Currently these are wild speculation. I hope to have valid  arguments soon. I only mention it to open some minds to the concept.

I beleive that Dan's set is the oldest known 500 set. And that is a really cool concept.
Just my thoughts and opinions, more later,
Jim
BTW McHeath you stated some really good points.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

AET

When you say about there being 200 million of those bad boys made and D/P has the oldest, it makes me proud just to know D/P.  And Jim, it was very kind of you to send a 500 shell and handset that is older than any 500 in my collection.  Kudos on your kindness.

Quote from: McHeath on April 09, 2010, 12:53:13 AM
Wow, it's a phone again!!!

Many thanks to Jim S for donating that shell and handset, that's quite the find in themselves, a shell and handset from 1950.  Of course I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that 48' shell, it's got to be in a pile of discards someplace eh? :)

This has really been a great thread, we've all gotten to share in a history making moment, the finding of what is perhaps the only surviving 1948 field trial Western Electric model 500.  Many of us have at least one 500 laying about, and it's arguably the most important telephone of the second half of the 20th century.  (with contenders in the GPO 706 series and the AE 80, to name just a couple)  

We will never see the like again, a phone that was years in the development, a no expensive spared project that set new standards for ease of use, ergonomics, and reliable service.  A phone that is still in production today by Cortelco, albeit without a dial and only in red.  The G series handset of the 500 is the ubiquitous symbol of telephony that we encounter daily, it's on signs for payphones, on many of our cell phones as the "send" symbol, and still in mass production by a myriad of companies making WE 2500 and 2554 clones.  The ringer sound of the 500 is legendary as well.  I've read that at least 150 million were made and some sources claim as many as 200 million by all makers.

And D/P has the oldest one!  

That is an extraordinary thing to be able to claim, I have a couple of dozen 500s, and we see them all the time at thrift stores and the like, most are nothing all that special.  We justifiably get excited about the rare ones, the Med blue with it's original gray cords, or the yellow soft plastic, or a 1950 with the word operator curved under the 0.  But then to have the grandfather of them all, the rarest of the rare, by comparison the Med blue and yellow soft plastic are common as pebbles in a creek.  

Hats off to Dan for finding this phone and restoring it, by doing this you've done a real historical service for not only all phone collectors, but all students of 20th century American industrial and technological history.  And kudos to everyone who contributed new parts for this exotically rare phone!

I hope to see this phone in person someday at a show, I would drive just to get to see it in person.  


- Tom

Dan

Nice new picture Tom, a fedora is always a plus!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright