VINTAGE CANDLESTICK PHONE

[Sargeguy]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150932853852


Appears to be a Western Electric "Hershey's Kiss" screw shaft with OST receiver once used as an intercom.  Of course it is the super rare "double screw" shaft with two screws in the front instead of one in the side.


Can anyone ID the transmitter

[wds]

Pretty sure that's a GPO transmitter.  Can't quite place the rest of the stick.

[Sargeguy]

The rest of the stick is, I assume, a Western Electric base, shaft and Hershey's kiss perch that were sold to an independent and used to build an intercom.  I am fairly sure that WE parts sold to other companies in that period (1900-1907) did not have WE markings.

[Sargeguy]

Well, I was correct that it was a Hershey's kiss perch, and it does have a knurled thumbscrew, but it's not a WE.  I hope the next owner will enjoy it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261128712891

[AE_Collector]

Well you almost got your money back on it. I'm confused though, I would think it was worth more than $149 for the parts?

Terry

[Sargeguy]

I am not sure how much its worth for parts since it isn't a Western Electric. I priced it based upon what the next highest bid to my winning bid was.  I needed to replenish the phone fund ASAP so I could pay for the cracked green 304.  I overdrew the fund to buy the NET&T two-boxer yesterday.  It was still a little week from the two-boxer I bought last week.  I just need to stop looking on eBay for a while.  It's definitely a buyer's market, and there are some real nice phones coming out of the woodwork.

[wds]

How many times is this phone going to change hands?  I think this makes 3 in the last month?

http://tinyurl.com/baoakhy

$292

[sebbel]

I like how that first buyer stole it at 151$, kept the receiver which arguably worth the 151$ alone. And resold the phone for a whooping 292$... Gotta love ebay.

[Sargeguy]

$292!!!  I guess the next buyer did enjoy it, at least when he re-sold it!  

I hate to break it to him, but that wasn't a Western Electric OST receiver.

Does anyone have any idea what this phone really is?  

[wds]

I still think it's an old GPO telephone.  Possibly one made by WE for GPO.  This one might have been a keeper.

[Sargeguy]

I was thinking along those lines too, but I was not convinced.  The parts are superficially similar to WE but less "robust".  Everything is a little thinner and not as well made as WE stuff I am used to.  The perch, knurled nut, and hook are all smaller, but different sizes from similar WE stuff.  The receiver is an inch or so longer than the 122 OST and the terminals on top are similar but not the same.    The overall impression is of a "Knock-off" of a WE phone and not a true WE.  Is this how GPO phones made by WE are?  Regardless, I only collect Bell System phones so this one had to go.  $292 would have been nicer than $150 though!

[wds]

I had made a post a while back about a Deveau phone that used WE parts.  The base was stamped Western Electric and dated 1904, but was made out of cheaper steel, not brass.  Maybe someday someone will be able to properly ID that stick.

[Sargeguy]

I have some WE parts from 1904 that were used in intercoms that are actually nicer, in terms of quality of nickel plating holding up over time, than their Bell System counterparts,  I wonder if the companies using the parts bought the brass parts and plated them?  Or if they just mandated standards to WE.  The steel parts are probably the result of the negotiations with DeVeau i.e. "the only way we can meet that price is if we use steel instead of brass" This type of thing happens all the time with Home Depot and Wal-Mart and other big retailers.  When I worked in manufacturing for Hasbro we would have versions for different retailers that would specify such things as dimensions of the box, amount of Play-Doh in the cans, etc.  I'm sure WE would tailor its components to a clients' needs if there was $$$ to be made.