News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Birthday 500 set, dates match within 6 months of the date stamped

Started by Key2871, June 23, 2018, 08:26:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Key2871

Found a 500 ivory in nice condition, with date stamp of 55 with tenite case, all dates are either 6-55. Or 12-55. Has original handset cord, but the base cord was removed. The 7C dial has the color code marked after indication of the original dial.
The housing is marked 6 14 55 2 I'm not familiar with the system of marking there. I guess the 6 is the month, 14 the day and 55 the year, but the 2 ?. I don't know.
Looking to figure out what this set would be worth, It's not been cleaned yet, I'm going to work on that over the next few days.
No cracks, chips the base with leather feet are perfect, no rust anywhere.
KEN

RotarDad

Ken - That is a nice Tenite 500.  Any non-black Tenite 500 is harder to find now online than they were 5 years ago.  Code 50 (Ivory) is not one of uncommon colors.  it is hard to find one that hasn't darkened over time.  Yours does look pretty good, however, In your earlier post I remember seeing some color difference between the shell and the dial bezel.  Interestingly light beige and white are much harder to find in Tenite since those colors were introduced shortly before the switch to ABS plastic.  On value, hard to say with EBay, but $35-50 would be in the range I would think with a stellar example (great color, matching parts and fully restored) bringing more. Others may have additional input.....

Another comment on value:  You have collectors who are discriminating and often budget-minded, and then you have casual buyers looking for something nice and shiny.  It amazes me to often see the casual buyer pay much more for shiny than a collector might pay for a much higher quality phone.  There have been many forum discussions about this reality.......
Paul

Key2871

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. I have planed on restoring this fully can't wait to see how it comes out. At first I was going to sell this for the charity that I help out. But the lady said, Ken you do so much for us every year, why don't you just keep it if you want. So for right now I plan on that.
I've restored many a 500/2500 set in my day. And had quite an extensive collection of them.
But a divorce made me sell them off because I didn't have any room for them.
But I think that this is going to clean up nice. Around here, these just are not found anymore.
Basic sets are plenty, but older sets like this are not.
KEN

RotarDad

That was a nice gesture to give it to you.  I agree the older 500s don't show up very often anymore.  On the shell dates, you are right about day-month-year.  No one knows about that last character- the best guess I think is that it was a shift code at the plant - that digit is always a 1, 2 or 3 I believe.  No one has found the documentation to prove it though.
Paul

Key2871

Yea, I had to look real hard finding that. I was looking for crimson, but then I saw light numbers. I'm glad I saw them. I didn't know what I was going to do at first, but this is looking to be a fun project to do.
I have been doing this for the HHAA for twenty years, and every once and a while they give me some small thing that I show interest in. They get truck loads donated every year, and some of what doesn't sell they throw it away. Other stuff goes to the back of the warehouse then in a couple years comes back around again for a second chance. Before I got there, so many of these older phone's just got thrown out. That's when I would dumpster dive and take home some nice phones. Then I decided I wanted to see first hand, what they got. So I volunteered, and said I'm good with fixing stuff, phones being a specialty. It works out good for both of us.
KEN

RotarDad

Sounds like a great win-win!  On the ink stamps WE used different colors at different times. On the 500s, I think yellow was used first, then they switched to green and then the red by 1959 iirc.  Then in about 1960, they started using the molded in circular-pattern date on the shells.
Paul

Key2871

Ah, OK. That explains why it wasn't red. I've only seen green very rarely.
Thanks for the information.
KEN

Key2871

OK, so I started cleaning up the phone today, and discovered the original dial center. It's a bit rough but overall it's good.
Also discovered a crack, what's good to repair it?
I looked around here, but didn't really find anything. Also, the handset is painted, it's not super coated like some I've seen.
Does anyone have any ideas what I should do with it. Sand it, strip it, or just try to buff it off.
I'd appreciate some input on this. I've not restored anything this old to the point I want.
Here's a picture of the dial center.
KEN