Dumpster Diving

[ESalter]

Well folks, for over a year I've read all of your stories about finding amazing phones for next to nothing.  Well, it finally happened to me.  Yesterday, my dad, my daughter(year and a half), my girlfriend, and I went to an amateur radio swap meet in the Chicago region.  Found some cheap good phones(couple 500s, etc) and some nice railroad radios(railroad is my other hobby).  As we were walking up an aisle my girlfriend pointed to a garbage can(like an oil drum) with phones by it.  There was a cardboard box and an insulated freezer bag on the ground beside the garbage both filled with phones.  It was all Panasonic and Toshiba electronic junk by the looks of it.  As we walked by it I saw what looked like an ivory G-type handset, so I decided to go see what phone it was attached to.  As I dug through the freezer bag I found a WE white TouchTone Trimline, so I pulled it out.   That revealed what looked to be the dial of a cruddy beige AE80, but I unburied it anyway.  The first thing I got out was a handset with a straight neutral gray cord attached to it.  When I saw that cord I literally started shaking with excitement.  What I dug out of that bag was a beige 1954 500 with both neutral gray cords.  I thought it was AE at first glance because all I could really see was the numbercard.  It has a crack on a front corner of the housing, but I'm confident I can fix it.  I'm betting I can take care of the staining on the side too.  The housing, handset, both caps, and all internal pieces of the phone are all dated between April and June of 1954.  The cords are excellent and should clean up to be like new.  I attached some pictures of it just the way I found it.  I'll post more as I clean it up.  ...I'm still in shock that I found it in the garbage!

---Eric

[paul-f]

Great one, Eric!

It's good you were there to save it from a horrible fate.

[stopthemachine]

Wow--that's incredible.  Very nice phone.  It's sad that the phone almost landed in the garbage, but at least the story had a happy ending!  With all the added support from the good people on this site, I'm sure you'll have the phone looking factory perfect--or quite close.  

Here's a funny story and only the closest I ever came to "dumpster diving": The township "dump" near us gets in all kinds of things.  We were constantly taking buckets of cracked wall plaster (redoing an old house) over.  One time, when my mom was taking over some buckets, she mentioned to the guys that run it (and literally have free reign over anything they want that comes in) merely as a side discussion one time that I collect phones and to look out for them because they'd probably come in from time to time.  

Sure enough, one day I got there, and they did indeed have a phone waiting: a white, WE 500 set (formerly NJ Bell territory), and I was glad the phone hadn't been tossed because it's just a sad thing for any WE phone to go to the trash--especially when, like this phone, there was nothing wrong with it cosmetically, albeit a bit dirty.  

It was a dirty one, and I didn't have a lot of hope for the color of it, but I was pleased that it came out in great condition after scrubbing it, soaking it, and giving it some TLC (and plenty of NOVUS plastic polish!): it even has a "G3" handset from the early 60's.  I tested it, and it worked fine, but it didn't ring.  I went online then--because I knew there was a trick for getting 500 sets to ring.  I followed the directions, and now it rings like a champ!  Currently, it sits proudly in my collection.  

I always feel like, as phone collectors, we are the social workers for phones.  We have to save some of these good, old phones from making it to the trash heap.  

Dan

[Kenny C]

Eric you lucky dog! That is a great find! I'm sure you'll have it working fine soon!

[Gary]

Love it!  Great story and congratulations on the find!!

[Dewdrop]

Eric,

That's an EXCELLENT story and congratulations on your great find!


Debbie

[Jester]

Eric,
Can you find me one of those?!!!   Simply amazing....a gray straight handset cord & no terrible discoloration of the dark beige plastics!!  Show us what she looks like after you clean her up!

[jsowers]

Congratulations, Eric, on getting an early dark beige. Some call it rose beige. And for free! The straight dark gray handset cord alone is valuable and you even have the mounting cord too! Wow!

Keep us posted on its progress. I think this one should be considered for Find of the Month. I've already nominated another phone this month, so I'll leave it to someone else to do this one. It's a great find. And to think someone threw it away. You were in the right place at the right time. Thanks for sharing that story. It gives us all hope.

[rdelius]

Good find. I got lucky at a hamfest years ago.Saw a free box, inside was a WE imperial set with cloth cords,subset and solid ivory plastic handset-all totally dissembled. I assembled a nice set.
Robby

[Dan]

Wow!!! I love these stories! CONGRATS!!!!

[Dennis Markham]

Excellent find, Eric!  I know it's early in the month, but that will have to rate near the top of the Find of the Month for September!  Once again that proves that one man's junk is another man's treasure.

[ESalter]

Thanks guys!  I'm still in shock over finding this one.  It has a pretty big dark spot on one side, but I'm pretty sure I can get the color back fairly easily.  The hard areas(like the embossing in the back) are just fine, so with a little work it should look really nice.  I haven't hooked it up to see if it works yet, but it looked un-molested inside, so I'm sure it does(or will easily).  At one point it had pop or coffee or something spilled on it, it got in around the dial and ran down the front of the housing on the inside.  It pooled right over the top of the date stamp on the housing, so I can't really read it.  I'm sure it'll come off easily, and I can see the ink under it, just can't quite make it out yet.   I'll probably have more pictures of it tonight.

So, here's a question.  What type of plug would this phone have originally had, or would it have had one at all?  This phone made me realize I've never seen colored plugs in the original soft colors.  Did they not make colored plugs until the 60s?


I was in a hurry yesterday when I made that posting, so I forgot a couple things.  The white trimline I found in the same freezer bag was an old round button one, but it was badly faded/nicked/gouged/scratched, etc, etc and is only good for parts.  The Ivory G3 handset I saw to make me go over and look, there were 2 of them in there, both newer ones just marked Western Electric, but no phones to go with them, so I have no clue what they came from.  There was also a WE plastic enclosure with a small 66 block and 25 pair Amp connector(I forget the model number of those).   It was a really random mix of all telephone stuff.  As soon as I took what I wanted a couple other guys swooped in and went digging through it, I'm glad we were in the right place at the right time.   

---Eric

[JorgeAmely]

Eric:

WE made colored 283B plugs in rose beige, which is the color of this phone. I attached a photo of one.

PS: Where exactly in Chicago is this dumpster located? 

[paul-f]

In the mid-50s chances are good that the phone was hardwired to a connecting block on the baseboard. 

Many of us would probably display it with a 4-prong plug as you found it (or switch to a matching color plug) so we can demo it easily and move it around without using a screwdriver.

[ESalter]

Got it.  I assumed it would have been hardwired more than likely, I was just curious if they made plugs matching the 50s colors.  I went digging and found I actually had a rose beige one, completely forgot I had it until today.  It's not quite as faded as the phone, so they don't match like I'd like, but it'll work.

I found the dark discoloration on the sides is actually staining.  I mentioned pop or coffee or something was spilled on it at one point.  I'm not sure what it is, but it actually stained the plastic both inside and out.  I cleaned it as best I could wish soap and water, cleaned up really good except for those stains.  The housing is dated 2/17/54 and the handle of the handset is dated 1/54.  I cleaned the dial, both cords, and the handset today.  The cords literally cleaned up like new, and the handset polished up very nice as well.  With any luck the housing will follow suite.