Odd Objects Found in Phones?

[Gilas]

When I opened up an AE80 to start cleaning I found a old set of matches, almost full, tucked down inside.  It got me wondering besides the normal dead bugs that I think we all have found what are some of the interesting things you have located? 

Mike

[LM Ericsson]

Big bugs in my phone from Estonia

[the phone house]

Dan Mack Telephone, found an Acorn...saving up for Winter I guess......

[paul-f]

Years ago, I bought a number of "barn fresh" phones.  Several 500 sets had wasp nests in the recesses of the housing (inside the phone) under the cradle ears.  Fortunately there were no current occupants.

My favorite was getting a 1A speakerphone at a show.  When I got it home and opened the control unit, I found the mouse nest -- lots of straw and fabric remnants.  It smelled rather foul, but a quick clean-out and bleaching had it looking and smelling great.  When powered up slowly, it even worked.

  http://www.paul-f.com/we592.htm

[jsowers]

I've posted this one before. Underneath the fingerwheel of a 1954 ivory 500 I found this remnant of the former owner. Probably a redhead. I like to think it was Lucy.  

[gpo706]

A live wasp, in a Dictograph junction box, in November!

[Sargeguy]

I haven't found much, other than crud.  Wasn't there a member who found a condom hidden in a Princess phone?

[Kenton K]

I was wondering why the ringer in a 500 set sounded weak and it turns out a huge wasps nest/ beetles nest was in the bells. Both bells were full of a mud nest with unidentifiable dead bugs. The ring sounded much better after that clean up!

Ken

[twocvbloke]

The only "odd" thing I found in a phone was one of my GPO 746s (the Mk.1 Two-tone Green I think), someone had glued strips of elastic band on the bells where the clapper hit them, presumably to mute it somewhat, they peeled right off but it was an odd mod...

Not found anything like insect nests or prophylactics though, at least not yet...

[dsk]

Probably not extremely rare, but I have never seen it here. Some kind of red (terracotta color) nest or tunnel looking building from some kind of insect in my RED-bar. Very hard to crush and get out, but no insect 

An external ringer I got had the hammer glued to the support with some strange melted plastic, did not look like melting glue.
dsk

[WesternElectricBen]

I had a phone that hung on a wall through exactly 40 Minnesota years, and it was a mess inside with tons of nests but nothing super unusual, just gross.

Ben

[ESalter]

You guys should see all of the stuff I've found in payphones!  Lots of folded up pieces of paper saying something along the lines of "for a fun time, call...."   I think the strangest thing I've ever found in one was a dart from a Nerf gun.  My personal favorite was one that had over $10 in quarters piled up between the (stuck) coin relay and coin slot at the top of the validator.  Quarters were stuffed 3 wide at one spot in the validator.

As far as a regular phone, I once bought a cheap beige 1500 at a flea market.  The only thing usable on it was the faceplate.  I don't know how it happened, but the whole inside of the phone was absolutely saturated in clean(ish) motor oil.  This was to the point that if you picked it up and held it up on end fluid would actually start dripping out from under the housing.

---Eric

[AE_Collector]

Pulled one of the little "Swiss Army Knife" tweezers out of a payphone coin slot. Someone's coin must have got stuck and before long their trusty tweezers were gone as well.

Terry

[Haf]

Found in a payphone today:

[twocvbloke]

Found in a payphone today:

mmm, Reese's PBCs....