Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Identification, Repair & Restoration => Telephone Restoration Projects and Techniques => Number/Dial Cards/Faceplates and Paper Attachments => Topic started by: WEBellSystemChristian on October 28, 2015, 09:58:44 AM

Title: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on October 28, 2015, 09:58:44 AM
Sometimes we collectors find unusual dial cards on phones; whether it's a decent picture of a family member or loved one (seen this a couple times) or some celebrity that the phone reminds the owner of.

I would say this one may be a family member or magazine cutout, but I would have picked a better picture in that case... :o :-[

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262115879235
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Card
Post by: unbeldi on October 28, 2015, 10:43:32 AM
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on October 28, 2015, 09:58:44 AM
I would say this one may be a family member or magazine cutout, but I would have picked a better picture in that case... :o :-[
People didn't use to take as many pictures of themselves as they do today!

Here is another find:
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Card
Post by: andre_janew on October 28, 2015, 10:50:15 AM
Just keep in mind that Halloween is just a few days away  and  there are going to be creepier things out there than that dial card!
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Card
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on October 28, 2015, 10:56:47 AM
Quote from: andre_janew on October 28, 2015, 10:50:15 AM
Just keep in mind that Halloween is just a few days away  and  there are going to be creepier things out there than that dial card!
Well, then it looks like I'm just in time with this topic! :)
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Card
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on March 01, 2016, 07:35:43 PM
Here's another one found in an older topic...

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5141.0
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: LarryInMichigan on March 01, 2016, 07:40:14 PM
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on March 01, 2016, 07:35:43 PM
Here's another one found in an older topic...

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5141.0

That one reminds me of the scene of the cat peering through the window in the door of the clothes drier as it turns.


Larry
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: Babybearjs on March 01, 2016, 08:10:03 PM
why anyone would make a photo dial center is beyond me....
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: andre_janew on March 02, 2016, 12:31:02 PM
They do it just to be different.  They don't want the same boring dial card as everyone else.  If nobody made a photo dial center, this thread wouldn't exist.
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: LarryInMichigan on May 15, 2016, 11:16:07 AM
I just picked up this 1972 WE 554 for $1 at a yard sale

Larry
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on May 15, 2016, 10:32:02 PM
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on May 15, 2016, 11:16:07 AM
I just picked up this 1972 WE 554 for $1 at a yard sale

Larry

I bet I know the first thing you did/are going to do to that phone. It involves a small piece of paper being chucked into the garbage... ;D
Title: Re: Creepy Dial Cards
Post by: compubit on June 12, 2016, 12:06:18 PM
Not quite creepy, but definitely unusual... (Picked up in Lancaster)

Jim
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on June 14, 2016, 05:41:34 PM
Here's another winner... :o

www.ebay.com/itm/172241462686
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Dan F on June 18, 2016, 03:49:22 PM
Creepy.

You realize that most of these people are most likely dead?

Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on June 18, 2016, 10:58:14 PM
Quote from: Dan F on June 18, 2016, 03:49:22 PM
Creepy.

You realize that most of these people are most likely dead?


Well, that kid is probably in his 60s by now!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on June 24, 2016, 09:06:23 PM
Here's one posted by Jonathan Sowers:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11118.0
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: jsowers on June 24, 2016, 09:26:07 PM
Yes, that's my creepiest to date. That one came from a yellow soft plastic 554 and judging from the area code, it's from Los Angeles. Maybe it was some creepy movie actor's phone? Or just some nut.  :)  When I encounter cards like this, I keep them in the fingerwheel with the phone, but covered up with a more appropriate number card. Otherwise the eyes follow me around the room.  :)  Here's the entire phone. The mold makes it look even weirder.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on June 28, 2016, 12:37:54 AM
Quote from: jsowers on June 24, 2016, 09:26:07 PM
Yes, that's my creepiest to date. That one came from a yellow soft plastic 554 and judging from the area code, it's from Los Angeles. Maybe it was some creepy movie actor's phone? Or just some nut.  :)  When I encounter cards like this, I keep them in the fingerwheel with the phone, but covered up with a more appropriate number card. Otherwise the eyes follow me around the room.  :)  Here's the entire phone. The mold makes it look even weirder.
When I find weird cards that aren't made from a real one, I crumple them up and throw them away. Maybe I should same them all from now on and put them on ebay someday!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: andre_janew on June 28, 2016, 12:37:48 PM
There may be a market for dial cards that are creepy and strange!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: TelePlay on September 27, 2017, 12:58:56 AM
Can't make out the make or year of the cars but I don't think this was taken within the past 10 years.

Nice photo but leaving it in the finger wheel for re-sale on eBay is a bit creepy, even if on a Princess, which I can understand the reason for putting it in there in the first place.

Can you imagine browsing eBay and seeing a photo of yourself from years gone by?
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Dan/Panther on September 27, 2017, 12:54:24 PM
Quote from: jsowers on June 24, 2016, 09:26:07 PM
Yes, that's my creepiest to date. That one came from a yellow soft plastic 554 and judging from the area code, it's from Los Angeles. Maybe it was some creepy movie actor's phone? Or just some nut.  :)  When I encounter cards like this, I keep them in the fingerwheel with the phone, but covered up with a more appropriate number card. Otherwise the eyes follow me around the room.  :)  Here's the entire phone. The mold makes it look even weirder.

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like Jeepers Creepers from the 61-62 TV show from Los Angeles, Jeepers Creepers Theater.

D/P
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: jsowers on September 27, 2017, 03:03:25 PM
Quote from: Dan/Panther on September 27, 2017, 12:54:24 PM
I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like Jeepers Creepers from the 61-62 TV show from Los Angeles, Jeepers Creepers Theater.

D/P

I finally saw a biography about Lon Chaney, Sr. on TV and that's who's in the picture. The "Man of a Thousand Faces." It's from the silent movie London After Midnight (1927). Curiously the only known print was destroyed by fire in 1967 and all they have are stills from the movie, including this creepy picture. It's almost October too. Time to get all our creepy phones out!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_After_Midnight_(film)
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: WEBellSystemChristian on September 27, 2017, 07:22:19 PM
Quote from: TelePlay on September 27, 2017, 12:58:56 AM
Can't make out the make or year of the cars but I don't think this was taken within the past 10 years.

Nice photo but leaving it in the finger wheel for re-sale on eBay is a bit creepy, even if on a Princess, which I can understand the reason for putting it in there in the first place.

Can you imagine browsing eBay and seeing a photo of yourself from years gone by?

Interesting.

Is that a Mini and a Trabant in the background?

Finding a picture of yourself in a dial card retainer in the future is probably more likely than anywhere else. Phones hold their value, and nobody outside of the Collectors' Circle can figure out how to remove fingerwheels! :)
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Dan/Panther on September 28, 2017, 12:08:29 PM
Jonathan:
You are right.
Why in the name of all that is scared would they put a one of a kind film in harms way.
D/P
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: TelePlay on September 28, 2017, 12:15:22 PM
Quote from: Dan/Panther on September 28, 2017, 12:08:29 PM
Why in the name of all that is scared would they put a one of a kind film in harms way.

And why did WE mass destruct all of those candlesticks? Same reason, not being able to see the future.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: jsowers on September 28, 2017, 12:41:07 PM
Another one appeared today, but it's a third relisting. This may be the season for creepy number cards. This black 500 is priced a tad too high at $99 but it does have free shipping and piercing eyes that follow you when you move. Funny that the picture on the phone is a picture of someone on the phone. But not the same phone.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/253179909039

Edit: Oops! Now that I look at the beginning of this thread, Christian pointed out the same phone last year this time. Wonder why it hasn't sold? It couldn't be Mildred looking out at us from the great beyond, could it?

Also, the cars behind the lady on the pink Princess look like 1950s Ramblers to me. But they're too small and obscured to really tell what they are.

The Hispanic community has a multi-day festival called Day of the Dead, celebrated this year from Halloween to November 2nd and what a perfect time to celebrate these and other phones. Because as you may know, most of our older phones belonged to people who are now dead. Bwwahahahahah!  ;)
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Greg G. on October 02, 2017, 01:03:16 AM
Quote from: jsowers on September 28, 2017, 12:41:07 PM
Another one appeared today, but it's a third relisting. This may be the season for creepy number cards. This black 500 is priced a tad too high at $99 but it does have free shipping and piercing eyes that follow you when you move. Funny that the picture on the phone is a picture of someone on the phone. But not the same phone.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/253179909039

Edit: Oops! Now that I look at the beginning of this thread, Christian pointed out the same phone last year this time. Wonder why it hasn't sold? It couldn't be Mildred looking out at us from the great beyond, could it?



I almost want to buy it just to get rid of the dial card!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: jsowers on October 02, 2017, 12:47:52 PM
Here's another one I found in my pictures that came from a friend. He got a dark beige 500 about ten years ago and it had this card. That's a type of Scotch in case you can't read the small print. I guess the former owner liked his booze enough to make it his number card.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Greg G. on October 07, 2017, 02:33:20 AM
This is a wallet-sized picture dated 1960 that we found when we did some remodeling a few years ago (I log and keep all artifacts we find, even the seemingly mundane ones.)  Maybe I'll make a dial card out of it.  Hey, that's an idea, we can have a contest on who comes up with the most hideous dial card!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Owain on October 07, 2017, 12:03:48 PM
Quote from: Dan F on June 18, 2016, 03:49:22 PM
You realize that most of these people are most likely dead?

Yebbut by natural causes?
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: TelePlay on January 23, 2018, 06:46:04 PM
Regardless of the sale, the number card qualifies it for entry here.

     https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-English-bakelite-phone-GPO-/292421236825
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: twocvbloke on January 23, 2018, 07:26:04 PM
Of all the details on the phone, I never actually noticed that!!! :o
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: AE_Collector on January 23, 2018, 08:59:53 PM
I did, right away, but had forgotten about this topic!

Good memory John!

Terry
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: AL_as_needed on January 23, 2018, 09:04:06 PM
Maybe it's just how the human brain works. We look at something and don't see every detail and our brain just fills in the gaps for sake of easy of understanding. "I see the finger-wheel and therefore there is a dial card, and oh look, an original color matching cord..." :D
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Jim Stettler on January 24, 2018, 08:50:36 PM
Quote from: TelePlay on January 23, 2018, 06:46:04 PM
Regardless of the sale, the number card qualifies it for entry here.

     https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-English-bakelite-phone-GPO-/292421236825

Side Note:
This auction qualifies an an Honorable mention as an amazing deal somewhere in the forum.
JMO,
Jim  S.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: TelePlay on February 04, 2018, 02:36:02 AM
Not creepy, just strange, actually, looks really strange after just spending about 3 hours in the middle of the night shoveling manure.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Greg G. on February 10, 2018, 03:13:00 PM
Browsing CL and found this:
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: twocvbloke on February 10, 2018, 07:34:27 PM
Looks like the Disney cartoon version of Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmations...
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: oldguy on June 25, 2018, 08:49:56 PM
I saw this one on a phone on eBay today.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: Pourme on June 25, 2018, 09:23:31 PM
Quote from: oldguy on June 25, 2018, 08:49:56 PM
I saw this one on a phone on eBay today.

That's scary for sure!
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: HarrySmith on July 13, 2018, 01:27:17 PM
This one took me a while to figure out. At first it was really wierd and scary but then....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283054840212
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: FABphones on July 13, 2018, 03:13:20 PM
Quote from: HarrySmith on July 13, 2018, 01:27:17 PM
This one took me a while to figure out. At first it was really wierd and scary but then....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283054840212
I can't work it all out. Probably for the best...  :o
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: HarrySmith on June 18, 2020, 06:01:10 PM
Quote from: FABphones on July 13, 2018, 03:13:20 PM
I can't work it all out. Probably for the best...  :o

Sorry I forgot about this. It is a close up of a woman smoking a cigarette. Part of her lips & fingers.
Title: Re: Creepy/Strange Dial Cards
Post by: HarrySmith on June 18, 2020, 06:03:07 PM
Here is the source of at least some of the weird pictures on dial cards:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Box-of-10-Brass-Gold-Plated-Plastic-Dials-1970s-Last-Best-Dial-Ever-Made/202497222378