I'm now the proud owner of a 354, but it's mounted in the kitchen and my wife has to live with it, but she can't get past the straight 3' cord. She wants a long coiled cord like the old phone had, and to further complicate matters, she doesn't want a cloth cord.
It seems that a rubber coiled cord for a 554 with a G1 handset is easy to come by, but finding one for an F1 is a bit more difficult. Anyone know a good source for F1 handset cords that won't break the bank, or for something like this, am I better off rigging a G1 (or even a modular) cord to get the job done? Obviously this won't be super authentic, but I do want a round cord to look somewhat period-appropriate.
House of Telephones used to carry new-made cloth covered coiled handset cords. I['m not sure what the pricing is like, but it might be an option.
You best bet is to use a coiled cord that was made for a 500-series telephone.
These had four conductors, but you can tie one of the white wires and the red wire together inside the phone to make an equivalent cord as for an F1 handset. In fact this is what most 500-series sets did anyways, only a few models actually required the four separate leads.
The long rubber or later plastic cords for the F1 handset made in the 50s often have developed cracks in the jacket and are hard to find in great condition, I think.
For exhibiting a phone the long cords when found are usually a nuisance, and most of the time aren't the original cords anyways, so there is a good chance that they may be available from collectors. I know I have pulled a couple, at least, off phones. For a wall phone where there is amply room for the cord to hang, it's a different situation indeed.
The cord restraints for a 500 series telephone are different than those on a 300 series. How do you deal with that?
Quote from: andre_janew on September 28, 2015, 07:35:11 PM
The cord restraints for a 500 series telephone are different than those on a 300 series. How do you deal with that?
Indeed they are. The thick rubber feed-through for the handset exit of the G1 handset has to be cut. It can be done with a sharp Xacto-blade length-wise, they are not molded onto the cord jacket. I always save old cord restraints from unusable cords, so these can be reused, but I have seen them for sale on eBay as well.
I ended up ordering a round rubber coiled cord from The Old Phone Shop, which is made for F1 handsets. Not quite as long (or cheap) as the 4 lug cord I almost ordered, but the look of the cord was just a little more authentic, so I chose form over function. I'll post a photo when it comes.
I like the look of the straight cord just a little more, but this still looks good. Shipped quickly from The Old Phone Shop.
Rotated. Cord looks great!