500 and D1 at yard sale

[Gary]

I haven't spent much time the last year on telephones but just got back into it this weekend.  Was driving across town to pick up my son on Sunday morning from his friend's house and saw a yard sale on the way that looked like it might have some good stuff.  On the way back we stopped (looking for tube radios) and there was a laundry basket with four old telephones in it, cords in a tangled mess.  I pulled out a 10-59 C/D 500 with G1 handset, kind of "mildewy" but will clean up nicely and a D1 with F1 handset.  I held my breath as I spun the dial and sure enough, that nice loud clickety-clack!  I asked the gentleman how much for the pair and he said "How about $25 for both?"  Deal!!

The D1 was fully wired with both jumpers and mounting cord in good shape.  The 4H dial is stamped 1150T (last service date??), is in excellent condition and works perfectly.  The number plate (II 50) is as good as new, looks like hardly any use on it.  The D1 body is a little rough with some corrosion spots and some flaking/bubbled paint.  The finger wheel is in fairly rough shape also.  So far I can't get the F1 receiver and transmitter covers off.

I have a much nicer D1 (III 35) with an E1 handset that I've been putting off getting operational.  It had a 5H dial in it so I took that out and put the 4H in.  I hooked the phone up to a spare 302 base to use as a subset ringer and it works good.  Only problem is, with the hookswitch down, I can still hear a hum in the receiver.  Glad my son called for a ride home!

Here are a couple of photos I just took of my D1 and the D1 and 500 I brought home.

[LarryInMichigan]

Gary, Nice catch!  I need to try the yard sales in MA.  The ones here in MI have nothing but clothes, toys, and junk.

Larry

[Gary]

Thanks Larry....yeah that's probably most yard sales everywhere.  This is only the second one that was worth the effort for me.  Last year I found a 1960 Zenith Trans-Oceanic 1000D at a yard sale for $5, complete with leaky D cells but it cleaned up nicely.

[Sargeguy]

Is the #4 a former #2???  Newer D-1s seem to have them, converted in the late 40s.

[Gary]

This one has the unplugged finger-stop holes on the side.  I think that means non-transitional (is not a former #2)??  The D1 base I took it out of is stamped II 35.  The clean one I installed it in is III 35.  Here's a shot of the dial back.

[Wallphone]

If it was never a #2 then why would it have unplugged finger stop holes in the side? I'm missing something here.
Doug Pav

[Kenny C]

I think he means unplugged as in they were never pluged

[Wallphone]

Plugged or unplugged, why were there holes on the side if it was never a #2? That's the part I don't understand.
Doug Pav

[Kenny C]

I think he means it was never plugged as in it doesn't have plugs or holes, just a solid side.

[Wallphone]

Well if that is the case then I have more unplugged holes that were never holes than I can count.
Doug Pav

[Gary]

Just my confusion over some information I read.  Yes, this dial has two holes on the outside of the housing where an externally mounted fingerstop may have been once attached.  The holes are open (I had understood that converted dials had those holes plugged up for some reason).  I guess the presence of those means it was in fact either a converted #2 or at least a leftover housing intended for a #2??
Sorry, I'm still pretty new to this.....

[Wallphone]

I've had dials with both plugged & unplugged holes and just figured that maybe someone dug the plugs out and used it as a #2. One time I got a plugged one in a $15 302 with a cracked housing that I bought to make a subset out of. That made my day. 10 more like that one and it will almost make up for all the phones I bought that were broken because of crap packing.
Doug Pav

[LarryInMichigan]

Perhaps WE did not bother to plug the holes of dials which were to go into D1s or 302s where the holes would not be visible anyway.

Larry

[old_phone_man]

There is one more tell-tell sign it was a conversion (transitional),

The Vermilion "R" with the embossed "W" lined out.  The case at one time had a 4 terminal pile up. 

Western Electric converted this to the new "H" style dial with the 5 terminal pile up.  This put the "W" terminal at the top side of the pile up (and to the left in the picture) and the "R" terminal where the "W" terminal was on the 4 terminal pile up.

There will be a test afterward.

[Gary]

I guess the question is, how do we know these just weren't leftover parts used for the first time as a #4?  The other 4H I have that's in a 304 also has the holes "open" and the "R" over the embossed "W".