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Mushroom phone question

Started by Dan, June 25, 2009, 11:58:19 PM

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Dennis Markham

I used brake fluid once after a suggestion from a collector for removing some Polane paint from some hard plastic handset caps.  I didn't have a good experience with it.  I was told to soak the caps in brake fluid over night.  The color pretty much went down the drain with the brake fluid.  The red caps turned a dusty white and I could never get the color back by polishing.  Keep in mind that I did this only once and probably didn't do it right but I would recommend using some plastic parts to experiment with that you can afford to ruin.  I didn't try the brake fluid again or try it on soft plastic.

I have a 554 cover in soft plastic that was factory painted black.  The inside is Rose Beige.  I would love to be able to remove the outer black paint without having to sand the case.  I am willing to experiment with the Easy Off to see if it will work.

Dan

#31
Well, I still haven't heard from John LaRose about my mushroom cap so I made my own. I got a cap (thanks, Aunt Lynne, my coolest aunt who collects princesses but has one mushroom) , took a mold of it, duplicated it in dental stone (similar to plaster of paris), hollowed it out and added an internal metal ring to hold it. Looks good because the stone is opaque so the light doesn't light up the cap. Some pics

1)  Phone as I won it (wow those aftermarket dial number rings are UGLY)



2(  Phone with new cap--two views





Mixed some white and red to get the pink and hit it with a little clear acrylic  for the shine.

"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

JorgeAmely

Dan:

I see that you are diversifying in other fields beyond dentistry. Very good. All you need now is to put the cord through D/P's cord cleaning method and you are done.

;D
Jorge

Dan

True, I am going to Graingers tomorrow and getting my vinyl dye. Anyone know how to get water stains off old dial cards?
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

McHeath

Gee nice, looks like dental school is finally paying off eh?   ;)

Bet you could sell these, these caps seem to be lost a lot on the mushroom phones.  Have we determined yet if the mushroom phones were made much past the early 60s?  I've never seen one that was dated outside of the 57'ish to 62'ish range.  

I have a nice ad for one in a 1959 Better Homes and Gardens, it's aqua blue to boot, very sweet.  

JorgeAmely

Google knows it all.

Just google or bing: removing water stains from paper

You will get a lot of hits.

www.bing.com has a suggestion using Oxyclean.

Jorge

Dan

I'll try the google suggestions.

McHeath, could you post a pic of the aqua mushroom ad? (or post a link to it)


I think the earliest ' shroom so far  was from '57 and the latest was my 6-60 . This would make sense because the onset of the princess kind of unfortunately  killed off the 500 P/U's
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

jsowers

#37
Here is an oddity and something of a project for me. There was a seller once on eBay who had a barn full of very odd things. I think he once worked at Bell Labs and ran a computer camp of sorts and they would give him stuff for the kids to tinker with. His name was Claude and that's all I recall. I bought four phones from him in a lot in 2005 and one turned out to be a 500H, though not what you'd think. It looks like a regular 500 set, but it has a clear fingerwheel and the wiring for the light, but someone took the lamp socket off and replaced the housing. It's marked plainly as a 500H on the bottom. This was the first model of night-light phone, available around 1954 or so.

I have another mushroom phone, what amounts to a black modular 500U that looks like something a collector replaced the housing and dial on. It has the mushroom and mounting ring and lamp socket and does function, but the plastics and cords are fully modular. I attached pictures of that phone too (the last two). What I'd like to do is drill out the housing on the 500H and put back the lamp and mushroom using those from the modular 500U. Easier said than done. I just haven't gotten up the nerve.

The logo card on the 500H is original. I think it may have been a display model at one time in its life because there is white tape and goo under the handset and the switchhook buttons are kind of pasted down. As I said, a real oddity.
Jonathan

Dennis Markham

Those are very interesting phones.  I would love to get my hands on a 500H model.  The story surrounding them is very interesting as well.  I think that the housings have that support circle underneath in areas where the holes would be drilled.  I have heard of collectors drilling holes to make a lighted phone.  I believe the model 510 two-line sets are drilled in exactly the same place.  It would not be too awfully difficult to locate a soft plastic or early hard plastic 510 to use the cover if you didn't want to attempt drilling and installing the brass fitting.  I would say that with the right drill press and speed a hole could be made without breaking the case.  It would be a fun project.

Dan

If you are tight with your dentist, he could use his high speed drill and cut the hole with no problem. I am going to make a black mushroom out of my pink so I can switch it out every once in a while (pink isn't very masculine for the game room). If you live near Ccincinnati I could cut the hole for the mushroom cap for you.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

jsowers

Dan, thanks for the offer, but I think I may just buy a drill press or a Dremel tool and do it myself. I'm in NC, which is too far away. Dr. Buchanan, my dentist, is a really nice guy, but I bet I would get charged for a filling if I walked in with a phone housing at my next checkup.  ;)  I suppose I could leave it in the car and ask him how much he would charge to drill the hole. The hygenist said he's Mr. Fixit. He seems to be the only one who can keep their air compressor running.

I'll post pictures of the finished product someday soon and let everyone know how it goes.
Jonathan

McHeath

Here is the ad from Better Homes and Gardens, 1959, for the 500 mushroom phone that I have. 

Dan

Thanks for the mushroom pic in aqua blue. What a beauty. If I could only go back to 59 , I'd pick up a box of NOS mushrooms (or rent them) and  of course put a downpayment on the new '59 cadillac and Impala convertibles coming in the fall.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Phonesrfun

I love those ads from the '50's.  Mom and Pop had separate beds in the ads and the TV shows.  Where did all us baby-boomers come from anyway?  :o

-Bill

-Bill G

McHeath

Why the Stork of course, geesh.   ;)