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What is the Largest Amount Of Telephones You Found at One Location

Started by Doug Rose, September 14, 2010, 08:49:32 PM

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Kenny C

In memory of
  Marie B.
1926-2010

Dan

Kenny at your young age you'll have 3-4 X the phones us old timers have by the time you are 30!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

DavePEI

Hi All:

Just back from my museum, where a large number of 500's, 2500's, Harmony, etc. were received this morning. Along with them came a 354, another Model 33 Calculagraph, Princess, Contemporas, and a box full of NOS cords, dial centers, plastics, handsets, etc.

These had been promised a few months ago - I had almost given up on them. I have placed them on a new display case I recently built awaiting their arrival, to photograph (after I recover from the effort of setting them up, etc.) Not all would fit on, but I will take a photograph also of the remaining pieces after I get a bit of rest.

Most are Northern Electric, but there is one aqua blue WE 500 set in the bunch... In total, there are 30 in all, plus the great box of spares!

Here are photos including most of them. There wasn't enough space to display all on the counter, so had to include some on the shelves of the display and in the box. Parts and a few others shown in the last photo.

The parts included a number of NOS dial plastics (haven't counted them but in the vicinity of a dozen), spare handsets, including one with volume control, receivers, transmitters, and a large number of NOS in the bag spade cords. The handsets include about a dozen NOS Harmony handsets in great colours.

There were also three beige NOS Round dial plates for TT dials, and 3 NOS beige face mats for 2500's.

Still a lot of sorting to do! These cost me the grand total of nothing! The gentleman who brought these continues to look out for more. My favorites - the aqua blue 500, green 500, the yellow 500 in the box in the last photo, and the two red 500's. The yellow 500 needs a new handset cord, but there are a couple of NOS yellow cords in the spares box.

As I worked sorting these I came across one which was a refurbed 1955 - sadly, they had changed the plastics, and dial, but the base is beautiful and the ringer and network are original. Sadly too, the original feet had been removed and replaced with modern ones during its refurbishment. Generally, all 500s  are dated between 1955 and 1976.

Note: The early NE round dial surround 2554 in the top photo.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

Yesterday evening, I spent some time working on some of the phones above.

As it typical for 60s to 80s era PEI phones, most are hooked up for party line use. I converted 10 of them back to single line, testing each afterwards with my tester for ring, transmit, receive, and dial.

A new finger-wheel has been placed on the Princess - it was one of the last ones I had time to do.

I need to do the same with many of the Contemporas and Harmony phones, as well as the rest of the 500s, the early 2500, the 354, etc. Some of the rest of the 500s need a handset cord, and many of them need me to make up a line cord. So, I will take my time doing this over the next few days.  

I am trying to decide whether to start tonight with the 2500, 354, or the yellow 500 in the box with the cut cords (the other yellow one - the one with the sticker has been done, converted, and checked but IMHO the one in the box is the nicest). Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. But its all fun, and thankfully I have the cords for them!

All so far are in near mint condition, just needing physical cleaning. A few will need sticker removal, but none are badly faded or damaged.

Having fun!

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Willytx

Very nice haul! I had to check again to see this wasn't in the classifieds.  ;)

Those 500s don't say 'Operator' under the zero. Is that a Northern Electric thing?

DavePEI

Quote from: Willytx on May 24, 2011, 02:15:32 PM
Very nice haul! I had to check again to see this wasn't in the classifieds.  ;)

Those 500s don't say 'Operator' under the zero. Is that a Northern Electric thing?

Nope. These came from Bell/Aliant from obsolete inventory. I have known for several months they were going to come. Actually, I expected more NOS stuff in original boxes - that doesn't mean I'm not totally thrilled, but I am told they are still gathering more for the museum. I am hoping it spells a small level of support for the museum's existence!

Yes, the lack of Operator is an NE/NT thing. I forget the exact year, but it was removed some time in the 70s to meet bilingual language laws, i.e. French/English. As Operator in french is Opérateur, they opted to omit the word and just have the Zero and not offend the french customers or run into conflict with the laws.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Willytx

You think they would have compromised on 'Oper'.

It's always nice to learn another way to identify a phone just by looking at it.

Adam

It should be noted that at the time Northern Electric and then Northern Telecom was making 500-type dials without the word OPERATOR, they were also making them the normal way as well, you can find them both ways in the wild.  They just used the ones without OPERATOR in certain regions.

A Northern Electric/Northern Telecom 500 dial, even one with OPERATOR, is easy to spot, because the font with the letters is not as bold as the font with the numbers.  On Western Electric dials, the boldness of the font of the numbers and letters is the same.  It's very obvious is you have an NE and a WE set side by side.
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

DavePEI

'Nuther Update!

I did as I said tonight, and went over to work on the 354, 2554, and on the yellow 500 in the box with cut cords. Regarding the yellow one, the handset cord has been replaced, and the ringer wiring switched to private line wiring, and it passes its tests 100%

The 2554 with a round dial insert turns out to be a 1967 - the year before the re-designed case started appearing here. It too, is switched over from party line, and passed its tests with flying colours.

Now, I discovered the 354 is a 1953  - only one year too late  to be a birthday phone for me. All parts are dated 1953. The phone has been re-wired for private line use, has been cleaned up, and passes its tests 100%. I brought it back over to our house to remove some paint on its lower edges. Once again, Easy-Off did its trick, and it now only needs minor buffing.

More tomorrow! Probably first will be the red 500 I didn't get around to doing last night.

Update May 25th - all phones have now been done, and stickers removed. Some still need minor buffing (especially the 354), but they are looking great, and are now like the rest of the museum phones - ready for use...

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Adam

My claim that NE/NT phones with OPERATOR on the dial were used in some parts of Canada where they don't speak French has been questioned.  (Which is perfectly fine with me, a major reason we're all here is to learn more about our hobby!)

The NE/NT dials without OPERATOR on the dial has always been a fascinating subject for me.  Never having lived in Canada myself, I admit I may be wrong about the claim that some parts of Canada got NE/NT phones with OPERATOR on the dial where it was appropriate.  That supposition on my part is partially based on the fact that on eBay, one sees as many NE/NT 500-type sets with OPERATOR on the dial as without it.

So, can anyone who actually lives or has lived in Canada confirm that NE/NT sets with OPERATOR on the dial were actually used in parts of Canada?  Or were these sets that we now see on eBay with OPERATOR on the dial only made by NE/NT for export?

Like I said, this is one of my favorite corners of telephone trivia.  I'd love it if someone can shed more light on this.  Thanks.
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

DavePEI

Quote from: masstel on May 25, 2011, 01:49:43 AM
My claim that NE/NT phones with OPERATOR on the dial were used in some parts of Canada where they don't speak French has been questioned.  (Which is perfectly fine with me, a major reason we're all here is to learn more about our hobby!)

Any NE/NT/Nortel phones made in Canada (not all were made in Canada - later on, some NT/Nortel sets were assembled in the US) with Operator were ONLY made for export. You will find earlier dials with Oper or Operator on 302's and Uniphones and 5302s (as they used 302 type dials), but as of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was established in 1964 and the subsequent Official Languages Act in 1969 and then amendments in 1988 Northern Electric/Telecom stopped manufacturing the "Operator" dials for Canadian use. This was across Canada. All products in Canada had to be bilingual, and not just in Quebec.

We have large pockets of french speaking people across Canada, and not just in Quebec. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Labrador, Nova Scotia, North West Territories, New Brunswick, and PEI also have substantial numbers of french speaking people -  the Maritimes from the Acadian settlements, many of the others from European and Métis roots. (Incidentally, the Louisiana Cajuns had their french roots coming from the French fleeing the Maritime Provinces during the Deportation in the 1700's - just a historical aside). By simply removing the word operator from later dials, they satisfied the requirement for bilingualism.

Because NE/NT/Nortel did a huge export business, it is quite possible that such dials were made for the export market. NE marketed itself quite successfully to indepedant telephone companies south of the border and around the world.

What may also cloud this issue too, is from time to time, 500 sets are advertised on eBay as Northern Electric or Northern Telecom, but in reality are Western Electric or ITT with Northern handsets. I see an SC frankenphone on eBay currently with an NT housing, and an "Operator" dial, but I strongly suspect the dial itself was an SC.

FYI - I was born in Canada, grew up in Canada, and live in Canada.
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Adam

OK, what you're saying makes sense.  I'd love to know why they made so many for export, where they went and why so many seem to show up on eBay.

Quote from: DavePEI on May 25, 2011, 06:19:05 AM
What may also cloud this issue too, is from time to time, 500 sets are advertised on eBay as Northern Electric or Northern Telecom, but in reality are Western Electric or ITT with Northern handsets. I see an SC frankenphone on eBay currently with an NT housing, and an "Operator" dial, but I strongly suspect the dial itself was an SC.

Possible, surely, in some cases.  But, like I said, NE/NT 500-type dials are VERY recognizable, even with OPERATOR on them, because of the lighter font on the letters than the numbers.

Thanks Dave for the info.
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

Wallphone

There was a thread on the "Operator" on Northern phones on the TCI List that started about a day before this one. It was stated that Northern stopped using "Operator" around 1970. And if you found a Northern phone dated after 1970 that still had the "Operator" on the dial plate that they were most likely refurbished where they used whatever dial plates were available at the time. Nothing was mentioned about if Northern still put "Operator" on phones made for export.
Doug Pav

AE_Collector

Hi Dave:

Glad to see that the guy at Aliant finally came through for you. That kept you busy for a couple of days at least!

Terry (off the coast of Turkey)

kleenax

I'm a little late to this thread (looks like about 3 yrs:), but oh well!  You people always get me going when I see topics like this on here!

I have only been collecting/hunting phones since about 1996, but for some here, I guess that's a long time.

The Train Depot find that was previously shared here was by far my largest (over 7,000 phones), but most were from the 70's.

Probably the next would be about 300 phones (all old/vintage) that took me 3 trips with my pickup truck to haul home.

I have had a bunch in the 10-20 phone count.  Some photos not previously shared are below. I LOVE the treasure hunting!

Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC