Left-handed candlestick?

[poplar1]

You sometimes see "left-handed candlestick phones" on Ebay. Usually, someone has just installed the transmitter bell facing the wrong way. This makes the cords come out facing the user, which obviously is not correct.

Here is one that may be real. The pin that keeps the handle from rotating is on the front of the phone, so that a standard handle (with the slot for the hook) can be used without modification. (Usually, the pin is on the back, just above the hole for the cords.)

Note that the cords exit the back, as they should, and that "Western Electric" is on the front, as it should be. So they apparently took a standard base and moved the pin, then used a standard handle.

The first picture group is the left-handed (??) and the others are standard 20-AL and 20-S.

[NorthernElectric]

Are there any of these pins floating around?  I just bought a Northern Electric dial stick, probably an N50-AL, on eBay that has been turned around.  I just bought it this afternoon and haven't received it yet.  It appears from the seller's photos that the pin has been removed to allow this.  I sure hope that the front hasn't been drilled out and the pin moved there, but this area was obscured by the dial in the seller's photos.  It's brassed out anyway and I will likely refinish it eventually after I have perfected my Japanning formula and/or methods, so if it's drilled in front I can probably fill it with solder.  If the pin has simply been removed and discarded at some point in the phone's history, I will be looking to replace it.

[dencins]

Cut a piece of 1/8" brass rod and press it in the hole.  Looks like you will need to drill a hole.  You can find 1/8" brass rod at many hobby shops especially if they carry model trains.

Dennis Hallworth

[Ktownphoneco]

Cliff  ...    If you end up needing a brass pin, let me know.    I stock a lot of brass in my shop, including 1/8" brass rod.      I can cut off an inch or so and put it in the mail to you.      Save you having to buy a length of the stuff, and the gas to find it.

Jeff Lamb

[NorthernElectric]

Thanks guys.  I might have some suitable brass rod around here somewhere, if I can find it, and if it's the right size.  I'll see if I can locate it before the phone gets here.  Then I'll have to see if the original pin is actually missing or if it has been relocated to the front of the phone.