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When it rains, it pours

Started by benhutcherson, July 25, 2009, 10:39:30 PM

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benhutcherson

I'm constantly searching the local flea markets, antique stores, and other locations for telephones. I prefer to buy locally, as I generally end up saving money over Ebay+shipping, I don't have to worry about damage in shipping, and there's nothing quite like the thrill of locating a rare model for a good price.

Unfortunately, I haven't really found any decent ones for a couple of months.

Today, though, I visited an antique mall in Louisville, KY that I hadn't been to for several months, and generally didn't have much luck at.

Right inside the door, I came across a decent looking 302 with a straight rubber cord for $29. I have a self-imposed local $30 302 policy(I always buy them for under $30), but didn't want to carry it around the store and noted its location for later.

A few steps later, I spotted this gem





Perhaps not the best, and it's hard plastic, but I figured that the soft center fingerwheel was worth the $6.99 asking price. Interestingly enough, this one has a curly mounting cord. I thought at first that it was a handset cord, however I don't think that's the case. It's three conductors-green, red, and yellow, and has the proper restraints for a mounting cord. Most everything's '59, too.

Anyway, a little bit deeper into the mall, I spotted another soft center fingerwheel out of the corner of my eye. I picked up the phone to which it was attached, noted the $34.14 price tag, and set it back down thinking that was too much for a 500. Then, I took a second look, and said to myself "what kind of idiot are you?"

Here was the telephone that I nearly passed up for $34.14(plus tax)











Everything is dated to 2/55 or before. I haven't done much to it other than washing in soap and water. It's currently on my desk, and of course works great. I even got a nice Louisville-area number card.

This is my first soft plastic colored set, and I'm excited about how nice it is.

Oh, by the way, I didn't go back for the 302-I figured I'd done well enough.

JimH

Wow....great finds Ben, especially the red one with the straight handset cord!
Jim H.

foots

Lucky dog! There aren't very many phones in any of the antique stores around here. That red one with the straight cord is awsome as is that '59.
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bingster

Great finds, Ben!  The last time I went phone hunting in an antique store I found a late-70s black modular 500 that was covered in stickers and scratches.  They wanted $100 for it. ::)
= DARRIN =



McHeath

Nice find on that red 500!  I don't have any soft plastic colored 500s and that's a real keeper, it's even got the original handset and the grey cord. 

Dan

Hey Ben, your Beige may be soft plastic too. Usually June of '59 is the date that all coloured sets switched over to hard, but there are always exceptions. I have a soft white '59 from Feb.

The straight grey cords on the red alone are worth the price you paid. Nice job!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

jsowers

#6
Ben, those are two really nice soft plastic phones, one from fairly early and one from fairly late in the era. The red one in particular is a fantastic find and you certainly paid less than the market value. I see a small chip on the bottom right of the light beige one, which may not be that visible when it's upright.

A 4-59 phone is usually soft plastic. You can try tapping the housing with your fingernail and comparing the sound to a later hard plastic phone. The hard plastic will be a sharper sound and the soft will be a dull thud kind of sound, because it absorbs the noise.

That CYpress (is that it?) card from Louisville is the icing on the cake. The natives do pronounce it "Louavul" and not Lewisville, don't they? Here in NC we have several names people don't always pronounce correctly. Like Advance. It's AD-vance. Or Buena Vista, pronounced BUE-na Vista. The South--y'all have to love it.

Have you taken off the fingerwheel on the light beige? It may have a nice card behind that flower. The cords on that phone look to be original. The older light beige cords faded lighter, similar to the pink ones. A coil mounting cord was an option starting about 1957 or 58. It was supposed to eliminate the twist and kink of a straight cord, but today it's kind of hard to display the phone with all that cord because it can't be coiled up. Still, it's a fairly rare option on the older phones, so appreciate it for what it is. It should have a date stamp on the clamp, like other WE cords.

I need to visit some of the shops around my area, especially the ones in Southern Bell territory. You just never know what you'll find.
Jonathan

Dennis Markham

Ben, you did have a great day!  If one has to kiss a lot of frogs to get a Prince you got the Prince on this trip to the antique store.  What a great find on that red 500---with gray straight cord and matching line cord---all for $34!!  Once again it proves that these phones are still out there.  That dial card is awesome too.  I'm excited for you.  Whoever had the phone put the sticker on the bottom too....so no scratch marks where someone tried to get it off.  I think both of those 500's will clean up very nice.  If the date on the Light Beige is April of '59 inside too, then I'll bet it's soft plastic.  Congratulations!

benhutcherson

#8
Guys,

Thanks for all of the comments and compliments on the phones.

The beige one is definitely hard plastic-it had a refurb early in its life, and the case is dated to '60. If you look carefully, there's a vermillion stamp on the bottom. I thought it was soft at first, but once I'd taken a minute to examine it, was sure that it wasn't. Having a soft plastic set right in the store with me to compare it to made me positive.

I'd hoped that there would be a "surprise" behind the flower on the beige phone, but no such luck-that was one of the first things I checked.

Dennis,

I've always admired the similar red one that you have, and am glad that I have one now to match it.

Thanks again,
Ben

benhutcherson

Jsowers,

I should have mentioned that when I first picked the phone up, the plastic from the chip was just barely hanging on. I tried to keep track of it, hoping that I could use superglue to close up the crack. Unfortunately, though, I still managed to lose it.

"Louahvul" is how I've always said it, although the nearly as common alternate pronunciation is "Loo-vul."

Another interesting, and not as well known Kentucky quirk is the town of Versailles, which is just right out side of Lexington. We pronounce Versailles as "Ver-sails" and not the proper French pronunciation.


Dan/Panther

You done good!
I try to keep under $30.00 also for 302's.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jester

Those are great finds, Ben!  I think you should be over the pain of paying over $30.00 for that red 500.  Those will go for 5 to 10+ times that on ebay on a good day.  I don't have a colored 500 with a straight cord yet, but I wouldn't mind picking one up the way you did.
Stephen