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Unusual German DeTeWe Telephone in Green

Started by LarryInMichigan, January 11, 2018, 06:59:50 PM

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LarryInMichigan

ebay link

I just received this phone this evening.  It is in very good condition but needs a good cleaning and polishing.  I do not recall seeing one of these before.  Can someone provide more information about this model?  It is quite small.  The base measures about 6 1/2" x 5 3/4".  The plastic is rather thick and green all the way through.

I paid $40 plus $11.95 for shipping.

Thank You


Larry


TelePlay

Very nice phone, great condition. Looks quite new, the internals, and whomever put it together, did a nice job of wire bending and wrapping. Interesting find. Any dates on it? Looks like it was never used.

LarryInMichigan

There are several date stamps on various parts of the phone, and they are all between 5-58 and 8-58.  The phone does show very little or no signs of use.  it does work, but like most European phones, the transmitter produces static.

I do not believe that this model was ever used on a public telephone network, but I expect that it was made for PABX use.  It is well-made, and the quality is as good as any other western European phone of the time.  The intricate wire binding and routing is the same as what is found on other period phones from Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc..

The phone looks somewhat nicer now after cleaning and some polishing.  The actual color is more muted than it appears in the ebay listing pictures.  It is almost a khaki color.


Larry

Dan/Panther

My guess that wiring is how they did it at the factory. Germans are just that way.

D/P

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

AL_as_needed

Looks a lot like the Ericsson PTT phones of the same era with the plastic finger wheel and seperate
number card holder on the front. The static issue is common but (at leasr for me) was easily fixed.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=16143.msg167211#msg167211

Where the US used carbon, the euro market used a magnet amd coil design. These were made with a film of protective oil that over the years seeps down onto thw diaphram and muffles or breaks up the sound. 
TWinbrook7

LarryInMichigan

It does have an Ericssonesque look to it, but it was made by DeTeWe (Deutsche Telefon Werk) which was and is a German telephone manufacturer.  I would like to find some information, such as an advertisement, about this model.  It seems that these are quite rare. 

Larry

19and41

Nice phone.  Most German phone equipment has that neat lead dress.  Wonder when the origin info was changed to reflect west or east Germany as opposed to just Germany?
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

AL_as_needed

Well it seems it is not made of cement, id lean towards west germany  ;D
TWinbrook7

LarryInMichigan

Here are some pictures of this phone next to a more familiar model for comparison.

Larry

LarryInMichigan

I did some more searching, and I did find a bit of information about this model.  It was apparently called DeTeWe Te57, and it was apparently only made for a few years.  I found a short discussion about this model here: link in German.  It seems that they were used in business PABXs.

I replaced the transmitter in mine with one which circulates among my European phones, and I also connected a 1K resistor in parallel with the transmitter, and the phone works well now.  It may be the cutest phone in my collection, but I sure dislike the lousy ergonomics of the German standard handset.

Larry

TelePlay

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on January 15, 2018, 01:13:55 PM
I did some more searching, and I did find a bit of information about this model.  It was apparently called DeTeWe Te57, and it was apparently only made for a few years.  I found a short discussion about this model here: link in German.  It seems that they were used in business PABXs.

Here is that German web site in English, in a jpg format (click to enlarge).