Is this legit eBay auction for Ronald Reagan's 2500 set

[Key2871]

I can't get just the image to load. So if some one can.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/President-RONALD-REAGAN-vintage-White-House-TELEPHONE-in-CASE-RARE-WORKS/193863168797

?hash=item2d2325331d:g:J38AAOSwHqVgDgTq

Very expensive, but it's it real? It looks like the real deal, but is it..

[Owain]

Couple of photos.

[HarrySmith]

I do not see where it states it was used by Reagan. It states a White House telephone from the Ronald Reagan era. It could be an actual phone from the White House. The picture shows him with a white phone, not a beige one.

[TelePlay]

The picture shows him with a white phone, not a beige one.

The white handset is also hard wired, not modular.

[Key2871]

I do not see where it states it was used by Reagan. It states a White House telephone from the Ronald Reagan era. It could be an actual phone from the White House. The picture shows him with a white phone, not a beige one.

Right, it has a plaque on the display that just says his name. It's possible the phone was used in the White House, but with no other documentation saying it was used by RR just his name on the plaque isn't enough to provide proof he used that phone.
And I don't think they used beige sets in the White House. Every picture I've seen when he was in office, the sets were White, I've not seen any where Beige was in use. So I still think it's a long shot.
Thanks for the pictures though.. It would be interesting to see what happens.

[compubit]

While I was in college In the late 80s, working for the DoD, all of the phones I saw around Washington (albeit I didn't visit the White House) had hardwired handset - mostly for security reasons...

Jim

[TelePlay]

Here's a white, hardwired Call Director on the Resolute Desk in Reagan's version of the Oval Office (scroll down)

https://www.manufacturediscontinued.com/exhibits/telephones/presidential-telephones-of-the-united-states.html

from the first link at

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17517.msg180895#msg180895

[FABphones]

I can't see anything which actually confirms to it being a White House phone. Not white as shown in the photo of RR using a phone, not hard wired, no White House documentation to back the story up, not a single photo of it insitu, and certainly not the phone as shown on the desk of RR.

It being a modular phone rings alarm bells the most. As compubit points out, this would be a security issue.

Thanks for starting the thread Ken, this auction will be an interesting one to follow.

——-

Image below from the link above, saying 'A typical phone that would have been on the desk of a White House staffer perhaps in the 1980's'.

Staff jobs vary, there are hundreds of them; calligraphers, cooks, gardeners, cleaners...  It would be interesting to know the auction phones actual placement.

[Key2871]

Since starting this thread, I have been researching phones used in the Whitehouse, and everything I've found was hardwired, as pointed out by several.
And all were White. So I'm thinking lime many are, this is a common set used elsewhere perhaps in the Whitehouse, and was not used by Ronald Reagan.
And with no provinance that he actually used the phone I think someone has gone to great lengths to try and sell this as a genuine article.

I've seen sets with clear face plates with Whitehouse directories before, and I've seen stickers that say not a secure phone.
But as pointed out it'll be interesting to see where this goes. I just saw this and thought it was very interesting

[Key2871]

I looked at the sellers other listings, he has a truck load of famous collectables.
But I still don't think that's Reagan's phone.