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"Cutie" Phone

Started by LarryInMichigan, February 23, 2014, 10:48:46 AM

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LarryInMichigan

I normally don't go for novelty phones, but I couldn't resist this one for $6 at the flea market this morning.  The woman who sold it to me has probably been trying to sell it for years.  The phone is about 6" wide at its widest point, and about 4.5" tall with the handset in the cradle.  The transmitter capsule is about 1.375" in diameter.  There is an internal cliking (ie. no gongs) ringer.  The dial was sticky, but I gave it a shot of contact cleaner, and it turns well now.  From a quick search on ebay, I see that several of these have sold for $40 or more.  I wonder why.

Larry
 

dsk

Never seen this before, seen with Norwegian eyes it look American. Most novelty phones I have seen are Italian, and I did not even think about Japanese. :)
Why American? The back side of the dial reminds me about WE, the receiver and transmitter elements looks like WE, but the handset looks Italian.  I really understand how wrong I guessed ;D

Is it possible to get a better shot of the diagram, I may try to redraw, or fix it to be OK for posting at "telephone Wiring diagrams"

dsk

LarryInMichigan

In the 1950s-1980s, cheap junk in the USA was largely imported from Japan.  Many, if not most of the novelty phone like this and the replica candlesticks and Danish phones were made in Japan.  The quality was generally cheap but usable.

The primary gimmick with this phone is its tiny size.

Larry

Mr. Bones

Yeah,

     for $6.00, I'd have rescued it too. Interesting phone, and yet another page out of telephony history.

     ¡Sehr interessant!

Best regards!
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

paul-f

You got an amazing bargain.  Here's one with the original price tag!  ... and a few variations.

Production moved to Korea as labor costs priced Japan out of the manufacturing business.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

LarryInMichigan

Mine is missing the dial center piece.  Does anyone here know where I could get a replacement for cheap?

Larry

rdelius

That set appears to have a TAP dial.Phoneco used to sell those dials and might still have the snap in plastic window