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Scored another free 554!

Started by Nilsog, April 01, 2012, 07:31:38 PM

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Nilsog

Dunno if anyone remembers, but one of the reasons I joined this board is because a coworker gave me his father's 'garage phone', a moss green 554. I cleaned it up, and with help from you guys made it work again and it now hangs in my kitchen (much to my wife's chagrin).

Anyway, I was getting some firewood from another one of my coworkers and I noticed he had a black 554 in his garage. Noticed, as in *RIIIIIING!*. I asked him about it and he said it was mine if I found him another phone for his garage. Done! I gave him the emerson touchtone my wife bought when we moved.

So he told me the phone was installed by the phone company when the house was built in 1981. The mounting plate, which he also let me have is dated 1981, so that seems to make sense. The phone itself is a 1961 554A/B, retrofitted with modular. I even think the handset was modified to accept it, as it doesn't look as though it was cast to fit the plug.

The handset elements have been replaced, probably during refurbishing. The other parts inside are original though, a 425B network dated 10-61 and ringer III 61. The dial is a 7C, and what looks to be GO after it, also dated 10-61.

It has it's original dialcard, and I like how I actually got to take it from its last install.  I just wish it was still hardwired.

Here are the pics!

EDIT:  There were 10 images attached below this edit note using external links to a Photobucket account.They did not open for me with the Photobucket extension. Thanks to GLadstone who found them, prompted me to remove and re-install the extension. This allowed me to see the images again but they could not be simply saved. They had to be copied into Paint and then saved before they could be attached. This is a long and painful process and I've discovered that Nilsog has close to 100 externally linked images within his 80 or so posts. This is getting close to unacceptable use of my time, especially when more than 6 images are linked within one post requiring me to make composite images to stay within 6, as it was in this case.

Both of these replies had/have 17 externally linked images.

     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6831.msg78106#msg78106
     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6646.msg77341#msg77341

After two hours of making it through half of Nilsog's posts, 121 images were processed, 1089 clicks in processing and another 182 clicks to upload the processed images to the respective posts. Only 114 more posts to check once my arm and hand recover from mouse clicking. A major mistake for members to have used external links in the first 5 years of the forum's existence.

NOTE:  All topics posts have been scanned and all externally linked Photobucket images have been attached to the appropriate post. In all 220 posts, 41 had externally linked images (172 in total requiring a bit over 2,000 mouse clicks). In looking at this from the other side, it is way more time consuming to post a photo on an externally linked site, then copy that code into a forum "img" link than it would be to simply attache the photo to the forum post or reply. That said, this waste of my time forum posterity improvement is now completed.





















Ken

bingster

As far as I know, hardwired handsets couldn't be modified to modular the way the bases could, and had to be replaced with modular handsets.  The odd look of the mod opening on the handset looks to me like the handset cord was glued in place, which was a reasonably common fix when the little springy clip broke.
= DARRIN =



Nilsog

#2
Well it came right out and the clip is still attached. Maybe someone else fixed it before I came along. Regardless, I'm going to need a new cord, this one is just too cheap and short.

Also, cleaned up and mounted (next to the moss green 554, which will be moved)

Ken

canuckphoneguy

Very nice find! Talk about good timing.

I like that moss green phone you have as well!

GLadstone

Hi Everyone,

I saw that this topic was listed in the Photobucket Topic (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=19200.msg199004#msg199004) so I checked it out to see if the Photobucket extension is still working on my computer...

I can still see the original images, so I took a screenshot and adjusted the size to 2000 pixels on the longest side.

Attachment below.

Take care,
GLadstone