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Tesla Stropkov phone and other goodies

Started by bellsystemproperty, May 29, 2010, 08:09:02 PM

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bellsystemproperty

The other day a man came to the door holding a box. In this box was phones and phone parts!  ;D I'm sure you can imagine the excitement I felt! My mom's friend had some phones he didn't want and surprised me by giving them to me. One of the interesting phones is a Tesla Stropkov phone. It's kind of like a 500, and has an interesting ring. The quality of its construction isn't as good as Western Electric, but it's still a very cool phone.









The russians made interesting plugs.


A Kellogg candlestick.


I'm not sure what this is, could it be a Western Electric phone.




Some other goodies.

C*NET # 794-5953 (KYLE)

paul-f

Wow!  That's the way to get them!

Did he have a story of how the phone got to the US -- or at least how it came into his possession?  It seems to be a long way from home.

It's certainly different enough to add visual impact to your collection.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

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bellsystemproperty

I didn't think to ask him. Next time I see him (he says he has more phones) I'll ask  how he got it.
It looks like they may still make rotary phones, or they likely could just be selling old stock.
http://tinyurl.com/teslastropkov
Click on products, then mobile devices (it has a phone symbol), and then go through the different categories and you will see rotary phones. If they're still making those phones (unlikely), then they will be the only manufacturer of rotary phones in production.
C*NET # 794-5953 (KYLE)

gpo706

That Tesla phone is a truimph of design over function, very striking but very unergonomic.

There was a prog on TV here the other night I was watching half asleep which compared a similarly designed phone by the Bahaus school to to a 302(?) by Dreyfuss and accented the difference between pure design aesthetics and Dreyfuss' approach, of engineering and ergonomics and actual use.

The "critic" that compared the two pointed out the inherent flaws in the pure design phone and praised the Drefuss approach (he had them side by side on a desk in the interview).

The most annoying thing is I think it was about Art Deco and can't recall the name of it at the moment, and it was BBC so links would have been useless.

Anyhow, thats a very striking looking machine, a real conversation piece, but can you imagine using it evryday, like the bloke in the programme said, your hands would be wrapped in bandages...
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

JorgeAmely

Quote from: bellsystemproperty on May 29, 2010, 08:09:02 PM
The other day a man came to the door holding a box. In this box was phones and phone parts!

Some people are so lucky.  ;)
Jorge

LarryInMichigan

That phone has that stylish 1970s communist look to it.  What a shame the communism failed everywhere ;)  We could all be living in a workers' paradise and benefiting from the directives of the government ministry of telephone design.

There is a good chance that many of the conversations on that phone during its first 20 years or so of existence were monitored by the Czech secret police.

Otherwise, it is an interesting addition to a phone collection.

Larry

gpo706

I know Jorge, luckiest I've been when a girl at work offered me a black bakelite her mate was binning (YES - BINNING) when moving flat.

Was a bog standard black 312, but made by AEP Portugal, fully converted.

I appraised it (honestly as Iam, silly bugger) and said should ebay it for £250 plus.

Her mate waited for a month and said to sell it me for £50, theres a lot to be said for spreading your interests aboot.

It's still in my room and works perfectly.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

McHeath

It's a pretty unique and interesting looking phone.  My first thought was Soviet era, communist blok, and I did not know that Tesla Stropkov was either.  It just has that look, very boxy, very sharp angles, little bit weird design feel to it with odd proportions, sort of like the early Scion xB models which also look vaguely Sovietish.   ;)

bellsystemproperty

Agreed. The phone is very uncomfortable to talk on. I too believe that form follows function. That is why the 500 is a perfect phone. (not to say the 500 is ugly, it is a very good looking phone)
C*NET # 794-5953 (KYLE)

Phonesrfun

Quote from: bellsystemproperty on May 30, 2010, 12:08:24 AM
Agreed. The phone is very uncomfortable to talk on. I too believe that form follows function. That is why the 500 is a perfect phone. (not to say the 500 is ugly, it is a very good looking phone)

Kyle:

Even with it being uncomfortable, it is unique, to say the least.  I think you really lucked out with all of it.
-Bill G

bellsystemproperty

Yes I did!  ;D ;D ;D The wooden wall phone and the candlestick are cool finds too. And the wall jack in the box will let me add another extension somewhere.
C*NET # 794-5953 (KYLE)

gpo706

The programme is "The Genius of Design" from BBC2.

The episode is "Designs for Living"

iplayer here, if you can access it in the US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sf992/The_Genius_of_Design_Designs_for_Living/

"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"