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Green 1955 Soft Plastic 500

Started by TelePlay, July 11, 2015, 11:51:42 AM

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TelePlay

This looks strange to me, a black metal finger wheel on a soft plastic colored phone. Was that finger wheel one of the options? If not, how did they do this? Swap out the bezel?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-C-D-500-ROTARY-DESK-PHONE-TELEPHONE-Avocado-Green-/391197613903


WEBellSystemChristian

That fingerwheel wouldn't have been original to a 1955 Green. My guess is that the original open-center was smashed, and the installer that was sent out to repair it replaced the fingerwheel with a black alluminum one; the only kind he might have had on his truck at the time.

It looks like a really nice phone! The cord needs some work, but the plastics look like they're in great shape!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

jsowers

#2
Quote from: TelePlay on July 11, 2015, 11:51:42 AM
This looks strange to me, a black metal finger wheel on a soft plastic colored phone. Was that finger wheel one of the options? If not, how did they do this? Swap out the bezel?

No bezel swap necessary. Just remove the metal fingerwheel and add a spider and a clear fingerwheel in its place, reusing the nut and washer. Moss green never had a black dial bezel, unless it was a two-tone, and that also had black cords and handset, which this one doesn't have. And yes, this one looks strange, but add a spider, a clear fingerwheel and decent dark gray cords and it should be whole again.
Jonathan

andre_janew

Another thing you could do is paint the fingerwheel to match the phone.

Doug Rose

Andre....have you seen many metal finger wheels painted to match the  color of the phone on a 500 set......... that were not black??
Kidphone

andre_janew

No, I haven't.  I just think it would be nice to see a color phone with a metal fingerwheel painted to match the color of the phone.  It would also represent something that Western Electric could've done, but didn't do.

poplar1

Actually, Western Electric did paint finger wheels (on 4H dials, and possibly on 2H) to match all color phones until 1937. At that point (4J dial and 5J dial), they changed to stainless steel (unpainted), except for the metallic colors (oxidized silver, statuary bronze, medium or dark gold), which retained the matching finger wheels. Then, in 1941, some colors got clear Lucite finger wheels, except for the metallic colors.

So 302s -- except for metallic colors and black -- and 500s -- except for black -- never had matching finger wheels.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Doug Rose

David....agreed. But WE never did on a 500 set.....Doug
Kidphone

unbeldi

#8
Well, never say never.  There is good evidence (cf. pics) that indicates that even in the 1950s some 5J finger wheels were painted in the shops.

These pics show a 5J—50 dial, clearly marked as such with an ivory-painted FW.  Note, that this is the color of the 500-series ivory–50, not the traditional ivory–4 of the 200s and 300s.

The FW is from 1951, but WECo could hardly have painted anything in ivory–50 until ca. 1954.  So, this perhaps came from either a Continental 202, one of those rare 302s made from CAB plastic, or simply a refurbishment of

It appears, the dial was originally painted white on the case, so was indeed a true 5J. It received an ivory coat on top of that, when it was marked —50.

poplar1

Quote from: unbeldi on July 12, 2015, 02:42:06 PM
Well, never say never.  There is good evidence (cf. pics) that indicates that even in the 1950s some 5J finger wheels were painted in the shops.

These pics show a 5J—50 dial, clearly marked as such with an ivory-painted FW.  Note, that this is the color of the 500-series ivory–50, not the traditional ivory–4 of the 200s and 300s.

The FW is from 1951, but WECo could hardly have painted anything in ivory–50 until ca. 1954.  So, this perhaps came from either a Continental 202, one of those rare 302s made from CAB plastic, or simply a refurbishment of

It appears, the dial was originally painted white on the case, so was indeed a true 5J. It received an ivory coat on top of that, when it was marked —50.

This "5JB-50" dial appears to be the exception rather than the rule, and, as you pointed out, modified by the WE distributing house/repair shop rather than the factory.  4J, 5J and 6D dials, as originally manufactured, did not have a color code suffix, since all had white cases, and either stainless steel (unpainted) finger wheels, or, later, clear plastic ones. The dials for metallic color phones continued to have H assembly codes, such as 5HB-8 (oxidized silver case and finger wheel). Most Continentals had 5J, 6D or 4J dials with clear finger wheels, though many green ones had unpainted metal finger wheels (brushed aluminum).
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

unbeldi

#10
Quote from: poplar1 on July 12, 2015, 03:42:36 PM
Quote from: unbeldi on July 12, 2015, 02:42:06 PM
Well, never say never.  There is good evidence (cf. pics) that indicates that even in the 1950s some 5J finger wheels were painted in the shops.

These pics show a 5J—50 dial, clearly marked as such with an ivory-painted FW.  Note, that this is the color of the 500-series ivory–50, not the traditional ivory–4 of the 200s and 300s.

The FW is from 1951, but WECo could hardly have painted anything in ivory–50 until ca. 1954.  So, this perhaps came from either a Continental 202, one of those rare 302s made from CAB plastic, or simply a refurbishment of

It appears, the dial was originally painted white on the case, so was indeed a true 5J. It received an ivory coat on top of that, when it was marked —50.

This "5JB-50" dial appears to be the exception rather than the rule, and, as you pointed out, modified by the WE distributing house/repair shop rather than the factory.  4J, 5J and 6D dials, as originally manufactured, did not have a color code suffix, since all had white cases, and either stainless steel (unpainted) finger wheels, or, later, clear plastic ones. The dials for metallic color phones continued to have H assembly codes, such as 5HB-8 (oxidized silver case and finger wheel). Most Continentals had 5J, 6D or 4J dials with clear finger wheels, though many green ones had unpainted metal finger wheels (brushed aluminum).

The card catalog does indeed indicate that, both, 4H and 5H dials, did have dash codes for all the colors offered in the late 30s.  However, what the exact purpose of this was is not preserved, apparently, and it appears to have been abandoned.  These types were replaced by the J-type dials, 4J and 5J.

4H[A,B,D,E]—[4,5,6,7,8,11,12,16,17,18,19,20,21]  ==> some replaced by 5H—xx, or 4J
5H[A,B,D,E]—[4,6,7,8,11,12,16,17,18,19,20,21]  ==> 5J


poplar1

#11
That is correct. The 4H and 5H dials had a color code to indicate the color of the dial case and finger wheel, which matched the phone. But J dials always had white cases, as originally manufactured, and unpainted or clear plastic finger wheels; so no need for a color code suffix.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10775.msg114907#msg114907
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

andre_janew

#12
On second thought, maybe it would be best to strip all the black paint off and just go for the brushed aluminum look!  I just get these weird off-the-wall ideas sometimes that aren't received well.  I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my crazy notions.

TelePlay

Sold for only $59.88 plus $13 shipping by way of only two bids.

A last second snipe of $58.88 wasn't enough to top the first high and winning bid placed by 1***7 ( 618 ) who took the phone home.

andre_janew

He may be at Benjamin Moore getting some green paint for that fingerwheel.  It is a possibility.