Inquiry on German white bakelite phone worth.

[stromcarl1212]

Hi Folks,
This is my first post on this site. I started collecting rotary dial telephones exactly one year and four days ago. I am hooked and will not hang up this craze without a fight.

The phone: I have an opportunity to purchase a German white bakelite phone. The only indicater of a manufacturer is an icon stamp on the back: "B&R Co." The phone is well used. Dial turns, but roughly. Outside looks clean, but large crack on handset cradle and a couple on rotary dial.

Quests:

1. How rare is this phone?
2. What do the letters B&R Co. stand for? I learned this phone is probably a W48 of some sort...

3. Given the poor condition of the bakelite handset cradle and dial, can this phone be worth much more than $50.00 U.S.?
4. Can the cracked bakelite be repaired to almost new condition?
5. Can european phones be altered to be used in the U.S.?

Thank you so much for helpful info.!

Karl

[Haf]

Hi stromcarl1212,

if it looks somehow like this: http://tinyurl.com/axllfo4

then it is a W48, worth in a condition like in the link is about 20-40 € ($26-52) and about 40-60 € ($52-77) for extraordinary good condition like out of the box. Yes, of cause there will be always sellers asking crazy prizes and naive buyers paying those. Add 34 € for shipping from Germany to the US and you'll have an idea what to spend for the one you want to buy.
Manufacturer was Richard Bosse & Co in Berlin, founded in 1888.
And using German phones in the US shouldn't be the problem, it works the other way round too.

Haf

[dsk]

White bakelite makes it more expensive, but I Guess Haf is right.
The make are unknown for me, but it was many makes making W48 style telephones, with the same diagram, and interchangeable parts. The capacitor in these telephones may often tell about the date.

German telephones are normally just to plug in to UK systems (may need adapter, or change plug)
European telephones has usually higher REN load than US telephones, so the you could probably count it as 2 telephones (REN) regarding the ringer load.

dsk

[AE_Collector]

Cracks severely de-value most phones though quite often they can be repaired to make the phone presentable. If the phone would be valuable when if in good condition you can buy a damaged version quite inexpensively to put in your collection where the valuable version is beyond your budget. That is what I do with early Colored AE phones.

Welcome to the forum! Are you able to post some pictures?

Terry