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Cousin ITT....

Started by twocvbloke, April 09, 2012, 01:38:35 PM

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twocvbloke

And here's this month's phone, an ITT 500, for a total of £19.75 (£12 for the phone, £7.75 for the postman), in the UK (and there seems to be a lot of ITT phones on ebay UK at the moment)... :)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300691140417

Looking at the pictures, it's been repainted, so could be many different colours, but I don't mind, I just want a new phone to play with... ;D

The pics from ebay:

canuckphoneguy

I love white 500s. I have one in my bedroom.

The numbering and lettering on the dial look like it's a phone from the 50s/60s, but the ITT is definitely not - I think they're from the 80s, if I'm not mistaken.

Enjoy your new phone :)

twocvbloke

I've got 2x 500s and 2x 2500s in my bedroom, mainly cos there's nowhere else to safely store them where they won't wander out the door in the hands of someone who keeps saying "ooh, that's a nice phone!!"...  :D

It'll be interesting to see if it's a frankenphone though, made up of multiple age parts and all...  :D

canuckphoneguy

That's a lot of phones in one room - do they all ring at the same time?

I'm lucky living alone, I don't have to worry about anyone wandering off with my phones :)

twocvbloke

Quote from: canuckphoneguy on April 09, 2012, 05:07:43 PM
That's a lot of phones in one room - do they all ring at the same time?

Nah, I need to get a phone system first before they can do that...  :D

I keep rotating the useage of phones though, I swapped the black 2500 with the green GPO 746 downstairs last night, so the GPO is in service to make sure the mother stays awake, cos I'm evil like that... ;D

The only phones that I haven't put into service are the two reds, the 500 & 2500, the 2554 is sort of in service with an "Out of Order" notice on it cos I have still yet to get that wired in...  :D

twocvbloke

Well, Cousin ITT has arrived, and I'm not too sure what to think of it, the ITT-branded handset smells cheesy, so either has cheese Doritos stuffed away in there or it's soft plastic, the base says it's from 1959 and made in Canada, the dial surround is loose (and has a rubber gasket to press against the case, which has a crack in the same place as my red 500!!), the dial turns nicely, but doesn't sound right, so that'll need investigating, and there is a line cable, but it's long since been snipped... :D

And the case is most definitely painted, poorly, as is the handset, and the handset cable too... :o

Just getting some pictures now... ;D

twocvbloke

Oh, I just noticed that the phone has "MTS" stamped on the base, so looks like it was a Manitoba Telephone System phone then... :D


twocvbloke

And some pics (I'll reserve the other pics for another thread!!)... ;D


canuckphoneguy

What was the original colour? There's definitely been some swapping of parts with that phone.

twocvbloke

The original colour is the same as the dial surround, and you can see the colour on the handset where it rests on the cradle, I'm guessing that under the spray paint lies a slightly yellowed ivory ITT case... ???

Not looking forward to attempt de-painting it though, the last thing I de-painted was a Hoover Junior 1346, which someone just used bog-standard house paint and a brush to apply, it was easy to remove eventually, but it took forever to soften up and loosen... :o

McHeath

The dial is a 9C, so that's why it sounds different, it's got more plastic gears than the older 7 series dials.

Looks like it's been back to the refurb shop a few times.  The baseplate is probably Northern Electric, while ITT parts were installed at some point around 1970.  What is the date on the housing and handset and caps? 

ITT, once Kellogg Switchboard, is now Cortelco and still makes 2500s, 3554s, and 2554s down in Cornith Mississippi. 

Since it's been painted you could try painting it again, and try the bleaching method on the dial face, or sanding it, to get rid of the yellowing.  White 500s are, in my opinion, very attractive phones and you got a good deal on this one.

twocvbloke

I found why the dial sounded "different", the little clutch spring round one of the gears was whining, a teensy drop of oil got that sorted, and it's as quiet as my red WE500 dial now... :)

As for repainting, the poor thing's been repainted about 3 or 4 times given the layers of paint I've seen behind the chipped-off paint, and the ITT logo on the back is rather "faded" with the amount of paint on it, so, I'd rather strip it back (hopefully) and see what the plastic is like, assuming the paint can be stripped off... :D

Dates, unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any, the handset only has "1" in the receiver and "2" in the transmitter, both reversed too, and the caps haven't got anything, and the shell has nothing visible (if it was stamped, it's been sprayed over with overspray), the only dates available are the innards... :-\

Transmitter - 7-69
Receiver - 4-25-62
Handset cable - 61
Dial - 6-70 or 8-70
Bells - 1-59
Network - 58
Base - 59

That's all I can find... :-\

AE_Collector

Looks as though it has "MTS" on the baseplate as well? I'll go with that equalling "Manitoba Telephone System"...a Canadian Phone (originally at least).

Terry

twocvbloke

Quote from: AE_collector on April 16, 2012, 02:52:43 AM
Looks as though it has "MTS" on the baseplate as well? I'll go with that equalling "Manitoba Telephone System"...a Canadian Phone (originally at least).

Terry

Yeah, I mentioned it a few posts up... :D

AE_Collector

Oh yes, I just found your previous post re MTS. Didn't tjhing too many others would know what that was!

Terry