Village Yard Sale Scores

[NorthernElectric]

A nearby village was having an organized yard sale day today so naturally I had to go, hoping to find some vintage phone stuff.  I only picked up 1 phone, an ivory 2500 for 2 bucks.  The seller was asking 5 but  quickly agreed to my offer of 2.  She probably thought she was pulling a fast one on me because it wouldn't dial out when I got home.  A quick look at the wiring diagram from TCI and I set it right (S-W wire from hookswitch to RR instead of F).  This phone started life in 1958 as a 500 but was refurbed into a 2500 in 1986.  I bought it primarily to get the keypad for my wood touch tone subset project but the possibility of making a working 500 out of it was also in the back of my mind.  I have already 'defurbed' it back into a black 500.   A while back I bought a black 500 which I 'temporarily' recommissioned as a subset for a D1.  I thought it would be smart to remove the hookswitch assembly so all the wires weren't in the way and some of the plastic bits disintegrated in the process.  I sort of regretted that because it was the only 500 I had.  I drilled out the rivets to remove the touch tone dial pad brackets and reattached the rotary dial brackets from the other 500 phone base with brass machine screws and nuts that I picked up later.  I hate pop rivets.  I didn't bother with photos given that it no longer looks like what I bought and is essentially a frankenphone.

I also bought 2 clocks, a Westclox Baby Ben style 7 ($2) and an Ingraham (Toronto) 'ship's wheel' kitchen clock ($1.95).  The Seller was king $3 for the Baby Ben; I offered $2 which was accepted.  It's in great shape though it runs a bit fast.  I'm hoping it slows down as the spring unwinds and that over a 24 hour period will be about right.  The alarm bell is awesome for such a small clock!  This will be my backup alarm in case the power goes off overnight.  Up til now, I have been sleeping in under such circumstances.  I also love the light tick tock sound it makes.  It has been a long time since I had such a clock.

The Ingraham was from the same seller as the 2500, but I had a tough time dickering her down.  She was asking $2 for it and said she couldn't give me a deal on it because she already gave me a deal on the phone.  But, I managed to get 5 cents knocked off the price when I showed her that $1.95 was all the change I had in my pocket.  She said she had plenty of change but I didn't let on what I had for folding cash in my wallet and I guess she didn't want to lose the sale.    It keeps excellent time.

I also got 3 glass chimneys for my oil lamps (another blackout thing) for $2 and a pair of real scissors for 25 cents; forged steel instead of those plastic handle busters.