Mahogany Bakelite North H-Series

[LarryInMichigan]

I just received a North H-Series in (or is it walnut) bakelite.  The phone needs a bit of work.  The phone is dirty and smells of tobacco smoke, it needs a ringer and line and handset cords, there is a very stubborn sticker stuck to the side of the case, and there are some scratches and small chips, but I think that I caught a good deal for $79 plus $20 shipping.

The dates all seem to be in 1951.  Would this phone have come originally with brown cloth cords?  Does anyone here have a spare North SL ringer?  I think that I might have gongs here somewhere. 

Thank you for looking.

Larry

[HarrySmith]

WOW! Nice catch, those look fantastic when they are cleaned up! Sorry, I can't help with the parts.

[Doug Rose]

Larry....my guess it is Maroon. The Mahogany is mixed with black specs.  These are Bakelite and tough. I used stripper and fine steel wool on mine. That will pull the sticker right off!! It's a beauty. Mine came with a 5J as well. You done good.....Doug

[Ktownphoneco]

Larry  ....    You did exceedingly well in your purchase of $99.00 for the set, including the shipping.    I speak from experience.   Attached is a photo of my eBay listing of a similar set, dated 1953 in brown mahogany Bakelite.    It sold at the time for $697.00 USD.     Keep in mind that I was told at the time, (June 2013), the thing that made the set very collectible for collectors, was the North dial with the original matching mahogany Bakelite finger wheel.    That maybe so, but I'm quite certain the bulk of the value, and the ultimate selling price had a lot to do with the brown mahogany Bakelite case and handset.    So my personal opinion is that you did "VERY WELL" with your purchase.     Good for you !!

Jeff Lamb

[LarryInMichigan]

I took a look at my purchase receipt and saw that I actually paid $79.99, not $79, so I was off by 99 cents.

I will have to do some serious work on the phone.  I think that I will stay away from steel wool, but some Micromesh sanding pads will be useful.  I will probably want to replace the dial number plate as the numbers are worn.  I might have one of those around here.  I doubt that I will manage to make the phone shiny enough to entice anyone to pay $697 for it, but I expect that it could get more than half that amount with a bit of cleaning and polishing.

Thank You


Larry

[poplar1]

This phone is from an independent operaring company in upstate NY. This company was the first to offer color phones at no extra charge. One of the techs there told me that they ordered WE [5J] dials because they didn't like the North dials. Most if not all had frequency-selective ringers.

The original cords on these were Western Electric, wth brown fabric jackets and rubber covered conductors. Very much like the H3C-9 and D3AL-9 cords on WE 302s, but with shorter leads on the set end.

[kleenax]

I just received a North H-Series in (or is it walnut) bakelite.  The phone needs a bit of work.  The phone is dirty and smells of tobacco smoke, it needs a ringer and line and handset cords, there is a very stubborn sticker stuck to the side of the case, and there are some scratches and small chips, but I think that I caught a good deal for $79 plus $20 shipping.

The dates all seem to be in 1951.  Would this phone have come originally with brown cloth cords?  Does anyone here have a spare North SL ringer?  I think that I might have gongs here somewhere. 

Thank you for looking.

Larry

I might have a SL North ringer around here somewhere; I will have to dig.

Also, you may want to use "GOO-OFF" or something of that nature. Ironically, I JUST bought a little squirt bottle of it at Home Depot today!  I would strongly urge you to NOT use steel wool on it unless absolutely necessary. Sometimes, the Smooth/shiny outer layer of bakelite is VERY thin, so you really don't want any abrasive at all. Simply clean it up (I use straight ammonia on a cloth), and then buff it up.

[LarryInMichigan]

The sticker is gone now.  I initially used denatured alcohol and managed to remove much of the top layer.  I then soaked all the bakelite parts in an oxygen cleaner solution for a couple of hours to dissolve the dirt and tobacco residue.  After that, I smeared a small amount of Citrustrip over the remaining sticker adhesive, and that dissolved it fairly quickly.  This phone has a good chance of coming out very well, but there is alot of work left to do.

Larry

[Jester]

That's a nice set, Larry!  You will enjoy it-- I sure like mine.

[Doug Rose]

These North sets are really hard to photograph. I think Larry's find is a Maroon North. I have a Maroon, Mahogany Brown that has black flecks in it and a Green North. I did use citristrp on all three with fine steel wool. These are tough to find and really tough to get a good picture of. ....Doug

pics 1 & 2 are the Maroon

pics 3 & 4 are the Mahogany Brown

pics 5 & 6 are the Green

[LarryInMichigan]

Mine looks like the mahogany one, but the mottling of the bakelite doesn't show well in pictures.  Once the phone is polished and back together, I hope to get some good sunlit pictures.

I still need a SL ringer (I already have gongs) and a brown cloth handset cord.


Larry

[Doug Rose]

Can't wait to see it Larry. I will check my parts for a North SL Ringers. I left mine as is with the frequency ringers. Great Find!! I just LOVE the Color North sets....Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

Here are a couple of pictures I just took of the shell and handset outside on the front stop.

Larry

[Doug Rose]

Larry....Mahogany Brown! Really nice find....Doug

[HarrySmith]

Nice! Looks great already, should polish up even better!