Japanese mystery phone

[finlover]

I bought this phone on eBay not knowing anything about it, just that I liked its style and had never seen one before.  The seller's description didn't shed much light on it either, only that it was unused (I've heard THAT before!) and was the last one of several that he had.  The internet turned up a few photos of similar phones with the NEC or Oki brand, but not Star Phone, as this one was marked.

What a thrill when I opened the box!  The phone I got was much nicer than the one pictured in the listing and had a cool red button on it.  It was unmistakably new old stock, the cords still bound in ancient rubber bands.  This baby is the '49 Buick of the telephone world, it's got great lines and is larger in every dimension than a 500 set.  

At first I thought it might be a Japanese hotel phone, but to my surprise the seller told me it was U.S. government surplus.  One of the old-timers at my work said that after WWII our government bought Japanese products to help bolster their economy.

Can any of you guys and dolls tell me how it might have been used in an office setting?  Did the red button ring a switchboard (or summon Mothra maybe)?  A look inside reveals a trough for batteries--what did they power?  There doesn't seem to be an internal ringer or buzzer.  Was there an external one or did it only place outbound calls?  Lastly, how old is it?  I'm spoiled by WeCo's practice of dating everything.  There is only one group of numbers on the inside of the handset, but it's unclear if there's a date code among them.  The straight handset cord might indicate early '50s, but maybe Japan continued using them past that?

Oh well, even if I don't find out anything else about this beauty, I love its streamlined look and brand new condition.  A big THANK YOU for all of you who convinced me to get it!!

[finlover]

more photos

[finlover]

even more photos

[finlover]

enough with the photos already!

[Greg G.]

enough with the photos already!

The transmitter element looks very similar to the one in my NEC Type 3:

[Greg G.]

The transmitter looks very similar to the one in my NEC Type 3

Yep, that's it!  Maybe this phone was manufactured by NEC but marketed as a "Star Phone" for export?  Kind of like Nissan did with the Datsun brand.

Except mine says "1A" on it, yours says "1C", but I bet it would work fine in mine.

[finlover]

Yep, that's it!  I suspect my phone was manufactured by NEC but marketed as a "Star Phone" for export, kind of like what Nissan did with the Datsun brand.

[finlover]

That's a lovely Type 3 you've got, brinybay!  Where did you get it?  Any idea when NEC started making the Type 4?

[Greg G.]

That's a lovely Type 3 you've got, brinybay!  Where did you get it?  Any idea when NEC started making the Type 4?

That was my first vintage phone find, posted in Portland, Oregon Craigslist.  Try this site for info on NECs:  http://www.naonao.jp/tel_eng/

I would love to have a Type 4 like some of the one's Ramil (mienaichizu) has.  He has a blog with pictures online somewhere.

[dsk]

Looks like a modern local battery phone.

How does it signal? is the transistor for making sound locally or sending a beep on the line?

Suggestion:
Put in batteries, put in a receiverelement  (or a field telephone. Do NOT crank it!) on the line.

You should hear the speech loud and clear, tapping the membrane should be heard in the handset.

When pushing the red button w handset on/off cradle you should hear a click or sound.

These result should be interesting to hear.

If you get just clicking when pressing the red button, applying 3V at the line (polarity sensitive) you should get a ring (beep).

Then you a little newer version of this:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1941.0

dsk

[LarryInMichigan]

The fact that it contains a transistor places it no earlier than mid 1960's.  I would guess somewhere around 1970.

[finlover]

The fact that it contains a transistor places it no earlier than mid 1960's.  I would guess somewhere around 1970.

I'm not so sure about that.  Transistor radios were coming out of Japan by 1957.  But your observation does rule out the early '50s.  Maybe the first row of numbers under the receiver is the date: 2/08/60 
Thanks for your input!

[LarryInMichigan]

I guess you're right.  The transistor was invented earlier than I thought I remembered.   Apparently, my memory is failing.

Larry

[ntophones]

What a beautiful phone--great condition!

[finlover]

What a beautiful phone--great condition!

Thanks, nto!
It's really different from anything in my collection.  Maybe in 2010 I'll branch out from my usual 500s and 554s.