1947 WECo dial looks like 5I instead of 5J

[unbeldi]

I have numerous times wondered about the marking of this 4-47 5J dial.

It sure looks like it is marked 5I  instead of 5J.   The rubber stamp didn't print the very bottom of the type character, so we don't see the bottom curve of the J,  but the letter appears way too close to the 5 to accommodate a full stroke there.  In addition, the comparison suggests that the curve should have come up sufficiently to be seen again, just as it is the case for the digit 5.

Here is a comparison with a IV-39 dial where the spacing is indeed much larger.

The dial was found on an ivory metal body 302.  We know that the factories didn't make any color telephones between 1942 and 1949, so this was most definitely a custom order fulfilled at a distribution center shop.

Did they make the 5J dial custom too?    Were 5J dials still made at factories during the black out period for maintenance purposes?

[poplar1]

BSP Addendum C30.011, Issue 1, 12-15-47
shows 5J with P-372629 transparent finger wheel (the type usually found on 1949- (Nov.?) 1952 color sets).... over a year before new 5Js for assembling new color sets would be needed (Jan., 1949). Still, theaddendum was issued 8 months after your dial was stamped.
Did you record the dates on the cords, or the last test date on the transmitter?

               

[unbeldi]

BSP Addendum C30.011, Issue 1, 12-15-47
shows 5J with P-372629 transparent finger wheel (the type usually found on 1949- (Nov.?) 1952 color sets).... over a year before new 5Js for assembling new color sets would be needed (Jan., 1949). Still, theaddendum was issued 8 months after your dial was stamped.
Did you record the dates on the cords, or the last test date on the transmitter?

             

IIRC, the hand cord was replaced in 1950 and was very worn too; the line cord was something much newer, PVC with a 505 plug.
The number card was already ANC from Richmond, Virginia, close to where the seller was located.

The dial already had the new finger wheel with the rotating latch mount that was used until 1952, not the cross mount from before the war.

PS: yes, the P-372629 FW.

[unbeldi]

Transmitter date is 6-47.   This could indicate that the set was actually assembled  in June, and that the dial came from stock.

Ah, the receiver is dated 10-31-38, but has a vermillion rebuild stamp:  947R

So it was assembled as late as September.

[unbeldi]

I have a pic of the handset as found.

The handle is dated 59  (May 1939).