Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Talk => Forum News => New Member Introductions => Topic started by: John S on March 19, 2009, 03:20:28 PM

Title: Hello..... (John S)
Post by: John S on March 19, 2009, 03:20:28 PM
Hello Everybody...

I wanted to say, how much I love reading the forum topics.  I have learned alot, just by reading the topics.  Its really cool, when I read about someone getting an old phone, from eBay, estate sale, ect.  If I have a issue with a phone, I come to the forum to find the answer.  Also Dennis has been nice to help me out with my phones question/problems.  Thumbs up to the people who make this site possible..................I attached some of my phones I have collected over the years.  :-)

Spring is here!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Dan/Panther on March 19, 2009, 03:55:18 PM
John;
welcome.
You've got some nice old phones there.
Here is a photo of my W.E 317E, ALMOST, it's not completely original YET, but I'm working on it. Also my Kellog Grabaphone.
D/P
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: bingster on March 19, 2009, 04:26:57 PM
Welcome to the forum, John!  Each of those phones is a really nice example.  Who made the steel wall phone? It's got an interesting transmitter.
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Dennis Markham on March 19, 2009, 04:31:06 PM
John, it's good to see you making a post and showing us your telephones. You should be proud of those.  I still haven't added a stick phone to my collection and seeing yours makes me want to run out and get one.  I just wish I knew more about them so I don't spend too much for junk.  But I guess that's how we learn.

Thanks for joining in on the forum.  We look forward to hearing more about your phones.
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: rp2813 on March 19, 2009, 06:00:29 PM
Welcome John.  Those are some very nice looking and interesting phones. 

Ralph
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Bill Cahill on March 19, 2009, 06:51:58 PM
Welcome to the forums, John. I love your collection.
DP, nice job on the top wall phone.
Haven't finnished any of my restorations yet, but, I'm enjoying using my yellow wall phone in the kitchen.
Bill Cahill  ;D
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: mienaichizu on March 19, 2009, 08:52:43 PM
nice collection of old phones you got there John

welcome to the forums!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: BDM on March 19, 2009, 09:19:19 PM
Very nice collection John. Nice AE 21 desk stand.
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Dan on March 19, 2009, 09:42:33 PM
John, like Dennis said, I also don't have a candle stick but wish I had. I was wondering what year yours was, do you have a bell subset with it also?

I can't hardly watch Andy Griffith anymore without getting candlestick envy!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: BDM on March 20, 2009, 01:07:16 AM
Quote from: Dan on March 19, 2009, 09:42:33 PM
John, like Dennis said, I also don't have a candle stick but wish I had. I was wondering what year yours was, do you have a bell subset with it also?

I can't hardly watch Andy Griffith anymore without getting candlestick envy!

I have quite a few. Nice to look at, a pain in the arss to use. Your arm gets tired in a long conversation. Or you find yourself leaning over a desk. Fine in 1929, a pain in 2009.
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: rp2813 on March 20, 2009, 01:29:16 AM
Yeah, I'm with BDM on the candlestick issue.  Too much discipline required in addition to the fatigue factor.  I'm a handset kind of guy.   You can't beat the ease of use short of a speaker phone.

Ralph
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: John S on March 20, 2009, 03:50:36 AM
Thanks for the comments guys............

D/P........Your phones looks great!!!!  That is one of my goals, is to get a oak wall phone made by western electric.  I have the story line poster, by western.  I am trying to get every phone in the poster.  I know it will take time, but that is the fun part...searching...looking...

The steel wall phone box is made by western electric.  I am not sure if all the original....but it was a steal on eBay.  I got it for 20 bucks, with shipping.  It was in rough shape when I got it.  It took a while to get it in nice shape.  Still needs a bit of work....but displays nicely.

I am not sure what year the candle stick (non dial).......I found it in a box at estate sale.  There was 2 candle stick phone in the box.  They were not put together, just laying in there.  I think the owner was trying to make them into lamps...I got the whole parts for 25 bucks......when I got home, it came out to be 2 candlesticks.  I gave one to a good friend of mine.  Its one of my favs in my collection.  I do not have a bell subset for it, but I am looking for one.   When I get some interesting phones, I will post them on here.  I would love to hear people opinions on it.  I am still learning.......

Thanks....

john

Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Stephen Furley on March 20, 2009, 04:11:23 AM
Quote from: BDM on March 20, 2009, 01:07:16 AM
Quote from: Dan on March 19, 2009, 09:42:33 PM
John, like Dennis said, I also don't have a candle stick but wish I had. I was wondering what year yours was, do you have a bell subset with it also?

I can't hardly watch Andy Griffith anymore without getting candlestick envy!

I have quite a few. Nice to look at, a pain in the arss to use. Your arm gets tired in a long conversation. Or you find yourself leaning over a desk. Fine in 1929, a pain in 2009.

I've never used one, but I would imagine that they could be a pain to use.  Also, if they were so great we'd probably still be using them today, and we're not, the handset replaced them long ago, there must be a reason for that.  I'd like to gat a GPO 150 some time, but they're expensive and quite rare.  The older ones without dials don't really appeal to me.

Why would things have been any different in 1929 to they are today?  If they are a pian to use now surely they would have been a pain to use then as well, r was it just that telephonecalls were more expensive in real terms then, so they tended to be shorter?
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: bingster on March 20, 2009, 08:30:11 AM
Within the Bell System (i.e., excluding the independent companies) one could make a long distance telephone call for a certain amount of money.  That call could last only three minutes, though. Any call longer than three minutes cost a fair chunk of change because there was a "per minute" charge after the first three.  So long distance calls were, normally, very brief.

There were a number of different local plans one could purchase, though.  Many people had unlimited local calling plans, and could stay on the phone for an hour or four, if they wanted (although Bell always discouraged lengthy calls).   Other plans were structured similarly to the long distance plans, and an initally free local call would begin to cost money if it went on for longer than a few minutes. 

The gist of that is that people did tend to spend far less time on the phone.  There are glaring exceptions, of course.  Everybody had a chatty aunt or mother or sister (why is it always the girls?) who spent all day talking to friends.  That must have been an excruciating exercise with a candlestick.

The Bell System sold retro candlestick phones in the 1970s and '80s, and I've always wondered how popular they really were.  I didn't know a single person who had one, but they do tend to show up on ebay quite frequently.
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: HobieSport on March 20, 2009, 12:35:46 PM
Hello and welcome, John.  Nice collection!

Isn't this one of those repro candlestick phones from the 1970s?:

http://tinyurl.com/cbghr7

I notice that the seller doesn't mention it, but that it also doesn't have any bids as I write this, so hopefully people know.  However, those phones, like anything, are collectible in their own right, just as long as someone doesn't try to pass them off as the real deal.  It's an inexpensive way to get a working candlestick if one just want's the look.

Also, watch out for the fakes:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=377.0

http://www.oldphoneman.com/Fakes.htm
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: AET on March 20, 2009, 08:08:21 PM
Welcome!  Love the collection!  Definately impressive and blows my trio of 500's right out of the water!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: McHeath on March 21, 2009, 02:10:52 AM
Yes welcome.  It's a very nice collection of phones, you've got some really good looking early phones.  And AtomicEraTom, don't feel bad about your collection of 500s, if they make you happy then enjoy!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: AET on March 23, 2009, 12:13:49 AM
My 500's make me happy for now, but once the cash flow is better, I plan to have one for every room of my house and them some!
I have to buy a house first!
Title: Re: Hello.....
Post by: Bill Cahill on March 24, 2009, 08:27:47 PM
Like he said, buddy....  ;D
Bill Cahill