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New Here and Loving It! - RP2813

Started by rp2813, January 03, 2009, 06:46:53 PM

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rp2813

Hi everyone, my name is Ralph and I think I'm becoming a phone-a-holic!  I'm enjoying reading the discussions here and I know I'll learn a lot and hopefully be able to share some of my limited knowledge and experience.

My collection is small, accumulated many years ago and includes a 1931 202 with similar vintage bell box and seamless E1 handset, a couple of 1938 302's one metal, one plastic, a 1946 302, and some 500's which I've come to love the most for their superior functionality, especially my 10/50 one that's very clean and my daily driver.  Also have a 4/53, one that's mostly 1956 and a beige one from 1959 with metal fingerwheel.

I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun here!
Ralph

Steve

If you're a long way from home,
Can't sleep at night.
Grab your telephone,
Something just ain't right.

bingster

= DARRIN =



Dan

hey Ralph. Welcome. Is your beige metal finger wheel black or painted beige?
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

rp2813

Hey Dan, the fingerwheel on the beige phone is indeed black.  I can't remember where this phone came from but it's basically unchanged from the way I found it and needs serious cleaning.  I presumed the black wheel wasn't correct, but maybe I was wrong about that?

Ralph
Ralph

McHeath

Welcome Ralph.  I've never seen or heard of a metal fingerwheel on a colored 500, but who knows what the Bell System may have done. 

Mark Stevens

Quote from: bingster on January 03, 2009, 08:03:54 PM
Welcome to the forum, Ralph!

Yes, welcome! There's a whole slew of great folk here:  Dennis Markham, McHeath, Bill Cahill, bingster and many others.  Why, even Dan/Panther (D/P for short) is a heck of a guy!   ;D :D ;)

Dan/Panther

Hey Ralph, welcome to our little world that is growing fast.
Yes many great people here.
Don't pay too much attention to Mark, We have to let him hang around here. no choice in the matter.
If you ever watched the Andy Griffith show, you know what I mean, he's our Barney.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

mienaichizu

hey Ralph, welcome to the forum!

rp2813

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.  Lost track of my digital camera when I moved recently  but as soon as I locate it I'll provide pictures of what I have.  I suspect most interest around these parts is in the 10/50 500.  Forgot to mention I also have a mid 70's rotary Trimline wall model in white.  Well, aged white, as parts of it have yellowed badly.  It looks like a transitional model that's still hard wired but has a large and clunky modular looking connection (but not) on the handset for the cord.

I'm glad to see from reading various posts here that there are still bargain 500's to be found.  I've been looking at thrift stores but they have very little anymore.  The one that had a whole scramble table full of phones has closed.  I think I'll start hitting the various flea markets and swap meets to see what's out there.

My current hunt is for a 5302 with G1 handset.  I'd like to come across one in person as I think ebay would be an expensive route toward getting one, and the hunt is part of the fun anyway.
Ralph

Dan

You can get a 5302 on ebay for cheap, suprisingly. I got one for 25 bucks (shipping included).  Mine had the F1 handset, not the G1. It cleaned up nicely.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

rp2813

Thanks for the ebay advice Dan.  I may take the easy route if I see an affordable one there.  $25 including shipping would suit me just fine!
Ralph

benhutcherson

Right, 5302s can be had pretty reasonably off of Ebay.

Here's the last one I bought-#6 dial and G1 handset, a little over $25 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180299289330

My other 5302 has a #5 dial, an F-1 handset, and was $20 locally.

By the way, welcome to the forum! We have a great bunch of guys(for the most part  :) ) around here.

rp2813

Wow Ben, that is a nice 5302 you won there, and that's exactly the type I'm hoping to find.  I haven't been actively looking but can see that once I start, it probably won't take me long to find one at a reasonable price.  I guess finding one with a G1 handset isn't as easy as finding one with an F1.  My goal is to fool guests into thinking they're using a more modern phone than they really are, and then there's that whole thing about the (5)302's providing better transmission quality over long distances than the early 500's did.
Ralph

Dan

Quote from: rp2813 on January 03, 2009, 11:17:43 PM
Hey Dan, the fingerwheel on the beige phone is indeed black.  I can't remember where this phone came from but it's basically unchanged from the way I found it and needs serious cleaning.  I presumed the black wheel wasn't correct, but maybe I was wrong about that?

Ralph

Hey Ralph, looks like your metal fingerwheel on a colored WE500 could be legit, and not a "frankenphone."
Check out this ad on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/1954-Western-electric-telephone-ad-teal-red-blue_W0QQitemZ380085312523QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116#ebayphotohosting

Anybody out there got a dual color model like these?
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright