My Christmas gift to myself: 1955 Mahogany Brown phone for $91.00 on eBay

[WesternElectricBen]

Hello Everybody,

Today I thought I would mention what I recently purchased off of eBay, for my early Christmas present. Link: http://tinyurl.com/mn75ph3 A 10/55 Western Electric Mahogany Brown 500, something that I've wanted for ages, (getting close to completing the uncommon color 500s puzzle.) I think I got a pretty good deal, as I was able to buy it on eBay for only $91.00.

The plastics do not have any cracks, additionally it does have matching brown cords, although it would have been nice to see a straight line handset cord. But, who am I to complain? It does appear to be refurbeshed at one point of time, but it seems like the casings are all origonal. As shown by the auction pictures, the capsuel has been replaced as well as a newer 4 prong plug, although I'm hoping that was mostly all that was done.

I am awaiting to restore this, but it may not be done untill after Christmas. First of all, lets just hope it arrives here okay.

Ben

[Kenton K]

Wow, I'm super jealous!

-Ken

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Wow, really nice find, Ben! Brown is one of those colors that's pretty hard to find online, because it looks really close to black in pictures.

[WesternElectricBen]

Yup, thanks guys!

Christian, what you say is true and it is possible some people missed this phone because of that.

Ben

[JimH]

Awesome, Ben!  Those are super hard to find at that price.  They do not come along often. 

Congratulations!

Jim

[Babybearjs]

Nice Phone! take care of it!

[david@london]

what an excellent find, ben. you'll enjoy your christmas holiday polishing this beauty up.
it is interesting that you discovered the phone in the ebay 1970>now section.
.... also the description perhaps hid the phone from view :

VINTAGE BROWN ILLINOIS BELL/WESTERN ELECTRIC 63 TELEPHONE. HEAVY.

certainly deserves to run for FOTM.

[WesternElectricBen]

Thank you, guys. I'm super happy with my purchase.

David, at first I had my suspicions, but I quickly realized it is the real deal. If it's not breaking the FOTM rules, I'd like to get it home before I decide to nominate it.

Ben

[Dennis Markham]

Nice one Ben!

[WesternElectricBen]

Thanks Dennis,

Ben

[AE40FAN]

Congrats!  Looks to be in really good shape and price is fantastic!!

[WesternElectricBen]

Thanks Frank!

Ben

[Mr. Bones]

Congrats, Ben...

     You got a great buy there! I'm looking forward to seeing it after you give your magic touch!

Best regards!

[WesternElectricBen]

Congrats, Ben...

     You got a great buy there! I'm looking forwards to seeing it after you give your magic touch!

Best regards!

Thank you, Terrence. I think it will turn out really nice.

Ben

[WesternElectricBen]

Here we go, I just finished the restoration tonight. I buffed this solely with Novus and S.S.S., I did not use the buffer. Although, I think it turned out well. The phone is completely original except the replaced handset components. I added a matching brown terminal block (pic. 4) for an original appearance and later a modular pigtail. You can view a video presentation of the phone here: http://youtu.be/QRWnkAEHBwE

In the end, I am very happy with this set, now I only need to find an Oxford gray to complete the 500s.

Ben


Edit: New pictures added