What is it?

[AET]

Hi Everyone,

My name's Tom, I'm 18 and from Portage, WI.  Glad to have found your site.

I just bought a rotary phone from the Columbus Antiques Mall in my hometown of Columbus.  I want to pretty it up and have many questions.

First off, can anyone tell me the year, model, etc.  It's an ITT, looks to be from the late 70's early 80's if I were to take a guess (I collect vintage everything)  It's a little newer than I wanted but it was a good deal at 7.50 I thought and it works fantasicly as I have been using it.  It has a couple great period features, which include the period emergency contact sticker on the handset which glows in the dark.  Also, the phone number in the rotary dial has a kinda nostalgiac meaning to me as well.  It has a 414 area code for a 623 phone number, which is columbus, but it changed to 920 there when I was a youngster.  It's just a neat phone all the way around.

Unfortunately, there is serious fading to the phone, looks to have been originally white and has yellowed in the back.  Is there any repair I can do for this?  Other than the yellowing, I gave it a good cleaning as she was filthy and it looks like new from the front.  I've attatched some pics to help.  Thank you so much for all your help!

-Tom

[Steve K]

Hi Tom:

Welcome to the forum.  I'm originally from West Bend and get back there (from California) several times a year.  Everytime I go back I visit the Columbus Antique Mall and have bought many things there since the 80s!

If you unscrew the caps on the handset and look at the back of the receiver and transmitter elements there my be a date stamped on it.  This might give you an idea as to the age although they could have been replaced at some point.

Steve

[AET]

Hi Steve, great to find a hometown guy right off the bat.  I lived a block from there from 01 to 05 and went there every day, so we may have crossed paths previously haha.  I've lived over in the West Bend area too. 

These numbers were stamped on the mouthpiece:

On the inner holder was a "3"

On the mouthpiece itself was a 75555-1 10-78. 

Does that mean it is from October of 1978? 

Thanks,
Tom

[McHeath]

Hi and welcome.

The date code on the bottom seems to indicate that this phone is from 12-78.  ITT made a clone of the Western Electric model 500, which is what this phone is.  ITT eventually became Cortelco which continued to make this model until the end of 2006.  AT and T ceased production of the Western Electric 500 in 1986.  

As for getting the yellowing off, you can try at first to simply wash it well and see what happens.  Then perhaps some rubbing compound.  If that does not work then you may have to sand it, which is covered in depth at this thread:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=566.0

[AET]

Wow, they really made this model until 2006?  That's a neat fact.  Thanks for the info.  I also have a wall-model one that I pulled from an old pharmacy about 6 years ago.  I'll have to dig that up and find out more about it.  I plan on getting many more rotary phones, as I want to have one in every room of my own home, once I have one.  I am guessing this was a very common phone.

[McHeath]

I've heard varying production numbers, some say 90 million, but I'm not sure.  Regardless it was made in numbers that will never again be equaled by any phone model, and was produced from 1949 to 2006.  It was made in many colors over the years as well.  A good place to get started with the model 500 is here:

http://www.paul-f.com/

[AET]

Well, we had ones just like this when I was a kid, which wasn't that far back, so I knew they had to be very common.  Surprising you don't see more of them in homes still.  They're stylish and work great. 

[BDM]

Pics are gone

[HobieSport]

Hi Tom and welcome.  This is a great group of folks with some amazing knowledge.  I'm still a newbie here, experience-wise.  I don't have any phones newer than the early 1960s.  My main interests are phones from the late 1930s to late 1950s, nothing very rare, just good examples of the era. It's great to see folks your age who appreciate the dial phones with their classic styles.

[AET]

I appreciate all things vintage, my bedroom set is from 1956, including the dresser the phone sits on, the clock in the background is a mastercrafters from 1959.  I have a 1951 Silvertone Radio, and Drive a 1958 Chevrolet 4-door, as well as a 1987 Chevy Caprice Woodie Wagon.  We also have one of the largest Pabst brewery collections, specifying in pre-prohibition items around.  So, I'm kinda all over the board, and can post pics of some of that too if anyone's interested.

[HobieSport]

I appreciate all things vintage, my bedroom set is from 1956, including the dresser the phone sits on, the clock in the background is a mastercrafters from 1959.  I have a 1951 Silvertone Radio, and Drive a 1958 Chevrolet 4-door, as well as a 1987 Chevy Caprice Woodie Wagon.  We also have one of the largest Pabst brewery collections, specifying in pre-prohibition items around.  So, I'm kinda all over the board, and can post pics of some of that too if anyone's interested.

Tom there is lots of interest like that here. Old radios and TVs, houses, furniture, cars, trains, and early-mid 20th century history in general...you name it.  So please feel free to post pictures of all your favorite things.  It will be appreciated.  Lately I've been on a kick of re-studying the early atomic age and Cold War.. I remember the days of "duck and cover" well, being of 1957 vintage myself.

[bingster]

I appreciate all things vintage, my bedroom set is from 1956, including the dresser the phone sits on...

I noticed that.  I'm a sucker for blonde mahogany.  My bedroom furniture was bought by my parents the day after they got married in 1959.  It's in dark mahogany, but has a great sleek, modern look to it.  I've always thought how funny it is that most "modern" furniture today is nowhere near as modern as post-war furniture.

[Dan/Panther]

Welcome Tom, if you want to learn about phones, there is no better place then right here.
A swell bunch of guys and gals that love phones.

Enjoy;
D/P

[AET]

My Bedroom set was bought by my Grandparents and it is a bassett set, which I still have the paperwork from when they bought it in 56.  I will get some more pics of all my great mid-century stuff.  And it is so true that the post-war furniture is much more modern looking than today's furniture.  I love it and the Atomic Era, hence my screenname. I'm a sucker for the blonde mahogany too.  Just had this convo with my folks, they hate it.  They say they do since they grew up with it.  My dad, who is of a 1959 vintage, talks about duck and cover too. 

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone!

[Dan/Panther]

It wasn't until years later, that I learned the real meaning of "Duck and Cover", Bend down, put your head between your legs, and kiss your Butt goodbye.

D/P