The Holy Grail, 1949 model 500!

[McHeath]

Okay, I was prowling e-bay and found the phone de la phone, what looked like a 1949 model 500:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-5302G-TELEPHONE-G-1-HANDSET-11-49_W0QQitemZ200274141746QQihZ010QQcategoryZ38038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I was pretty excited I must confess,  , clicked on the ad, which I'm guessing you will do, and my hopes and dreams slowly faded away.

You'll see why.

[Dennis Markham]

It looks like a decent 5302.  I don't think I've ever seen a 1949 Model 500 listed on eBay.  I have seen them where people SAY it's a 1949 referring to when the first ones were made---but they never really are from 1949.  I have seen a few from 1950 however.  But it's about the hunt....you never know when one will show up.

[mienaichizu]

yah I think that's a 5302

[HobieSport]

That telephone looks like a very nice 1949 5302.  I could easily be wrong and I won't bid on it.

[bingster]

You're not wrong, Hobie.  The 5302 is an updated 302, and that particular one started out life as a 1949 302.   Later on, the shell and handset were upgraded, and voila! A 5302 was born.

[HobieSport]

Just wondering; has anyone actually seen a genuine 1949 500 anywhere?

[Dan/Panther]

What handset did they put on the 49 500, and how many may have been made ?
D/P

[benhutcherson]

As far as I know, a '49 500 would have had a G-1 handset.

It would have, however, been one with the strain reliever fork cast as part of the handset body(rather than the transmitter cup).

[Dennis Markham]

I don't know if you all have seen this page.  It is a real nice time-line of the Western Electric model 500.

http://tinyurl.com/57xf7p

Dennis

[HobieSport]

That's a great time-line of the 500s, Dennis.  Thanks!  By far the best I've seen, and clears a lot of things up for a beginner like me.  It's also nice to know what years the first soft plastic colors came out.

Do you happen to know of any similarly well-done time-lines for the early 554s?

And...have you ever seen a mostly original '49 500?  Anyone?  Closest I've seen is a '52 and probably not all original.

[McHeath]

On Paul F's site he has a picture of a 49' model.

http://www.paul-f.com/weproto.html#500

The 49' in the top picture looks to my eye to be slightly different in shape in the body.  But maybe I'm just confused.

[JimH]

I think it was last year I saw a '49 "500" on ebay...it had the dial plate that had the word "operator" curved over the zero like the old #6 dials from the 50's.  I don't remember what it went for, but I know it was too much for me.