Craigslist Find - AE50 - Now in Service

[LarryInMichigan]

Thank you, Bill.  It seems to have come out better than I expected.  I'd like to strangle the person who spray painted it though.  It took an awful lot of time and effort to remove all of the paint, especially with all of the grooves and corners on this phone.  On a positive note, the paint may have helped to protect the bakelite surface.

Larry

[McHeath]

Looks good Larry.  Clever use of a modern modular cord as a stand-in, I bought a 15' cord from OldPhoneWorks for my 354a while back and it was a good quality cord that I've been pleased with.

I think it cost almost 20 bucks though, which really hurt when the phone was free.  It's often hard for me to spring for cords as they can cost as much as a phone when shipping is factored in. 

[Greg G.]

That phone on a wall-papered wall is a nice vintage combination.

[LarryInMichigan]

Here is a picture of my kitchen showing the Chicago Tel Supply Co and AE50 phones at home.  On the table is the 1981 ITT 2554 phone which was displaced to make room for the AE50.

Larry

[Dennis Markham]

Your kitchen phones look very nice Larry.  I really like the look of the AE50.  I've had my eye on them for a while.  It's one I'd like add to my collection one of these days.

[AET]

Got the good ol' plastic up on the windows I see. Gotta love that time of the year.

[LarryInMichigan]

Dennis,

I'm surprised that you don't already have an AE50.  I bought mine just down the street from you (Van Dyke near 13 Mile).  The phone really seems to add something to the kitchen, like a functional work of art (as opposed to the ugly plastic on the window).  The AE50 sort of begs to be noticed.

BTW, The window plastic would look a bit better if I felt like standing in front of it for 20 mins with a hair dryer.

Larry

[AET]

Just have the lady use it as a mirror while she gets ready in the morning.  She can blowdry her hair and das plastic at the same time.

[Dennis Markham]

Larry, I have looked at several but just never pushed the button on one.  Funny thing, I think I mentioned this on the forum before, I was vacationing in Hawaii last November and went into a local antique store.  There was a decent one hanging on the wall.  The price I think was $65.  But I figured it was too much hassle to go to the P.O. and get what I needed to ship it home.  And I don't think it would have fit in my suitcase.

Tom, I laughed out loud at that one!

[AET]

Always makes me happy to know I can add a little laughter to someone's day.

[gpo706]

Mighty fine, craftily mounted.

I got a 12ft nice fat curly cord from Phoneco, they do 6/12 and 25ft, non mod with hooks, finished off my 554 perfectly.

http://www.phonecoinc.com/topic.asp?map=1&hhrl=home&gorl=group&group=misc&category=Jack&topic=01027

[LarryInMichigan]

gpo706,

Thank you.  The next time that I order something from Phoneco, I will probably add a long handset cord to the order.

Larry

[gpo706]

Yeah my 554 came with a what you might call "dime store" thin flat white cordage, so I got a 12 foot from Phoneco, wired up perfectly, and can walk from one end of my room to the other without the phone ripping off the wall, cords look the part and heavy duty, quality gear, also easiest colour to match is obviously boring old black!

[bwanna]

very nice work on the ae50, larry.  i had that same wallpaper (or something VERY similar) at one time.

tom, you crack me up

[Dan]

Nice phone larry! How do you remove the center card on this one? have the same problem, a card without plastic over it.