RARE 1955 ? SWIRLED Color WESTERN ELECTRIC Bell System TELEPHONE Red White Pink

[Doug Rose]

How cool is this?

Jim S this is right up your alley!...Doug

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112439803409?rmvSB=true

[Jon Kolger]

I used to have one of these years ago but I have since traded it away.  This is what happens when they clear the injection molding machines out of one color and get them ready for another color.  Of course, they were not supposed to get out into circulation, but some invariably do.  I used to live just outside of Indianapolis, where WE had their big telephone manufacturing plant.  Things like this would turn up occasionally.  I'm sure that is where this originated.

[Dan/Panther]

I worked for GM at their Battery plant Delco Remy, in Anaheim Ca, we used to get battery cases like that daily. We had to grind them up and recycle them, but soem always made a completed battery.
Later on Corvette had factory batteries on this type model.

D/P

[JimHyak]

I tried to get this one, someone had a bigger wallet. I was surprised at the sale price.

Swirls are my favorite, I have a green/ivory one and wanted to add to the collection.

[Butch Harlow]

25.25 to ship, an outrage!

[Jim Stettler]

I tried to get this one, someone had a bigger wallet. I was surprised at the sale price.

Swirls are my favorite, I have a green/ivory one and wanted to add to the collection.

I was surprised as well. I think multiple collectors  had "no lose" bids. My bid missed as well.
My guess  was $700-$1,000 with 1,000 being 2 "no-lose" bidders.

At the same time I had a bid riding on a clears SC 1198  housing and handset. I wanted the parts,
I have a clear 1197 and a clear 1198. my 1197 has a cracked handset and the 1198 has a cracked housing.
The auctions closed hours apart. I lost the stromberg auction as well.
Jim S.

[Jon Kolger]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I used to have a phone similar to this one.  I just found a photo of it, and will try to attach it to this message.  It is probably lo-def however... from the days when you stored your digital photos on a floppy disc

[andre_janew]

I have seen car batteries with swirled cases like that.  They used to sell them as blemish batteries.

[Ktownphoneco]

I've always wondered why similar multi colored "swirled" plastic was used quite often for the transmitter receptacle cup on the "G" series handsets.     Thanks to Jon, I now have the answer.

Jeff Lamb

[Jon Kolger]

I don't know if it is true or not, but I have been told that WE would grind up old telephone plastics in order to recycle them by making internal parts such as those transmitter cups, network casings, etc...

[unbeldi]

I don't know if it is true or not, but I have been told that WE would grind up old telephone plastics in order to recycle them by making internal parts such as those transmitter cups, network casings, etc...

There is a BLR article on that.
But what is stated there is that the recycled plastic was used to make buckets and other containers for transporting parts and equipment within the factory and campus.

[unbeldi]

I doubt that these swirled sets came about merely by the occasional 'cleaning' of molding equipment with different color plastic.

Both sets shown in this thread required a higher degree of coordination than that, because the handsets, caps, and in the OP's pictures even the dial bezel, are matched.
It makes no sense that for cleaning the mold, they proceed with the double injection process for making the dials this way.

The sets were made intentionally for special reasons.  They mixed granules from two colors.

I also question the idea that it required the molding even of a complete housing to 'clean' the machine.   The mold itself does not retain old plastic parts from previous molding.  If anything it is the injection nozzles, that might contain residual material after cooling.  But why would they have to inject material into a mold for cleaning ?   Why not into a garbage exit, replacing the mold ?

[Victor Laszlo]

Ah, the voice of reason.

[Jim Stettler]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I used to have a phone similar to this one.  I just found a photo of it, and will try to attach it to this message.  It is probably lo-def however... from the days when you stored your digital photos on a floppy disc

I remember that set. It was supposed to of been made as a gift for a salesman. It was the very first swirled set I had seen and was out of my price range. At the same show I bought a SC brown swirl slenderete for$5.00.
Jim S.

My understanding is this particular phone was made on purpose.

[Jim Stettler]

Regarding "official" WE swirled telephones:
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I read an article where Bell labs added  some white  granules to a  clear "charge"  of plastic to create a swirled 302 housing. The purpose was to study flow patterns.l There was a b/w photo as well.  I think it was in the bell system technical journal.
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A lot of the  bootleg SC swirled trimlines style sets. don't quite match.  I have quite a few of these sets and a future project is to swap around plastics to get better matching sets.


Jim S.