Western Electric Continental - Released with Metal Finger Wheel??

[paul-f]

For some reason the Green Continentals did all originally have the brushed aluminum finger wheels.  Something about it went with the green color the best, and they were able to reuse the 5H or 6H dials.....the one I have has the aluminum finger wheel, and all the "original" ones I've seen have also. From the November, 1990 issue of "Singing Wires", TCI's newsletter:

A Systems Practice dated March, 1955, states that the 202 was available at that time in Black, Ivory, Gray-Green and Pekin Red. These sets had painted F-1 handsets and white lacquered dial cases with transparent plastic finger wheels. That's what Practices says, however all the Green 202's we've found have had the annodized aluminum finger wheel.

Interesting.  Most I've seen have plastic fingerwheels.  From New England Telephone Topics and past auctions...

[Phonesrfun]

Hmmmm, Now we go from Continental to Traditional.  Probably a moot point, but I had never heard of the "Traditional".

[paul-f]

In those days, the operating companies had some leeway in terms used in their marketing campaigns. 

The early color names for 500 colors are another example.  (Singing Wires, May 2009).

By the late 1960s, the central groups seem to have taken more control and terms were more standard.

[bingster]

I wonder if it had something to do with the local company offering the phone.  The Chesapeake & Potomac brochure I have advertises clear finger wheels on all three colors:

"The 'Continental' is smart... small... light... compact--fits easily on the smallest bedside table.  It has a lucite dial, and a matching spring cord that lessens tangling, pulls out easily, and springs back into a short convenient coil."

[Dennis Markham]

The brochure is very interesting, Paul.  Thanks for posting that.  Also Bingster, it's nice to read what your brochure reads.  I guess the consensus is that the phones were predominately released with the Lucite finger wheel.

[paul-f]

"The Tratitional" ad was placed on the inside cover of the February, 1955 issue of New England Telephone Topics, the employee newsletter of NET&T.

I wish they'd included an article describing the "dozen new ways to conceal its bell box" devised by the "ingenious Plant men."

[JimH]

I guess it just depended on the local refurbishing plant as to whether it had an aluminum finger wheel or not.  It looks like most followed the BSP with the clear plastic finger wheel.  I've seen them both ways, but whenever I've seen a Continental  from the 50s with an aluminum one, it's almost always a green one. I have a D-1 from 1937 with an E-1 handset factory painted Ivory, and it's got a plastic finger wheel.  I don't know if the finger wheel is original or not.  Does anyone know when the plastic finger wheels were first used? Mine has a #4 dial.

[Doug Rose]

Jim...it its a 4J dial, it should be plastic.....Doug

[Dennis Markham]

I've posted this photo on other topics, but this phone is original (as far as I know) from 1937.  It has a 4J dial but the metal wheel...........

[jsowers]

Dennis, A couple nights ago I looked at postcards from the Edgewater Beach Hotel until I was sick of looking at them. That was a beautiful old hotel, but one can only look at so many of the same thing before they all run together. 

There are lots of online postcard sites. None of the cards had the hotel phone number on it, not even the ones that looked to be from the 1960s. From other sites, I learned the apartment part of the Edgewater was built in 1948 and that part is still standing. You have to wonder if there were some green 202s installed when the apartments were new, and that would explain the dial, since they would likely have individual phones in an apartment and not use a switchboard.

Food for thought, I guess.

[Dennis Markham]

Thanks, Jonathan for the info and taking the time to do that.  From what I've read it sounds like it was a nice hotel.  But like all good things, eventually they come to an end.

[LarryInMichigan]

From other sites, I learned the apartment part of the Edgewater was built in 1948 and that part is still standing.

That building is quite noticeable as you drive along the north end of Lake Shore Drive.  I have passed it hundreds of times in my life.  I never knew until this discussion that it was once part of a hotel.

Larry

[JimH]

Nice Ivory 202, Dennis.  Mine looks as though it was repainted at one point.  Professionally, at least, it looks.  Some of it is chipped off and you can see another coat of ivory paint underneath.  I know a lot of customers had their phones repainted by the phone company at times.  It has the brown bakelite, so I know it was probably originally ivory.

[Dennis Markham]

Thanks, Jim.  Mine is also brown Bakelite.  I bought this a few years ago from a long-time collector, Bob Loeser.  He was selling off some of his collection for a couple of years and sold some very nice phones.  I was just getting started when I bought this phone.  Bob assured me that this would be one to have.  I'm glad I bought it now.  At the time I was more interested in soft plastic 500/554's but took the plunge with something older.

[stopthemachine]

For some reason the Green Continentals did all originally have the brushed aluminum finger wheels.  Something about it went with the green color the best, and they were able to reuse the 5H or 6H dials.....the one I have has the aluminum finger wheel, and all the "original" ones I've seen have also. From the November, 1990 issue of "Singing Wires", TCI's newsletter:

A Systems Practice dated March, 1955, states that the 202 was available at that time in Black, Ivory, Gray-Green and Pekin Red. These sets had painted F-1 handsets and white lacquered dial cases with transparent plastic finger wheels. That's what Practices says, however all the Green 202's we've found have had the annodized aluminum finger wheel.

I have a green Continental set with matching green subset--unrestored--with a clear plastic #5 or #6 dial.  I have to get that camera up and running to take pix of it.  Very nice phone--won it on eBay nearly 10 years ago.