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Highest I've seen a Contour go for...

Started by Partyline4, November 19, 2015, 09:10:55 AM

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Partyline4

They usually go for $1,100 - $1,500. What was so special about this one?

www.ebay.com/itm/181926828252



jsowers

It was rare. It was eBay. It's not predictable. All it takes it two people who want it badly.
Jonathan

WEBellSystemChristian

#2
For posterity:

"Possibly one of a kind rare PINK WESTERN ELECTRIC SCHMOO Field Trial telephone. I Purchase at a local estate sale. This particular phone is a very clean Schmoo phone. It almost looks New Old Stock it is in my opinion very clean. Both the handset and housings are still a brilliant PINK color, as are both the cords. The cords look almost unused. The phone is clearly marked "F-53751 10-60 SER 621" on the bottom. The bottom is a brushed gold color. It is perfectly clean inside, and is also marked with the field trial info "F-53856 10-60" on the network block. One of the neatest things to me is that there is a little tiny hand-written note on a paper strip attached to the coiled cord right where it attaches to the base. The handwriting is definitely there and is remarkably small check out the pictures. The dial turns and returns as it should, but the return is a little choppy. The dial has the moving fingerstop as used on the Trimline sets. I believe the dial is lighted, as there are four conductors in the mounting cord, and there is a sliding on-off switch mounted on the base. The ringer is square-shaped with rounded corners and the coil and clapper appear to be internally mounted. Two of the mounting screws for the ringer are in place. THIS PHONE HAS NOT BEEN TESTED, AND ACTUAL WORKING CONDITION IS UNKNOWN. DON'T MISS OUT ON YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO BID ON THIS RARE PINK WESTERN ELECTRIC SHMOO FIELD TRIAL TELEPHONE! We have started the bidding at 1300 being that the last one sold for that much however being that it is ULTRA RARE PINK the sky maybe the limit."
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Partyline4

Still a hefty price for a Contour...

I wonder how many Contours were made?

Doubt I'll ever find anything like that here in NC....

paul-f

Quote from: Partyline4 on November 19, 2015, 01:41:26 PM
I wonder how many Contours were made?

Doubt I'll ever find anything like that here in NC....

There were probably several hundred made for each of the three test locations, so the total could easily be around 1,000 units.  This is the first pink one I've seen.

You are not that far from the test locations, so it's very possible that sets have migrated to your area as folks retired and moved south. Returned sets were used for lobby displays in Bell System offices and many "disappeared" following divestiture and US office closings.  The Contour's unusual shape made the sets "keepers." They are popping up now in all sorts of unlikely places.  Good luck!
   http://www.paul-f.com/weproto.html#Contour
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

HarrySmith

#5
Three words guaranteed to attract deep pockets.  Western Electric, Shmoo & Prototype.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

compubit

Quote from: HarrySmith on November 19, 2015, 06:10:11 PM
Three words guaranteed to attract deep pockets.  Western Electric, Shmoo & Prototype.

OK, four words  ;)

::)
A phone phanatic since I was less than 2 (thanks to Fisher Price); collector since a teenager; now able to afford to play!
Favorite Phone: Western Electric Trimline - it just feels right holding it up to my face!

Partyline4

I wish I could have been a Bell Labs guy.

HarrySmith

Quote from: compubit on November 19, 2015, 10:10:11 PM
Quote from: HarrySmith on November 19, 2015, 06:10:11 PM
Three words guaranteed to attract deep pockets.  Western Electric, Shmoo & Prototype.

OK, four words  ;)

::)

OOPS! I forgot to count on my fingers :)
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: HarrySmith on November 20, 2015, 07:16:00 PM
Quote from: compubit on November 19, 2015, 10:10:11 PM
Quote from: HarrySmith on November 19, 2015, 06:10:11 PM
Three words guaranteed to attract deep pockets.  Western Electric, Shmoo & Prototype.

OK, four words  ;)

::)

OOPS! I forgot to count on my fingers :)
J-O-B-S

;D
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Jim Stettler

Some field trial customers got to keep the field trial phones. I met a lady who had 1 new in the box, It didn't work with her home interphone so she never used it, she tested the panel wall phone, 500 set, Interphone  and some of the others. They made her give back the 500 and gave her one of the Commemorative 500's she said the field trial set looked different, so I wonder if D/P's set should have the housing from the design drawings (on Paul's site).

JMO,
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.