White House Telephone I got on Ebay Cheap!

[JimH]

I know these turn up from time to time, but I got this WE 500 on ebay for $18.99 + shipping.  I was the only bidder.  The seller didn't advertise "White House" at all, I had to ask him about it.  He replied he thought it was put in there to be humorous.  I got it today, and the number card looks authentic.  The phone inside is from 1956 refurbished 10/70.  The handset is dated '70 and the base shell '69. I know these were used all over the place, and just because it has a "White House" number card doesn't mean it was in the White House, but at one point it probably was connected to the WH switch board.  The number card definitely looks like it had been on the phone for 45 years.  BTW, the black number card retainer is plastic, the switch hooks are clear, and the handest is plastic, not bakelite.  I know the whole telephone system at the White House was switched to touch-tone sometime during the Nixon administration. Here's a couple of pictures.

By the way...the city the guy lives in is only a couple of hours from D.C.  He said he got it at an antique store.

Jim 

[tallguy58]

Dust it for prints.

Maybe you'll find Nixon's inside when he removed the bugging device.

[JorgeAmely]

Jim:
These White House phones seem to emerge from time to time. In 2007, I bought for a couple of bucks a white phone with the same card that the owner claimed was used by President Kennedy back in 1963 while the USS Kitty Hawk was docked in San Diego. I checked on Wikipedia and the story seems legit because the President and the carrier were both in San Diego in 1963.

Here is the caption used by the previous owner on the ebay action:

Up for bid is a 1961 Western Electric 500 C/D desk phone in faded, White.   This phone has the White House emblem in the center disk and was used by President John Kennedy during his visit to the USS Kitty Hawk while in port in San Diego, months before his assassination. My father took it from the mobile office set up on the Kitty Hawk after President Kennedy departed the ship.  This example shows it age and is in rough condition from use and storage, as it was used in our house for years and then stored in my fathers garage ever since 1969.  It's mouthpiece threaded area is broken but repairable with glue?

One day, a phone company technician was servicing our home phones, when he came to this one, he told my mother that there was a monitoring device in the phone and would she mind if he removed it.  Unfortunately, my mother agreed, so that "added feature" is no longer on it.

As it's been in my family since the day my father brought it home off the ship, I would love to keep it, but I have moved and don't have room to store it anymore.  I would hope that there is someone out there that could restore it to working condition and appreciate a great phone with an interesting, and significant history.

The phone is in bad shape. I have attached a few pictures. But you can see that my card and your card seem identical.

[JimH]

Great story, Jorge!  At least you know the history behind yours.  I think that because mine is black, and was refurbished, it might have been on a staffer's desk somewhere.  The residence always had nicer phones.  I've noticed a lot of "White House" phones with the clear dial have the number card that is not indexed properly, as yours is.  There's a picture online of two white 500s from Kennedy's hotel in Dallas, and another picture from Air Force One.  They're both indexed wrong.  I do know a couple of unused cards went for quite a bit of money, from the estate of Evelyn Lincoln, JFK's secretary, a few years ago.  She took them with her when she had to leave.

[Bartonpipes]

Don't forget, the white house has had two wings, both full of offices for staff. The West wing was added in 1902 and the East wing was added in 1942, so the number of telephones on the White house switch board is probably much greater that you would think at first.

[Jim Stettler]

There was a point in time when an ATCA collector bought a lot of these phones thru a government auction.  They were advertised in an ATCA newsletter. The price was fair, but I was poor.
Later I picked up 2 of these. I feel both are authentic, because they both  were purchased before color copies and scanning was available.

[andre_janew]

Keep in mind that White House dial cards have been sold separately.

[JFKFP]

...These White House phones seem to emerge from time to time. In 2007, I bought for a couple of bucks a white phone with the same card...

Hello,

I wonder if two versions of the card inside the dial exist, I've seen a sale that looks similar with it from 1956, but I have the impression that the one from the JFK 1963 white phone, is not the same, you can't see the cutout in the cardboard?

Thanks.

[JFKFP]

Hello,

I just bought 4 White House frame cards, I saw a sale on Ebay where you can see that the card is a piece of paper printed by computer we even see an inscription above while on the original it is not present, I have photos of these cards, where the seller thinks they are milk bottle caps or cream

[JFKFP]

John F. Kennedy Presidential Telephone from inside The White House 59 -- sold for 1 400,00 USD at Ebay.

[Kellogg Kitt]

This seems strange to me.  Why would they put just a picture of the White House instead of the phone number and extension number, as normal?  How was this helpful to the phone user?

[FABphones]

John F. Kennedy Presidential Telephone from inside The White House 59...

What documentation came with it for the purchaser?
Any link to the sale?

[JFKFP]

This seems strange to me.  Why would they put just a picture of the White House instead of the phone number and extension number, as normal?  How was this helpful to the phone user?

No need for a number, the White House uses a switchboard to manage communications. Here's a little anecdote from the Kennedy administration.

At the White House, Game of Phone Tag

The White House switchboard able to conjure up Santa Claus at a moment's notice for a young Caroline Kennedy is famous for its ability to track down anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The White House installed a 10-position Western Electric switchboard with fashioned black and red wires in 1963. When President Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he ordered a $27 million overhaul that included voice mail and direct dialing, grumbling that he arrived to find the "same phone system Jimmy Carter had."

Now, the White House has 14 operators, and fields about 4,000 calls a day during the week, and about 2,500 a day on the weekend. The operators serve as part secretary, part diplomat, part gatekeeper (screening prank calls, among other things), and part detective. And, of course, they can usually get just about anyone on the line.

President Kennedy seemed particularly fond of the operators, and often showed off their skills as a parlor trick. Once, he ordered them to track down a staff member who, unknown to them, was standing next to him in the Oval Office. They found him minutes later.

Another time, President Kennedy challenged Benjamin C. Bradlee, the executive editor at Newsweek, and the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, to come up with a person whom the operators could not find. Mrs. Kennedy suggested Truman Capote, whose number was unlisted.

"The President picked up the telephone and said only: 'Yes, this is the president. Would you please get me Truman Capote?' no other identification, "Thirty minutes later, Capote was on the line, not from his own unlisted number in Brooklyn Heights, but at the home of a friend in Palm Springs, Calif., who also had an unlisted number."

During the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy even tracked down the House majority whip, the Democrat Hale Boggs of Louisiana, who was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. A Navy helicopter dropped a bottle down to his boat with the following note: "Call Operator 18, Washington. Urgent message from the president."

[JFKFP]

What documentation came with it for the purchaser?
Any link to the sale?

Each phone is unchanged from the one provided by the Western Electric offices - they've just installed a little WH card as decoration, I think.

[JFKFP]

I discovered that different cards had been used. This card was used during the Kennedy administration on the phones the President used during his travels.

[i mg]h ttps://scontent-mrs2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/10506753_714964328551852_259826112073542305_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=qgtJ9FUPoHcAX-O2DwB&_nc_ht=scontent-mrs2-2.xx&oh=00_AfB3I7LpxlUwqZHav6fjHmca7kl_rhkAYIGDfb7-Tyeg3A&oe=6509B919[/i mg]

Card issued on the occasion of President John F. Kennedy's visit to Yosemite National Park, August 17-18, 1962. Switchboard was installed at the Ahwahnee Hotel.