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Can You Tell What This Phone Is?

Started by Nick in Manitou, January 03, 2015, 10:35:37 PM

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unbeldi

I have to disagree about the handedness of the tables.

A chair for a right-hander would have the table on the left side and vice-versa.
It would be very awkward to have to dial or write on the same side as the arm you're using.

Phonesrfun

Quote from: unbeldi on January 07, 2015, 08:45:06 PM
I have to disagree about the handedness of the tables.

A chair for a right-hander would have the table on the left side and vice-versa.
It would be very awkward to have to dial or write on the same side as the arm you're using.


That is very logical, and I have to agree with you.
-Bill G

Greg G.

Quote from: unbeldi on January 07, 2015, 08:45:06 PM
I have to disagree about the handedness of the tables.

A chair for a right-hander would have the table on the left side and vice-versa.
It would be very awkward to have to dial or write on the same side as the arm you're using.


Not sure I get this.  With the flat surface on the left (as your sitting in the chair), I would have to dial or write using my left hand, or turn my body to reach over with my right hand (the one I use).  I would want the flat surface on my right.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

unbeldi

#18
Quote from: Brinybay on January 08, 2015, 12:11:16 PM
Quote from: unbeldi on January 07, 2015, 08:45:06 PM
I have to disagree about the handedness of the tables.

A chair for a right-hander would have the table on the left side and vice-versa.
It would be very awkward to have to dial or write on the same side as the arm you're using.


Not sure I get this.  With the flat surface on the left (as your sitting in the chair), I would have to dial or write using my left hand, or turn my body to reach over with my right hand (the one I use).  I would want the flat surface on my right.

I can't imagine that could possibly feel comfortable at all, and would have to change my sitting position extremely so that my arm has enough room to permit me to do anything on the table, especially writing (the telephone is sitting there). Most chairs don't allow you to move your legs under the table at all.
On the left side, all I need to do (as a right-hander) is reach over and twist my torso/shoulders slightly for dialing or writing.

Nick in Manitou

Well, we kept thinking about the phone and the chair and eventually decided that I would go back and pick them up if they were still available.

Another 143 mile round trip and they are now ours.  We paid $175 for the pair. 

I have taken photos of both.  The patent dates on the stick are along the front edge of the base and read, "PAT IN USA JAN 26 15 JAN 1 18 MAY 7 18 SEPT 21 20"

The perch is stamped "52 AB". 

The dial is a 4H dated I 36.

On the receiver end of the receiver cord the clamp is stamped with a 5 on one side of the seam and a 3 on the other side of the seam.  (I assume that is a date of 1953?)

The receiver looks like a reproduction with the slug of metal inside to make it have some weight.  It has newer guts.

There is a mini-network inside.  The felt on the base is worn through in a couple places, but I don't know if it is original or not.

The transmitter cup is unstamped. The transmitter is dated 1944 and I believe from one of the stamps that it a Kellogg transmitter.

I have way too many photos of the phone, but I will post some basics.  If there is anything you need to see better, let me know and I will post closer/better photos.

Please let me know anything that you can tell me about what this is.  A "Frankenphone?

Thanks,
Nick

unbeldi

Other than the excursions from original that you already mentioned, the phone also had its switch hook changed from one for a headset (basically a flat arm with elevations to keep the headband from sliding off) to one for the more common handheld receiver.  This is indicated by the 52 designation.   I wouldn't call it a Frankenphone, but it's clearly not quite original in many aspects. Still, the chair and phone combo is probably worth what you paid. The chair is very nice and certainly worth more than $100.


Doug Rose

Nick...I am very happy for you, you made a wise choice. Good stick and you can upgrade the handset. The chair is wonderful. How is the condition?  You done real good....Doug
Kidphone

Sargeguy

Definitely a Frankenphone, but made up of some pretty cool parts.  I have a 152AB but I can't recall seeing a 52-AB.  Would be a cool project to "un-frank" it.
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409

Nick in Manitou

Thanks for all the support!

Doug, the telephone chair is in very good shape.  It does seem to be of the appropriate age to be an original.  It seems to me that it has been refinished.  The woman who sold it to us said that it belonged to her aunt who lived alone and that she collected antiques, but more than that nothing is known about it.  The aunt did do needlework, so the seat cushion may be original, or may have been done by the aunt.  (Since the chair seems to have been refinished, I would assume that the seat would have been redone too.)  There is no place on the forum for telephone related furniture is there?

I have not found a source for much information about candlestick phones yet.  If someone has a suggestion, please let me know what it might be.

From what I have read here, the stick started out as a 52 AB. I don't see Western Electric anywhere on it, but can I assume that it was manufactured by W.E.?  What was the approximate year of manufacture?

Unbeldi points out that the phone probably started life with a headset instead of a handheld receiver because of the 52 on the perch.  I see from Sargeguy's perch identification thread (topic=6956.0) that the finish on this phone would have been black and the receiver would have been a watchcase type.  Would the description "watchcase" also be used for a headset, or just for the puck shaped handheld type device without the headpiece?

If it is a WE phone, what transmitter should it have on it?  How would a Kellogg transmitter come to be on this phone...someone putting something together to look like an old phone, an independent just making something work?

I want to replace the receiver.  We will probably stay with a handheld receiver because we like for the phones to be usable, and the headset would probably never get used.  What receiver should I look for?  I had an old 2 piece payphone Frankenphone with a WE receiver stamped with "75 Z" on the internal part.  I sold that phone to someone on the forum who was going to restore it...should I see if the receiver is available for use on this phone?

Anything else anyone can tell me about this phone (or the chair)?  I don't mind doing research, just not sure where to look at this point.

poplar1

Unless the date inside the dial base was removed, it was probably made (by WE) before 429 (April, 1929). 52AB is a sidetone model, meaning it had a 3-conductor cord going to the subset. Originally, it would have had a 323 or 337 transmitter, a head receiver, and a 2A-type dial (or apparatus blank).

This hands free style set, when upgraded to anti-sidetone and recoded 152AB, survived long past the c. 1948 date when 151ALs were no longer reissued from the WE repair shops. It is still shown in some Service Reps' catalogs in the early 1960s.

Here is a 152AB:
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Nick in Manitou

Thanks, Pop (is that an appropriate nickname for Poplar1 ?)

That information is very helpful!

Nick