When the insides are outside...

[Kittybell]

I opened up the phones (VERY carefully) and took pictures to show you all. The first three are of the 70's phone (the 500). The rest are the 1930's phone.

In the second picture I see a number for 91474, so am I right in thinking it's from 1974? But there's also what looks like a 78 above the thing that looks like a spool of thread.

In the older phone, it says 12/37, so 1937 would be about right for this style. It says F1 on the receiver piece. Inside the body, it has a Roman numeral III and 36.

The last picture is the inside of the bottom piece. I thought it was interesting the way it looks like fabric ruching around the edges. I can't quite make out that stamp on it.

Hope you all like the pics!

[Steve]

Well Kitty, I for one love pics, but they aren't all showing up?

did you take the phones apart yourself? pretty easy isn't it your gonna get hooked if your not careful.

[Kittybell]

I keep getting timed out! I'm trying again, here's the last picture.

[Kittybell]

Steve, I added the last picture. My husband sat down with me and watched me very carefully unscrew the screws. He had to let the pieces from the ear and mouth pieces fall into his hand because I chickened out. I wonder how old that cotton ball is? He said I did very well.. Still won't let me near the car, though! 

[bingster]

That's a nice find with the 202 (the older phone).  It doesn't appear that anybody has monkeyed with it.  It's cords and wires are routed pretty much by the book still.  That's always a good thing.

[benhutcherson]

Congratulations on taking them apart-very straightforward, isn't it?

If you look carefully at the receiver element on your 500 set, you'll see spaces between 9, 14, and 74. This receiver was made 9/14/74. I can't quite read what's on the transmitter.

The ringer you show is stamped III-78. This means that in this case the ringer is from the third quarter of 1978. The vermilion stamp, however, appears to be over some other date which is stamped into the metal, so I would guess that the ringer was serviced somewhere along the way.

[Dan/Panther]

Isn't it amazing how the insides of these phones can look like they were made yesterday.
D/P

[Sargeguy]

 "III 36" means 3rd quarter of 1936.  That looks like a 4H dial, which is the more desirable of the two (or three) dial types that you'd find on these phones.  The dial itself is worth about $60.  If the other parts are from 37 then I would say the phone is a 1937, which was a banner year for the 202 apparently.  I agree it looks pretty much intact.  What does the paint job look like?

[rp2813]

Doesn't the 430 in vermillion on the receiver end of the handset date it to 1930?  It appears the transmitter was changed out (from the "bullet" type OE for the E1 to the improved capsule type that was used with the F1 handsets) sometime around 1937 or later, which was a very common upgrade that kept the E1 handsets functioning long after WE was no longer making them.  The rubber line and handset cords also likely replaced original brown cloth covered cords at some point.

Nice job getting the E1 apart.  Some of the components can be very stubborn.  You'll really enjoy using the 202 once you find a subset or "bell box" that it can be used with.

[McHeath]

It looks like the transmitter, the microphone in the first picture and on the 500 set, is dated in the 1950s.  Maybe 54' or so.  Typical of Ma Bell, mix and match dates and parts.  Nice job taking them apart.

[Dan]

Nice phones and pics Kitty. You are on your way to becoming a phone addict. Wait till garage season starts up. You will be able to spot a phone from sixty feet away fron your car (phone-dar).

[Kittybell]

Hi, everyone! I'm so glad you like the pics. Dan/Panther, you were right about the date of the 500! The phones went straight from my grandfather's and great-uncle's homes to Dad, who then gave them to me. So I think that's why they look so pristine. No one messed with them, and of course, they were always protected and kept dry. So everything unscrewed easily, with no dirt or stuff.

Sargeguy, here are pictures of the outside, showing the condition. It looks pretty nice, but could use some polish.

In case any of you were wondering, the reason I'm not allowed near the cars is this: when I first moved in with my husband, he mentioned he needed antifreeze. I was in Sears, and saw a big jug that said antifreeze. So I proudly brought it home and tried to put in the engine. Boy, was he going to be surprised and pleased! I couldn't figure out how though, and when he came home, I was moping at having been such a disappointment in trying to help. He asked what I had been doing, and I told him and pointed to the jug. He blanched, and said, "Please tell me you didn't put that in the engine..." and I said, "I couldn't figure out how to open the twisty cap in the engine", and burst into tears. When he finished regaining his breath, and mopping me up, he patiently explained that that was windshield wiper fluid, and it would have destroyed the engine. I kept saying, "but it says antifreeze on the jug!" (highly indignant!) So we agreed (mutually, with relief on both parts)  that I never do anything to the cars (ever!) and then he bought me a present for trying. You guys should like this story! 

[Dan]

Hilarious--my wife describes cars as "red ones or blue ones' and her maintenance is to put gas in them and drive them down the road........

[Dennis Markham]

That was a good move on your part.  PRETEND like you didn't know the difference.  Now you don't have to go out and change the oil and other vehicle maintenance when it needs to be done.  Smart idea!

I remember years ago when my older sister got her first car.  She was Miss Independent and when it needed some engine oil despite offers of help she said she'd do it herself.  A couple of days later I walked into the garage.  There she was under the hood with a funnel and a can of oil (it came in cans in those days) trying to add oil into the dipstick hole!  True story.

[rp2813]

That looks like an early thick rubber handest cord without any reinforcement at the end.  My guess is that it was installed at the same time the transmitter was upgraded with the F1 retrofit.  This phone appears to be ready to serve for many more years without doing anything major to it.