This isn't my first post to this site, but I thought I would talk a bit about myself and my phones. To start, I don't know who the youngest member of this forum is but I'm one of them. I am fourteen years old, and I enjoy collecting telephones, and I also like to restore/repair vintage electronics including vintage vacuum tube radios and television sets. I own a pretty good amount of test equipment including two tube testers. I recently repaired a 1940's Zenith console and a 1940's/50's Stromberg-Carlson console radio. I enjoy working on electronics/electrical stuff and I wish more people my age were into it. I also like vintage engines/tractors/farm equipment. I mainly like International Harvester letter series tractors. They don't make them like they used to! ;D I also currently own 3 Western Electric model 500 sets, and one 302, and a 1903 Stromberg-Carlson magneto crank phone (a candlestick with magneto subset) My oldest 500 is a 1959 set. I recently got another black 500 from 1961. I also got a yellow 500 originally from 1960 but it was refurbished by Bell in 1976. Thank you for reading! Have a great day! :)
Hello H.C. and welcome to the forum! Other than myself (I'm 13 with 46 years experience at it :) ), I am going to guess that you just might be the youngest one here. We are happy to have many old timers (upper end of their teen years) and some in their 20's on up. And since I have been around here several teens have gone off to college etc.
We look forward to hearing from you more and seeing some pictures of your collectibles. I will move this to the Member Introductions area and there is also an area where you can set up a post with your collection pictures and hopefully keep adding to it regularly!
Welcome once again.
Terry
Welcome! I got my first phone around your age!
Quote from: Kenton K on July 04, 2016, 11:31:08 PM
Welcome! I got my first phone around your age!
Thank you! And that is cool! My favorite phone is my 1959 W.E. 500 set, because it was my dad's phone and he used to work on the railroad, and used it in the railroad towers. I like all my 500 sets.
Welcome to the forum!!
I'm, what, maybe 3rd or 4th youngest active member? I'm 17, but I too started collecting at 14. Since I've been collecting for 3 years this month, I don't think I'm ever turning back!
You said you have a Yellow 500 that once was a 1950? Are you sure? If the chassis is that early, it could be worth quite a bit of money. Post some pictures of your collection so far, especially that Yellow set (and interior shots of it as well!) :)
Yes, Welcome! We certainly appreciate the enthusiasm of the younger generations in our hobby! It is great to have people like yourself keeping the old equipment (and knowledge) alive and well. I will also be able to keep my father's office phone. He worked for many years for a large computer company which moved to a new phone system in the late 80s. All the WE 2500s had to go. He asked if he could keep one, and he still has it in his den. Fortunately it is cherry red, which is much nicer than the standard beige. It will be the one TT phone in my collection.
We do like pictures.... especially of anything that might be 1950 500...... Show us your dad's 500 also; the personal history makes it special.
Hello, and welcome to the forum! :)
dsk
Welcome Holtzer-Cabot, I got my my 1st phone about your age, a WE554 (still have it). I didn't start collecting phones until around 1990 but that is all I did was collect & put in boxes & used a few around the house. When I retired about a year ago I started cleaning up my phones & collecting parts to repair the ones that needed repairing. That's when I joined CRPF. the guys & gals here have been no end of help with Needed parts & advice. You like lots of us have other interests. Here is a picture of my restored 1951 Ford 8N.
Quote from: Kenton K on July 04, 2016, 11:31:08 PM
Welcome! I got my first phone around your age!
Wow cool! What phone was it?
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on July 05, 2016, 12:40:07 AM
Welcome to the forum!!
I'm, what, maybe 3rd or 4th youngest active member? I'm 17, but I too started collecting at 14. Since I've been collecting for 3 years this month, I don't think I'm ever turning back!
You said you have a Yellow 500 that once was a 1950? Are you sure? If the chassis is that early, it could be worth quite a bit of money. Post some pictures of your collection so far, especially that Yellow set (and interior shots of it as well!) :)
That's cool! and I don't think I will stop getting phones either! I like getting 500 sets, since they are still pretty easy to find. And I made a mistake, I meant to say a 1960 500, not a 1950. But I wish I had a 1950 or a 1949 500 set! :) And after I answer all of the replies, I will post some pictures below of the phones! :D
Quote from: RotarDad on July 05, 2016, 01:29:57 AM
Yes, Welcome! We certainly appreciate the enthusiasm of the younger generations in our hobby! It is great to have people like yourself keeping the old equipment (and knowledge) alive and well. I will also be able to keep my father's office phone. He worked for many years for a large computer company which moved to a new phone system in the late 80s. All the WE 2500s had to go. He asked if he could keep one, and he still has it in his den. Fortunately it is cherry red, which is much nicer than the standard beige. It will be the one TT phone in my collection.
We do like pictures.... especially of anything that might be 1950 500...... Show us your dad's 500 also; the personal history makes it special.
Thank you! And yes it is a good feeling knowing that the younger folks are preserving these pieces of equipment. And that is cool that your dad was able to keep the phone! And yeah I would love to have a 1950 500, but I made a typing mistake. It is from 1960. I will post some photos after I reply to everyone! :)
Quote from: dsk on July 05, 2016, 05:09:47 AM
Hello, and welcome to the forum! :)
dsk
Thank you! :)
Quote from: oldguy on July 05, 2016, 04:21:35 PM
Welcome Holtzer-Cabot, I got my my 1st phone about your age, a WE554 (still have it). I didn't start collecting phones until around 1990 but that is all I did was collect & put in boxes & used a few around the house. When I retired about a year ago I started cleaning up my phones & collecting parts to repair the ones that needed repairing. That's when I joined CRPF. the guys & gals here have been no end of help with Needed parts & advice. You like lots of us have other interests. Here is a picture of my restored 1951 Ford 8N.
Wow that's nice to know! :) I use all of my 500s around the house! And that's whats great about CRPF! And wow that is a great looking Ford 8N! I was driving a 9N the other day!
Here is my father's 1959 500 set, the one he used on the railroad for many years. I still use this phone a lot and it still works perfectly!
Here is the yellow 500, originally from 1960, but refurbished in 1976. (the camera makes it look more white, but it is yellow!)
Here is the other black 500, from 1961.
And finally, here is my 1903 Stromberg-Carlson candlestick with oak ringer box! I hope you all enjoyed looking at my collection!!
Mighty nice collection! Welcome and good luck! (Show us your Radios in the off topic section. :D)
Quote from: 19and41 on July 05, 2016, 09:49:24 PM
Mighty nice collection! Welcome and good luck! (Show us your Radios in the off topic section. :D)
Thanks! And I will! It sure is something that i'm only fourteen and I have all this stuff and know what it is!
While we're on the subject of tractors, my Dad has a 1950 8N. He bought it restored 18 years ago, and it has worked extremely well mowing, snow plowing, burying cable, powering a wood splitter, etc, ever since. For a 66-year-old tractor, it sure doesn't want to quit!
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on July 06, 2016, 07:48:28 PM
While we're on the subject of tractors, my Dad has a 1950 8N. He bought it restored 18 years ago, and it has worked extremely well mowing, snow plowing, burying cable, powering a wood splitter, etc, ever since. For a 66-year-old tractor, it sure doesn't want to quit!
No it doesn't! These old tractors and telephones and basically anything else from the period were built to last! My neighbor has a 9N. I was driving it and it still works great! Fires right up!
Quote from: Holtzer-Cabot on July 05, 2016, 09:56:43 PM
Thanks! And I will! It sure is something that i'm only fourteen and I have all this stuff and know what it is!
I too had the knowledge of the old things when I was very young. One has to learn the delicate art of tact when discussing things with the older folks. I used to get them provoked when they found I already knew their bits of acquired knowledge. :) I then learned to let them teach me the things they wanted to share with me. It does my heart good to see a youngster keeping the older technologies alive.
Quote from: 19and41 on July 06, 2016, 08:04:57 PM
I too had the knowledge of the old things when I was very young. One has to learn the delicate art of tact when discussing things with the older folks. I used to get them provoked when they found I already knew their bits of acquired knowledge. :) I then learned to let them teach me the things they wanted to share with me. It does my heart good to see a youngster keeping the older technologies alive.
Yeah! And I will always keep it alive and well! And that's how it works with me too when I'm talking to the older folks. :)
Quote from: Holtzer-Cabot on July 06, 2016, 08:01:03 PM
No it doesn't! These old tractors and telephones and basically anything else from the period were built to last! My neighbor has a 9N. I was driving it and it still works great! Fires right up!
Anything built to last and built as simple as possible will last forever. Phones are a great example.
My family partially owns some land in southwestern Wisconsin. Out there, in a garage, is a 9N that I've fallen in love with! It hasn't run for 30 years, I haven't even seen it in 2 years, but I think it would be really cool to get restored. Apparently they were a little less simplistic than the 8N (harder to maintain) but I wouldn't care. I love the Dark Gray paint scheme and skinnier tires.
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on July 06, 2016, 08:31:29 PM
Anything built to last and built as simple as possible will last forever. Phones are a great example.
My family partially owns some land in southwestern Wisconsin. Out there, in a garage, is a 9N that I've fallen in love with! It hasn't run for 30 years, I haven't even seen it in 2 years, but I think it would be really cool to get restored. Apparently they were a little less simplistic than the 8N (harder to maintain) but I wouldn't care. I love the Dark Gray paint scheme and skinnier tires.
Exactly! And I do too! :) My neighbor owns a Morton barn next to my house, full of old tractors! I do live on a partial farm area. He told me once that there used to be a W.E. 500 installed there, but it has since been removed. There is tons of old electrical equipment and tractors and stuff in there! :)
For posterity (if anyone else cares about our Tractor Talk) here's an example of an early 9N. I like the aluminum grilles. Very stately.
(I don't consider this thread hijacking, just breaking in a new member! ;) )
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on July 06, 2016, 10:08:08 PM
For posterity (if anyone else cares about our Tractor Talk) here's an example of a 9N.
(I don't consider this thread hijacking, just breaking in a new member! ;) )
Nice example of a 9N! :)