where can I find a date on a Kellogg "banjo"

[Kenny C]

I can only find one date on the transmitter wich is 9-55 i am pretty sure it is from the 50's but I would like to know what date

[bingster]

That's one of the problems we phone collectors run into.  Only the Bell System had a systematic plan to date telephone components.  With the other manufacturers, it's hit and miss.  You might occasionally find a date as you did, or more often, you won't find any hint of a date anywhere.

[KELLOGG MIKE]

To my knowledge the Banjo as collectors call the first Kellogg 500-like set were not dated.  The 6 that I have do not have dates anywhere, on components or the base.  The date 9-55 is after Kellogg changed the case to match (about 1954) the WE 500, this element is a replacement.   

[Doug Rose]

Hey Mike...welcome to the forum. I'm very happy to see you here. Don't be a stranger. We all can use your expertise. Dennis has dome a wonderful job.......Doug Rose

[Kenny C]

wen were they first made and when did they stop

[KELLOGG MIKE]

In digging around in some of the Kellogg history stuff that I have, mostly by Roger Conklin I found that the K-500 "banjo" with "gumdrop" handset was introduced in 1954 and production of the "banjo"case stopped sometime in 1956 with the introduction of the WE lookalike.  In early 1955 the "gumdrop" was replaced by the G3 lookalike but with rounded ends.  The rounded ends were dropped when a exact lookalike of the G3 was introduced with the WE style 500 case.  As a matter of further interest the "gumdrop" was Bakelite and the G3 type (both styles) was first soft plastic and then regular plastic.     Kellogg Mike