Identifying A Childhood Phone?

[FantomLightning]

Hi everyone,

I've joined here because it seems to be one of the most knowledgeable places out there. I've been trying to find information on a GTE StyleLine that I grew up with, it's identical to the one I'll link below except the one I grew up with was gray. I'm hoping to find out a model number or some kind of identifier for this phone, what the background of it is, and who made them for GTE. Also, was there a specific model that had backlit keys? Or was it standard across the line?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GTE-PUSH-BUTTON-OFF-WHITE-LIGHT-YELLOW-PHONE-/140931400679?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d02a83e7

[poplar1]

If you do a search for Styleline in the box in the upper right, you will find many links such as this one:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6811.0

The phone on the Ebay auction is a later knock-off. The original Stylelines were made by Automatic Electric, which GTE owned for many years. Their factory was originally in Chicago, then Northlake, Illinois, then Huntsville, Alabama.

Few of the original Stylelines had lighted dials. Terry can fill you in on the details.

[Mr. Bones]

FantomLightning,

     First, and foremost, welcome to the forum!! I hope that you will have countless hours of happy browsing, and learning here! Please, stick around, and enjoy the fine folks gathered here!

If you do a search for Styleline in the box in the upper right, you will find many links such as this one:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6811.0

     For best search results, back out of a given topic, to the main forum page,
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php
then enter your search criteria. This will allow you to search the entirety of the forum, vs. only the topic you were in.

     This was pointed out to me, a relative newbie, by a kindhearted member, and has helped me immeasurably.

     Best regards, and happy searching!

[FantomLightning]

Thanks for the info! The post you linked was actually what led me to this site, I created a new post to find more information on this particular model of the phone.

If you do a search for Styleline in the box in the upper right, you will find many links such as this one:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6811.0

The phone on the Ebay auction is a later knock-off. The original Stylelines were made by Automatic Electric, which GTE owned for many years. Their factory was originally in Chicago, then Northlake, Illinois, then Huntsville, Alabama.

Few of the original Stylelines had lighted dials. Terry can fill you in on the details.

[AE_Collector]

Welcome FantomLightning. Always glad to find another AE/GTE enthusiast here!

As Poplar1 said, the one you are looking at on ebaY is fom the period after Automatic Elecric quit making phones completely which left GTE scrambling to put their name on phones from Asia. I laughed when I read this from the auction:

I NO LONGER HAVE A LAND LINE TO TEST PHONE BUT WAS TOLD IT WORKS AND THESE PHONE WERE MADE TO LAST A LIFE TIME UNLIKE TODAY'S PHONES.

I have bad news fro the seller....This one IS one of "Today's Phones"!

Anyway, back to AE Stylelines. There is quite a lot of info on here about them. They were initially made with illuminatable dials but as discussed here elsewhere, these models are very difficult to find.

There never was a gray Styleline though. There way "Classic Ivory" and later on this color was replaced with "Antique White" which might be what you had?

Another possibility might be that we are stearing you in the wrong direction. Maybe you DID have one just like the ebaY auction in which case it isn't really a Styleline but of course is the same general idea. Maybe it was available in gray?

See if any of the Stylelines in the topic that Poplar1 linked to looks like the one you are thinking of.

Terry

[FantomLightning]

No, it didn't look color wise like any of the original Stylelines. The only reason why I know for sure it was gray was because it had a color matching 25ft cord along with it. Saddest thing is when it comes to modern phones even these Asian made phones from the 80's and 90's have substantially higher quality compared to what is sold in stores today. I'm thinking I'll end up just having to watch eBay searches to see if one ever shows up in the gray color.

[G-Man]

No, it didn't look color wise like any of the original Stylelines. The only reason why I know for sure it was gray was because it had a color matching 25ft cord along with it. Saddest thing is when it comes to modern phones even these Asian made phones from the 80's and 90's have substantially higher quality compared to what is sold in stores today. I'm thinking I'll end up just having to watch eBay searches to see if one ever shows up in the gray color.

The Asian telephones made in the 80's and 90's do not even hold a candle to the quality of the telephones manufactured by the original manufacturers!

But back to your original query....

Did you live in Bell or Independent territory and what was the time-frame?

Are you certain about the manufacturer or do you assume it is GTE because it appears to be similar to the one that was used in your home?

Do you remember if the telephone you are seeking information about had the Mute, Redial and Reset buttons as are shown on the eBay telephone?

As an aside, I believe this is the first time I have ever seen a Reset label since American telephone companies and manufacturers used the terms Flash or Recall.

There is a possibility is that the telephone that was in your home was not manufactured by GTE/Automatic Electric but instead by one of the other manufacturers such as Western Electric, ITT, or Stromberg Carlson who may have offered their version in gray.

[dsk]

Welcome!

dsk

[AE_Collector]

Those questions are along the liness of what my next questions were going to be G-Man. Here are a couple more questions.

Did the design of the Styleines in the other topic seem right or not really? "Real" Stylelines never had any extra buttons other than an oval shaped button right below the dial or touchpad to hang up and get a new dial tone.

The 1969 to 1978 models had cast potmetal bases and therefore were quite heavy. They also had round handset cords (sometimes round base cords as well) rather than flat cords.

From 1978 on until about 1986 (when production ended), Stylelines had plastic bases and flat modular cords.

There were always two seperate models for desk versus wall. They weren't "convertible".

Terry

[FantomLightning]

G-Man :

I can imagine they were nothing like the originals, my point simply is quality has come down much further from even these phones. It was the exact phone as in the auction other than the color. I know it was GTE because I can remember the logo on the phone. As for the original providers in the area I have no idea, I can tell you that I'm in northeast Ohio in Medina county if that helps. As for the time frame it would have been late 80's to the 90's.

AE_Collector :

I'm certain it wasn't one of the original Stylelines, It would have to be one of the later knock offs as it was identical to the one in the eBay link.

[AE_Collector]

Okay, then by the time frame, it wouldn't have been a rental phone but one that you or your parents owned. Did yours have backlit keys? By this timeframe that feature again became somewhat popular.

This one on ebay seems to be in particularly good condition including the instructions on the back of the handset etc. Why not buy it and then you can look for more model and manufacturer info once you get it. You may then find one on ebaY or elsewhere in the color you are looking for.

As previously noted, AE had quit making phones in North America by this time frame and GTE rebranded many phones mainly from Asia to sell in their phone stores over the next few years.

Terry

[FantomLightning]

Yes, it did have backlit keys. As for the eBay phone I may just end up purchasing it, it may be the closest thing I can find.

Thanks for the info and help everybody!