The One That Almost Got Away.

[4123]

                                            The One That Almost Got Away.

As I'm thinking back, one story comes to mind regarding a telephone find that turned into a "close call".  Cousin George and I were trying to find some antique wood cook stove dealers in Portland, Oregon so we could sell a truck load of antique stove parts.  George had hundreds of those round plates that fit in the holes on top of wood stoves and a dozen or so complete warming ovens all from the 1800's.  He had no idea what they were worth so he was going to "feel out" a couple of places and take offers and finally sell to the highest bidder. I went along for the ride and maybe to find an antique telephone or two.
The first stove place we looked up in the Portland Yellow Pages was easy to find.  It was twilight and the place was getting ready to close when we pulled in. We found the owner and asked him to step outside and look at George's truckload of stuff.  The guy was amazed at the amount of parts he had and got pretty exited.  There was lots of small talk.  After waiting a polite amount of time, I brought up antique telephones by asking him if he ever runs into any in this "neck of the woods"
He looks at me and says "I just bought one the other day from an old lady I sold a stove to"  
I ask him "what does it look like?"  He says "its chrome....its the kind that stands up with the little speaker that you hold to your ear" I asked if it has a dial and he says "no" After hearing this, I'm thinking that its probably a non-dial Kellogg or Stromberg Carlson with a nickel top and bottom or maybe even a nickel 1904 Western Electric.  I say "is it for sale?" he says "I suppose I'd sell it for $50" I ask to see it and he yells at some kid by the fence and tells him to go get the old phone that was under the seat in his pickup truck and bring it here.  Then the talk starts up again about stove parts.
I was not paying any attention to the stove talk because I was following the kid with my eyes as he approached a pickup truck and started digging around under the seat.  It took him a while but he finally came up with something shiny.  It was almost dark by now and I could not see what he had until he was about ten feet away.  He was holding it by the transmitter.  All I could see was a tapered shaft and an oil can type of base.  My eyeballs just about popped out of my head.  At first, I thought it was a Western Electric No.10 but as he got closer, I could see that it was a Stromberg Carlson oil can in what looked like excellent condition.  
I tried to act non-committal as I quickly pulled a fifty out of my wallet. I had to interrupt the ongoing stove talk and handed the guy the money.  He took it, glanced at it and stuck it in his pocket and continued talking.  I grabbed the telephone (maybe a little to quickly) from the kid and walked back to the travel trailer that we were pulling behind our truck.  I went inside, quickly wrapped the telephone in a towel and put it in one of the cupboards, and went back outside, locking the trailer door as I left.  I was feeling pretty good!  When I got back to George and the guy, the guy was yelling something like "what do you mean, you are checking around" He was visibly upset. He wanted these stove parts and had offered George way less than George was hoping to get.  Evidently, George had told him that we might be back after checking other potential buyers first. The guys face started turning red and he spun on me and yelled "give me that phone back!!!"  "Whoa!" I say as I start to back up. "You guys were just using me to find out what this stuff is worth" he yells.  "I want that phone back, NOW!" he yells again.  I am panicking!  I say "we already made a deal.  You've got the money and I've already got it put away" He pulls the fifty out of his pocket and stuffs it hard into my shirt pocket. I'm picturing the oilcan with little wings flying out of my grip.
I pull the fifty out of my shirt pocket and shove it into his shirt pocket. He pulls it out of his shirt pocket and stuffs it into George's shirt pocket. George says "I don't want anything to do with this" and holds the fifty out toward the raging guy. This fifty dollar bill has changed into a "hot potato".
The guy slaps the fifty out of George's hand and it floats to the ground!  By now the guy looks like he is ready to have a stroke!  He screams "keep the f----- phone, ....keep the f------ money and get the hell out of here NOW!!!  George and I look at each other and I nod toward the truck.
George looks at me, then looks down at the money on the ground and says "lets go"
Leaving the money on the ground, we both back up toward the truck, jump in and make our getaway. As we were leaving the parking lot, I was expecting something to come crashing through the rear window. Neither George or I said anything for a while as we sped down the highway. I felt like I just robbed a bank or something.  I've done some crazy things to get antique telephones in the past but this wins the prize. I hope I never have to go through anything like this again.  
The bottom line is, I got the telephone, the guy got the money.
Everybody was happy?.....
Maybe the next day.
George ended up selling the stove parts for way more than what the guy had offered him.

[AE_Collector]

Another great story Ron! Everyone was happy....well, almost everyone!

How about the one with the well full of discarded telephones outside the old Tel Exchange building? That was one of your stories wasn't it?

Terry

[4123]

Jacksonville, Oregon....more telephones

                                                   by Ron Christianson



This time I was out cruising with my cousin George.  We were in my 1947 Willys Jeep.  We had just arrived in a town called "Jacksonville" in Southern Oregon. Jacksonville is one of those historic towns that is more than one hundred years old.  All the buildings had been restored, and in some places there is still a boardwalk. The place is always crawling with tourists. As soon as we arrived in town, the old 6 volt generator in the Jeep went out. We were stuck there. It turned out that the only place with a replacement generator was a two-hour drive away.  We would have to wait for the delivery person to get back from wherever he was, and still wait some more for him to get that part out to us.

It was a hot summer day, so George decided to take a nap under a tree at the local park.  

I decided to find old telephones.

The first thing I did was a search for the oldest native Jacksonvillian around. This leads to another story, that I won't get into. Anyway, I found her in the local library. She had lived in Jacksonville  all her life and she was in her 80's. I asked her where the telephone company had been located around 1930 or 1940.  She gave me directions how to get to, what was now, an insurance company at the other end of town. "Next to the doll shop," she said.

As I was walking, I noticed that this town was loaded with antique shops, so I figured that if there had ever been any good deals on antique telephones around, the shops would have gobbled them up. But, I had nothing else to do, so I ventured on. I found the insurance store. It reeked of early telephone company! It stood alone, was totally enclosed, constructed out of bricks, and had that "fortress" look about it. The first thing I noticed was two rows of about twenty porcelain tubes sticking out of one of the brick walls at the roof line on one side of the building.

There's that feeling again....the one I always get when I think I'm hot on the trail of an antique telephone or two!

I went inside the insurance company's front door and was greeted by a nice lady that said the owner of the building lives in Los Angeles. I introduced myself and told her that I was a "telephone historian," and would she mind if I looked around. "It was the old Jacksonville telephone company after all," I said. She told me that she had no idea that it had been a telephone company, but "go ahead and look all you want." The inside of the building had been partitioned off into little cubicles, had been dry walled and was very modern looking. I checked a few closets and found a large trapdoor leading up into the attic. I was very excited when I asked permission to go up there. She said "go ahead."  Up I went.

Nothing! Totally empty! I was surprised. I thought for sure that I would find at least something.

The search continued. I ended up in some sort of washroom. In the back of the room was a door that led to a stairway going down into the basement. This had to be it! Down I went.

Nothing! Totally empty! I was again surprised.

I decided to walk around the building a few times. Maybe I'll find something attached to the walls. Maybe a sign, maybe an insulator, anything please....

As I was doing my "walkabout," I kept stepping on this one spot that felt kind of hollow. There were lots of trees around and the leaves were all over the ground and many layered. I again found the spot that was hollow feeling and started pushing the layers of leaves aside. After going through what seemed like one hundred years worth of rotten leaves, I finally came to some rotten wood. The wood was so rotten that I could stick my fingers into it and pull it up in large chunks. There were many layers of wood that were criss crossed and went down too about twelve inches below the surface. As I pulled up the last layer of wood, I found a hole.

There they were!!! Telephones!!! I could not tell how many, because it was so dark. I could see Dean cobra candlesticks, Baird coin collectors with the pull arms, and various metal bodied hotel sets. The hole was actually a well. There might be fifty or maybe a hundred feet of telephones thrown in here. I had to climb down about eight feet to reach the top of the pile of telephones. I was very excited. But as I started looking at the booty, I realized that everything was either encased in mud or filled with mud. All the steel was extremely rusted or rotted away. The brass was pitted and so tarnished that it was almost black.

I went back into the building and told the nice lady what I had found and asked her if it was all right if I removed some of the stuff. She said she didn't care.  

What I ended up with was about ten candlesticks, three Baird coin collectors, and a few metal wall sets. Almost all the telephones were Dean. I had only dug down about two feet to retrieve this many telephones. At that point, I had to stop due to the thickness of the mud, the disappointing condition of the telephones and the cold dampness and darkness down there. I don't want to begin to describe what I looked like when I emerged from that hole!

Jacksonville had been a large mining town with a population of about five thousand. Its anyone's guess how many telephones are still down there.

The telephones that I removed are a perfect example of how bad a condition something can get in. I have never attempted to restore any of them. They are hopeless. I sold the three Baird coin collectors to a telephone collector in the east who insisted he could restore anything. He said he would send me pictures of the finished product.  I never heard from him again. I still have the rest of the telephones, in all their rusty splendor.     The end.  

[AE_Collector]

That's the story! I find it hard to believe that you haven't gone back to get the rest of them even considering their condition. Just because they are there! Maybe there is some real treasure in there even though it too may be in hopeless condition.

Terry

[kleinkaliber]

Jacksonville, Oregon....more telephones

                                                   by Ron Christianson



There they were!!! Telephones!!! I could not tell how many, because it was so dark. I could see Dean cobra candlesticks, Baird coin collectors with the pull arms, and various metal bodied hotel sets. The hole was actually a well. There might be fifty or maybe a hundred feet of telephones thrown in here. I had to climb down about eight feet to reach the top of the pile of telephones. I was very excited. But as I started looking at the booty, I realized that everything was either encased in mud or filled with mud. All the steel was extremely rusted or rotted away. The brass was pitted and so tarnished that it was almost black.

Down at the bottom of the well are all the phones that came out of the local sanitarium. They all still have their intact Red Cross glass mouthpieces.