Small But Definitely Eclectic

[19and41]

I've just acquired another phone, a white Trimline.  I've always liked the phones' design in either t/t or dial, and now I have a Trimline in each configuration.  Those are in addition to the AE40 and my vintage military phones .  I'll try to put up a few pics as time goes by, and I get the new one shipped here.

[HarrySmith]

Cool. We love pictures. Please include the military phones.

[Jim Stettler]

Cool,
Trimlines are a very neat and award winning phone.
Trimlines are a great phone to collect, because nobody pays much attention to the variations. They were high tech and expensive to manufacture. Collectors tend to ignore the trimline because the BSP's don't address the changes to the internals of the sets, And they were the most modern of the Bell telephones..

Trimlines were originally planned on being repaired in the field, but they MD'd the practice after the first issue 1 of the BSP, the second issue 1 of the BSP said the omitted the practice and the 3rd issue 1 says to replace the bad part ,which was the  base, handset or cords.

There are a lot more variations of trimlines besides just Rotary and Touchtone. The basic configurations for trimlines include, Round button (10 and 12 buttons), square button (12), And rotary (incandescent and LED). Typically the round button sets are "fat Mod" housings and are typically an incandescent light, There are also "fat mod" and "Mini mod" (Standard) Rotary handsets. Most fat mod handsets are incandescent , and mini mods are LED. However I have seen  "fat mod" rotary sets that were LED.

As far as bases goes there are desk, wall, and noteworthy bases and there were several different wall bases.  On the round button  handsets they use the same tone generators as the other TT pads  , but in 1969 they also started using Tone generating IC's . Most of the (fat mod)  IC sets seem to be from the mid 70's and later. It appears that many repaired handsets were upgraded to IC's, I have seen at least 3 different variations  of the IC sets.

The early round button sets had a colored Paper dial mask, and later (and rebuilt) sets had the metal TT mask. I have heard that many times the color  mask is still in place under the metal plate, but I have never checked for  them.

Some of the other variants are 2 line sets, Secretarial sets and interphones. Paul F's site  has other variations.

JMO,
Jim S.
BTW as far as I can tell, the were  still making "Fat Mod" sets at the breakup.
   I have had the opportunity to hold the only 1-in-a-1,000,000,000 telephone made by Western Electric and it was a gold plated Trimline with a medallion on the back explaining what it was and who it was awarded to. This seemed to be a metal plated set vs the imperial gold type  plastics of the 1-in-a 1,000,000 sets. It was being offered as a trade for a Blake transmitter, which would of been worth about $500 at the time.

[19and41]

The rotary version is said to be a 1976 model.  My t/t beige unit is one I took ownership of after the breakup.  it is a 1982 model.  I agree they are a very ergonomic phone, lending itself to the head and shoulder hold. 

[princessphone]

I also think that the vintage trimlines with the thick cords are pretty cool. For me they are a perfect match for my Princesses. Specially the wall units compliment them very well. Then for the piece de resistance a, colour matching backboard (191C). Paul-F knows a lot about them. They made a lot of the handsets and bases interchangeable. WE and later companies sure milked the Trimline name and their later (bastard) offspring for a long time. John     

[19and41]

I guess I've chosen the system phones I have, because they are the ones familiar.  the first phone I got from Mountain Bell was a Trimline.  My first phone, period was a bootleg installed government surplus AE40.  My older sister got to have a phone of her own, funded by her various jobs.  It was a Princess, and it was off limits for me.  I guess that's why they weren't a first choice for me.  I hope to put some pics up this weekend. 

[19and41]

Here are some pics.  The Trimline is missing it's number/ access screw covers.  The first military units are EE-8's.  One has the set removed from the case.  The next militaries are German type 33 sets I picked up at the Frankfurt flea market about 40 years ago.  The white square on the magneto covers the nasty bit of the military acceptance stamp.  The next is my AE40 that serves on my computer desk with a Dialgizmo for VOIP use.  I have at least a couple more I need to get pics of.

[19and41]

Here's another military set, the TA-1/PT.  It is a sound powered unit with an audible signal at the base and a visible glow in the dark call indicator Just below the receiver.  It has a squeeze action magneto.   

[19and41]

My rotary Trimline arrived last evening.  It has a small chip out of the handset's back cover above the receiver.  and there is a clink coming from the ringer when the phone is moved.  And it is mighty dirty.  I'll try to put up some pics when the weather clears a bit.  I also found a group of old telephone directories from my home town from 1958 to 63.  I'll try to get some images of them as well.

[19and41]

Well, I did a little surgery on the Trimline to locate the clink in the ringer.  There were 2 small L- clips floating around under the bell and seeing the laminations sliding out of the coil there gave me a guess where they should go.  the clapper came loose from the return spring and I set that straight also.  There is crud on most plastic surfaces that were not accessible by a rag to wipe it off.  There isn't any corrosion on any of the visible surfaces.  It will need a new handset cord, as the retainer for the phone end connector.  The dial light didn't work when I connected it briefly, but the bulb is still good.

[19and41]

Well, the poor white trimline has a number of broken traces on the "flexible" circuit in the handset, and it is like grinding smoke trying to perform repairs on it.  I found a decent later model beige unit and it arrived swaddled in a couple layers of bubble wrap, surrounded by an inch of document shreds and packed in a half cereal box.  It is intact and works, also.

[patcorr]

I like the military phones, they are like hens teeth in Ireland.

[Doug Rose]

I have a working Conn Signal Corps Toaster phone on ebay this week. HEAVY!!! It is just a great design....Doug

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301556256845

[HarrySmith]

Wrong link Doug!
Try this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301556256845

[Doug Rose]

thanks Harry....Doug