Mushroom phone question

[Dennis Markham]

Jonathan, that is a very interesting phone.  I had not seen a 500P before.  I have heard of the H model.  I'd say the bleaching method worked very well.  It is a nice phone and as you said, a rare bird.  Please post some photos of the aqua when time permits.  Thanks.

[Dan/Panther]

Here's mine dated 1949...

I got a green one 1958, I got a Pink one 1957, I got yellow one 1954, Na! Na! Na!!!
D/P

[Phonesrfun]

Now wait a minute!

That 1949 after-market light arrangement must be bogus.  Everyone knows they did not have LEDs in 1949, silly.

-Bill

[Dan/Panther]

Bill;
It's a VERY RARE prototype, it cost me thousands....Batteries not included, comes with an A.C. adapter.
D/P

[bingster]

the 500U, which I think came along in late 1957 (has anyone seen an earlier 500U?).

January '57

I can also post some pictures of the aqua blue 500P I have in a later post, if anyone is interested.

Are you kidding?   Let's see it!

[McHeath]

Yeah, I think D/P is pulling our collective legs.  That LED light could not be from any earlier than the 80's, and what's with the arm holding it?

Looks like an E-Bay scam to me.

[bingster]

...and what's with the arm holding it?

Part of the monthly charge for the 300 series lighted phones went to pay for a Bell System employee to sit beside the telephone and turn the light on whenever the subscriber needed to make a call.  Geez, McHeath... Everybody knows that.

[JorgeAmely]

Bingster:

Total lack of privacy with the Bell employee hanging around.

[McHeath]

Wow, now that could boost employment!   

[jsowers]

Please post some photos of the aqua when time permits.  Thanks.

OK, Dennis, I will. The aqua blue 500P, which is from 6-58 with an 8-2-58 housing (the month and year I was born) has a replacement mushroom from John LaRose. It was white and I happened to have some blue spray paint in the correct color. I sprayed the top of the cap and used a small paintbrush on the underneath side. I would recommend to anyone who tries to paint these mushroom caps to do several coats and let it dry between coats. And sand the cap lightly first so the paint will stick. Mine looks OK with one coat when it's off, but lift the handset and the light shines through the top, which is not what the originals did. I didn't paint the underneath lamp area white and that could also help with preventing the light shining through to the top. The plastic is very translucent. But as you can see, it's an exact match in size.

This same picture of the aqua blue also shows two other mushroom phones in the background. A black 500U from 8-58 and a really sad refurbished pink 500U from Boston, with a 12-57 base and plastics from 1958 and 59. It's painted pink over pink (no idea why) and the handset caps are hard plastic. It's about three different shades of pink and needs a mushroom cap. I'm not going to invest in a cap until I can figure out how to remove the paint and make the plastics match. If anyone knows how to remove paint from soft plastic, please let me know. The best part of the phone is the number card, an unusual exchange called BLue Hills.

You can also see some of my old car books in the background and some stray Christmas tree needles. My phone display is in my living room.

[Dennis Markham]

Thanks for posting those photos Jonathan.  Recently I bought a reproduction cap from John LaRose as well.  It does need to be painted inside.  It is black and it's for a black phone so I won't have to paint the exterior.  I haven't used it yet with the lamp on as there are other issues that have to be addressed before I can get power to the lamp. 

It seems a lot of these phones are found without the original caps.  Of course it's easy to understand why as they come off rather easily.

Despite little imperfections, they are still nice phones that made it past the wrecking ball of life and preserved for future generations.

[Dan]

Hopefully I will hear soon from John Larose since I emailed him several  days ago about needing a replacement cap. I am going to try to make my own cap in the meantime, since I have accurate dental impression material and  plastic materials @ my disposal. I am also going to convert a black housing over to mushroom style (don't worry purists, it's a modular notched housing ) just because I like the look of the black 'shrooms the best. Dental drills can do very detailed cutting.

[bingster]

I would recommend to anyone who tries to paint these mushroom caps to do several coats and let it dry between coats. And sand the cap lightly first so the paint will stick. Mine looks OK with one coat when it's off, but lift the handset and the light shines through the top, which is not what the originals did. I didn't paint the underneath lamp area white and that could also help with preventing the light shining through to the top. The plastic is very translucent.

It might help when buying a cap to paint, that a black one be bought.  I'd think the black plastic should keep the light from shining through, and then you can get away with one easy coat of paint.

[jiggerman]

Hello,
             Jsowers was asking how to remove paint from a soft plastic phone. I used "Easy Off"™ oven cleaner on a regular plastic phone and it worked great.  I don't know what it will do to a soft plastic one. I found this info on a website from Prince Edward Island. I will post it below. Jiggerman

http://www.islandregister.com/phones/buffing.html

[Phonesrfun]

There was also a thread a while back on another foum about using brake fluid to remove paint from plastic.  I do not recall if that was for both hard and soft plastics. but at least on hard.

-Bill