Modular converted hardwire handset

[Jim Stettler]

I posted this photo because this is a conversion that you don't see very often.
This phone has a hardwire handset that was converted to modular.

These were used on the really low end "C" stock Phones. If you were installing these phones, then it meant your branch was losing money and there may be a change in upper management soon.
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I have had these handsets before. They punch a larger hole in the card end and replace the piece with a "matching" modular plate and a wiring harness.


Jim S.

[Pourme]

Ha...interesting....

[AE_Collector]

Always amazes me some of the things done to reuse equipment. To convert a handset from Hardwired to modular they could have used a new handset handle reusing the capsules and even reusing the caps. What would the new handle be worth compared to the price of a new complete phone that was what.....$20? Handle $1...$1.50 tops. Instead they put all the labour in to punch and then install the modular jack and fish in the wiring harness. Even in the 1980's this just doesn't add up to me. But it did to someone!

Terry

[jsowers]

My grandmother had a yellow 500DM set with a converted handset like this. One other thing it indicates is the set is very early modular because they used non-modular handsets and drilled them until they ran out. Hers was installed about 1977 and was the first modular phone I'd ever seen. My uncle worked for Southern Bell and lived a few houses down the road from my grandmother and I'm sure he had something to do with the installation. They also installed a panic button device that plugged into the phone line so my grandmother could summon help in an emergency. It was the first one of those I'd ever seen too. I think around this time he worked in a different Bell branch in another city, Winston-Salem, overseeing large client installs like hospitals. Southern Bell in Salisbury is where my grandmother's service originated.

The phone is still connected and now resides in the basement of the same house. My aunt (who was married to the above uncle) has lived in the house since 1993. I don't think it's ever been in for service and it still works like new and still has the original cords. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas in that same basement and every time that phone rings, we all get a blast from the past when Granny was alive.

[RotarDad]

Thanks guys for the discussion on this.  I've seen these before, but didn't know the background.  I'm not clear though.  Jim, you indicate this was a refurbishment trick to recycle old parts, while Jonathan is saying new WE builds used modified handsets through a transition period as modular was adopted.  Obviously, the drilling was very precise, and a complete set of colors was needed for the conversion insert.  This seems a lot less like C-stock than the often-seen mis-matched feet and brushed-on touch-up paint on bases...  Your thoughts?

[jsowers]

The phone they installed in 1977 was painted yellow over yellow, as I recall, but it looked new at the time, but the paint hasn't aged well and now has a greenish cast to it. It could have been a refurb since it was painted. I haven't examined its insides to know. I didn't mean to imply it was new out of the factory or not C stock. Just that it was an early modular phone from the 1970s, as are all the ones with that handset that I've seen. I have a green 554 with a handset like that, purchased at a yard sale about 1983.

I'll examine the yellow phone closer the next time I'm there and report back.

[Jim Stettler]

Thanks guys for the discussion on this.  I've seen these before, but didn't know the background.  I'm not clear though.  Jim, you indicate this was a refurbishment trick to recycle old parts, while Jonathan is saying new WE builds used modified handsets through a transition period as modular was adopted.  Obviously, the drilling was very precise, and a complete set of colors was needed for the conversion insert.  This seems a lot less like C-stock than the often-seen mis-matched feet and brushed-on touch-up paint on bases...  Your thoughts?

I have read Bell publications about the recycled plastic "C" stock, They thought it was a great revenue saving practice.  Over the years, I have talked to collectors that were former installers, They were the ones that told me "C" meant "crap".
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Handsets and housing made from recycled plastic have a large "C" in the casting.
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Early "C" plastic was recycled plastic, later "C" Stock was recycled plastic painted the same color (I assume to stay color consistent).
I think the originally recycled  "C" stock phones had no negative connotations, After they started color matching the paint was when "C" stock starting meaning "Crap" stock. High revenue branches got brand new equipment, lesser revenue branches got the recycled sets.
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The only "punched mod" handsets  I have ever seen have been low end "C" Stock, I think they all came from Mountain Bell.
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These may of been created in the "shops". WE had created a modular notching tool and template for notching housings. it would be easy to create a bench mounted jig for creating the new handset hole (The hole is either punched or drilled) , a plastic  hook would be a fast way to fish in the new wiring harness.

By converting the handset, you are avoiding the steps  of  shipping it back to WE, melting and recasting a handset as a modular one. Bell labs probably took this energy and transportation cost into account.

There is also the psychological effect that goes thru an operating company when you realize that your branch is failing and needs to step it up a bit.


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The early "C" stock was recycled plastic, later they used color matched paint to stay consistent.  I  think really low end c-stock is the mismatched plastics that are all painted the same color.
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I have seen several ways of creating C stock modular cords. Early on they Polane coated the cords and replaced the mod ends w/ smoke tint mod ends.
Later on they replaced the mod ends with new clear ends and then dipped the cords in Polane (the mod ends have a ring of matching paint from the procedure). I have had some of these cords "new" in the package, the cords had to be reverse twisted before use.
The really low end "C" cords are spray painted to match the color that they painted the mis-matched plastics.
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I have a low end "C" trimline that was  painted black, it was made from 3 different colors of plastic. The  baseplate paint was badly chipped so they just repainted it gray over all the chips.
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I also have a yellow painted yellow 2500 set, that was a 1500 conversion dial. The *, #  are worn  different from the number buttons, it has the punched style mod handset. The faceplate is an  old reverse  painted faceplate, that was the texture painted to look like the newer faceplate.
I want to add a crappy "c" stock handset to complete the look.
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I keep the trimline because it has no collector value. I keep the 2500 because it is a good example of how Bell was always reusing parts.

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JMO,
Jim S.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I have an opposite view on this--I have actually seen quite a few of those circular notched handsets out there. I have two or three that I picked up in lots that are sitting in my parts stash.

[Jim Stettler]

I have an opposite view on this--I have actually seen quite a few of those circular notched handsets out there. I have two or three that I picked up in lots that are sitting in my parts stash.

I have probably seen about 10 total, all local, all most likely Mountain Bell.  I think you will  find these "clustered" in areas where they were issued.

I don't think they were issued by very many operating companies.

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I don't think very many collectors have found these in there areas.
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Do your handsets seem to be "new" or painted "C" stock?


Jim S.

[poplar1]

I don't believe the converted handles were used on newly manufactured modular phones. There was an overlap of hardwired (such as 500D) and modular (such as 500DM) sets from 1972-1977, depending on the location. (In NE Atlanta, for example, in 1974, customers could go to the Southern Bell phone store at NE Plaza on Buford Highway to pick up their modular lease sets, but a few miles away in Poncey-Highland, the phones  were still installed by the installer/repairman in early 1976, and were hardwired only.)

In fact, new G3A (hardwired) and G15A (modular) handsets -- those on newly manufactured phones --  used the same G15-style handle for a good part of this 1972-1977 period. That is why you find date-matching (never refurbished) hardwired phones from 1974 that appear to have the "wrong" handset handle.

[poplar1]

Here is a 2554B hardwired dates-matching set from August, 1976. Note that the handset handle has the keyed hole normally used for modular cords. Also, the base pan has the slot for a 523A plug, but this phone did not have the plug. The phone was attached to a 155A backboard.  The handset cord is made from flat cordage -- the type used for modular cords -- even though it has spade lugs on each end.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5245.msg64671#msg64671