Brown NE Uniphone

[LarryInMichigan]

One phone on my low budget wish list was a brown Northern Electric Uniphone.  I noticed this phone (ebay link) for sale on ebay last week, and it appeared to me to be a brown phone which had been painted black, so I took a $68 gamble and bought it.  I asked the seller to wait until this week to ship it as I was out traveling, and it arrived this afternoon.  It turns out that my guess was correct (at least this time).  The phone and handset are mottled brown bakelite, and the black paint is thin.  I have started stripping it.  The phone will need new cords and preferably a replacement dial plate.  The insides are rather dirty, and some species of small invertebrate did plenty of reproducing inside the dial and handset.  I am attaching a couple of listing pictures.  I will hopefully have some pictures of the restored brown soon.

Larry

[Ktownphoneco]

Good for you Larry.    But, "WHY" would anyone, want to paint a walnut Uniphone "black"     Looking forward to seeing the set in the "raw".  :-)     If you need any parts, let me know.

Jeff Lamb

[LarryInMichigan]

But, "WHY" would anyone, want to paint a walnut Uniphone "black"
Jeff Lamb

I have exactly the same question.  It wasn't even a nice paint job.  I have bought a number of beautiful antique clocks in great colors which had been badly painted by some geniuses in black and ugly beige.  I suppose that the rule is: "If you have paint, use it".

I may need some parts for this phone as well as a handset cord for a beautiful AE 35 I recently bought.

Larry

[Jim Stettler]

Looks like another contender for find of the month
Jim

[paul-f]

I have exactly the same question.  It wasn't even a nice paint job.  I have bought a number of beautiful antique clocks in great colors which had been badly painted by some geniuses in black and ugly beige.  I suppose that the rule is: "If you have paint, use it".

We may never know why it was done. Maybe it's simply "the Universe's" way of providing relatively inexpensive collectibles to collectors on a tight budget.

May it continue indefinitely! 

[LarryInMichigan]

I have bought more than a few black phone which had been painted black over the black bakelite or plastic.  I am curious as to how many other things in the homes of those phone painters were also painted black.  I can picture the furniture, dishes, linens, etc. all painted black

Larry

[oldguy]

Great find Larry, congratulations & a really good price. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[Jim Stettler]

We may never know why it was done. Maybe it's simply "the Universe's" way of providing relatively inexpensive collectibles to collectors on a tight budget.

May it continue indefinitely! 

Amen!
I concur, Nature abhors a vacuum. A strong want creates a vacuum. Many times I have been asked "How do you find all these unusual telephones".
My reply, " I look for them"
Ain't Nature Grand,
JMO,
Jim S.

[19and41]

I'll bet this is a reason someone would want to paint that style of phone black.  So it would look more like this one.

[LarryInMichigan]

I just reassembled the phone after de-painting, cleaning, sanding, and polishing it.  I found black rubber line and handset cords in my dwindling stock and borrowed a dial number plate from a spare #5 dial.  The phone looks pretty good now and works.

Larry

[Gary Z]

Yes it does look great! Good job. The painting can be tedious.

[tubaman]

Its come out really nice Larry - very well spotted!

[Ktownphoneco]

Great job Larry !

Jeff

[FABphones]

If a phone could smile, that one is certainly smiling now. Nicely done.

[Doug Rose]

Really nice Larry. I put cloth cords on mine. I know what you mean on dwindling supplies. My #1 has a nickel fingerwheel and the #2 brass. Myself, I never liked the black on a brown set. Clear would look good as well. Great job.....Doug