Soft Plastic Covers.

[Dan/Panther]

When did they stop marking Soft plastic cases with the date stamped on the inside front edge ?
I have several cases that are without a doubt soft plastic, and one for example is dated 64 by the cradle area on the inside. It's very distinctly soft plastic, as it has the same thickness, and sound as all marked soft cases. They don't have that hard sound when you tap them, but rather the deep thump of soft, are much heavier than hard plastic cases. I've run across several of these.
Can someone enlighten me.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Dan, are you talking about a colored housing or black.  I have seen soft plastic black housings into the early to mid 1960's.

As far as colored housings I have not found one that is soft plastic after about June of 1959.  I have one that is stamped along the inside edge in ink/paint that is August of '59....definitely hard plastic.  So the practice of marking them obviously remained after the transition to ABS.  That's based upon my experiences and phones that I have.  Mileage may vary.

[Dan/Panther]

Dennis;
It's a black case but no markings on the inside front, just molded by the receiver area inside.
So they did make soft plastic Black cases not marked in ink on the front inside correct?
D/P

[Kenny C]

I have a soft plastic 5-62 with it molded into it to

[foots]

  I guess that after 1959 they stopped stamping the dates. I haven't come across any later models with the stamped dates.

[jsowers]

As far as colored housings I have not found one that is soft plastic after about June of 1959.  I have one that is stamped along the inside edge in ink/paint that is August of '59....definitely hard plastic.  So the practice of marking them obviously remained after the transition to ABS.  That's based upon my experiences and phones that I have.  Mileage may vary.

That's been my experience too. There are ink stamped color hard plastic phones from late 1959. I think the last of them may have been late 1959, maybe October or November. I looked through my pictures and could only find two examples post-June. One green 500 from July mysteriously stamped on the side and not the inside front, and a light beige 554 from September, stamped in the usual place. Both are hard plastic.

Black 500s are another subject entirely, and something I'd rather leave to somebody else.