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Turquoise Soft Plastic Kellogg ITT 591

Started by LarryInMichigan, February 22, 2012, 05:41:58 PM

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LarryInMichigan

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This appeared this afternoon, and I couldn't help myself.  I think that this is the first one of these in turquoise that I have seen.  I am hoping that it is soft plastic.  I have a few spare ringers.

Larry


Vern P

Based on the info I know. This would not be "soft".  Kellogg didn't start makeing the "500" clone until some time in the '60's. The WE Turquoise didn't come out until "64 or so.
Still a nice looking phone.

Vern P

LarryInMichigan

The date stamped on the bottom of this phone is 5/59.

Larry

canuckphoneguy

That's a great looking phone. The colour reminds me of our first house's master bedroom. We painted over that really quick!

Dennis Markham

#4
Vern, here is a Turquoise Kellogg/ITT 554 I purchased recently.  It is dated from 1958.  It looks like the same color as the 500 Larry just bought.  Larry's housing looks the same.  There appears to be some discoloration on the handset and dial bezel.  I thought Kellogg made an entire rainbow of soft 500's in the late 50's.

It might be Aqua as opposed to Turquoise.

LarryInMichigan

Dennis,

Your 554 looks really great.  I hope that my 591 can look half as good.

This phone can go with my soft plastic turquoise AE80 (which was considerably cheaper).

Larry

LM Ericsson

Haha, I saw that this afternoon too, I had a feeling it looked like a aqua green or turquoise!!!
Regards,
-Grayson

Vern P

Thanks for the info guy's, I guess I was off on my info.  I collect Kellogg, but not the Kellogg 500 & 554's, so I am not up on all the info.

I do have a Dk. Gray Kellogg 554,  I need to look it over again some time.  I have this one to fill the gab, until I find a Dk. Gray WE. and maybe the 172B to go with it.

Vern P

Vern P


jsowers

Larry, I think you're going to like that Kellogg. You're lucky the cords are in good shape because finding cords that color is not easy. It definitely is soft plastic and that particular color has a translucence to it that I've seen in no other color. Similar to the early faceplates on the WE 1500 and 2500 phones. Maybe it's my imagination, but it has depth to it, like the deep blue sea.

I have a turquoise 591 like yours I got several years ago and it has a crack in the front. >:( Cracks really show on these turquoise phones. Mine is from 12-57 and pictured below.

Dennis, your 554 is very rare. I don't remember seeing another one in that color.
Jonathan

Dennis Markham

Jonathan, your 500 looks very nice.  Great color.  I'm sure Larry will have his looking like that before he's done with it.

I posted the photos of mine simply to show that the soft plastic Kelloggs did exist.  I would be fun to try and collect those early Kellogg 500 in all of the colors that were made.  We don't see them too often.

jsowers

Dennis, I noticed after I posted mine that they almost seem to be three different colors. Digital photography has trouble capturing blues and turquoises sometimes. I use natural light when I take pictures because it seems to correct that problem. Also, it looks like Larry's and my 591s have faded some over the years, especially at the handset and the dial face seems to be a bit lighter. I don't think this color was very stable as far as fading was concerned.

Since you spoke of colors, here's a picture I saved from an auction for an ITT-Kellogg brochure, showing the available colors. Turquoise isn't among the selections. I'm sure they changed over the years, just like WE did. I think this may be from the early 1960s. Hard to believe they actually made pink and aqua blue keysets at Kellogg.
Jonathan

Dennis Markham

Nice picture, Jonathan.  Thanks.  Wish it was larger in size to see more detail.

LarryInMichigan

#13
The phone arrived today, and it is soft plastic :).  It will need some cleaning and polishing.  Probably a bit of sanding too.

The color is radically different than the turquoise AE80 from the same period.  The Kellogg is much darker.  The inside of the shell appears to be the same color as the outside, so the color appears to be original.


Larry

Jester

That's a very striking color-- much richer than the WE-64 color.  I seem to remember reading some old Kellogg lit. stating that the DK-500 "banjo" was available in the first eight "WE" colors.  Wouldn't it be cool to find one in turquoise, too.
Stephen