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Rose Beige Kellogg K-500 "Banjo" Phone

Started by LarryInMichigan, February 01, 2016, 04:31:01 PM

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LarryInMichigan

ebay link

This phone just arrived.  It is a Kellogg K-500 in the very rare color of rose (dark) beige.  It was a $35 BIN with free shipping, so how could I refuse?  The phone is in good condition, but there is some discoloration and some scratches which could use sanding.  The worst part is the receiver cap whish is browned and has some burn marks.  I imagine that whoever used this phone must have heard some very hot gossip on it :D.  The remains of a rose beige line cord, which some genius cut off flush with the back of the phone, are still connected to the network.  If anyone has a spare dark beige cord that I can have, please let me know.

I plan to keep the plaque with it, but I wonder if it adds value to the phone or if the holes made for it decrease the phone's value.


Larry

HarrySmith

Nice! That was a great buy! I think the plaque should stay, I don't think it really affects the value either way but it is an interesting "go with" item. Good luck on the line cord, it took me a couple of years to find one for my WE Rose Beige 500!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

unbeldi

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on February 01, 2016, 04:31:01 PM
ebay link

This phone just arrived.  It is a Kellogg K-500 in the very rare color of rose (dark) beige.  It was a $35 BIN with free shipping, so how could I refuse?  The phone is in good condition, but there is some discoloration and some scratches which could use sanding.  The worst part is the receiver cap whish is browned and has some burn marks.  I imagine that whoever used this phone must have heard some very hot gossip on it :D.  The remains of a rose beige line cord, which some genius cut off flush with the back of the phone, are still connected to the network.  If anyone has a spare dark beige cord that I can have, please let me know.

I plan to keep the plaque with it, but I wonder if it adds value to the phone or if the holes made for it decrease the phone's value.


Larry

I am interested about the marking of the set on the bottom.   Does it have a clear-text date (month/year) or letter codes?


LarryInMichigan

Quote from: unbeldi on May 26, 2017, 03:54:09 PM
I am interested about the marking of the set on the bottom.   Does it have a clear-text date (month/year) or letter codes?

All that appears to be on the bottom is the word "LOUD" and an arrow.  I see no other letters or numbers.  The phone had been sitting on the floor in about the same spot since I originally posted about it.  Now I moved it.  I suppose that I should restore it.  I removed the small piece of remaining line cord, and it appears to actually be white, not rose beige, so whoever cut it did not destroy a valuable rose beige cord.

Larry

unbeldi

Thanks much for looking.
Perhaps they wiped the original markings when they made it into an award phone.
Since the award was made in April 1958, I was hoping the phone might be from 1957 or so.  I believe that is the year they changed the markings to month/year.

LarryInMichigan

I looked all over, but I could find nothing resembling a date inside the phone.  The Kellogg 19-7-G dial is held with three screws to three posts, and I thought that the design had been changed to two posts earlier than 1957 (at least by WE).  Also, the handset has the separate plastic cord retainer piece which slides into a slot inside the handset.

Larry

unbeldi

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on May 26, 2017, 04:37:44 PM
I looked all over, but I could find nothing resembling a date inside the phone.  The Kellogg 19-7-G dial is held with three screws to three posts, and I thought that the design had been changed to two posts earlier than 1957 (at least by WE).  Also, the handset has the separate plastic cord retainer piece which slides into a slot inside the handset.

Larry

Did you see any two-letter codes, such as GF or G-F ?   Perhaps also on the transmitter or receiver ?

LarryInMichigan

Quote from: unbeldi on May 26, 2017, 04:44:18 PM
Did you see any two-letter codes, such as GF or G-F ?   Perhaps also on the transmitter or receiver ?

No, I did not see any codes.  The Kellogg receiver has no date, and the transmitter is WE dated 1962.

Larry

LarryInMichigan

As long as I had this phone out, I decided to give it a cleaning and polishing.  It is all back together now.  The color is noticeably different on the outsides than on the insides, but I doubt that I can do anything about it short of massive sanding (which I do NOT want to do).  I didn't have a spare beige line cord, so I gave it a black one for now.  I did though discover a good oxford gray line cord (dated 1955) in my collection, that I had forgotten that I had, while looking for a cord for this phone.  The gray cord will most probably go to my oxford gray banjo Select-O-Phone when (if) I finish it.

I am rather curious about the award plaque on the front of the phone.  At first, i assumed that it was an award from Kellogg, but there is no company name mentioned, and I am curious about what "plant department sales" means.  Also, the dial center card which was in the phone when I got it had area code 919 (N. Carolina) on it.  Could this have been awarded to someone who sold plants at a company in N. Carolina?  The phone itself was almost certainly made at least a few years before the plaque was engraved.  What do you think?  At any rate, I cleaned and re-lacquered the plaque because making the phone look right without it would have been too much of a challenge for me.


Larry


WEBellSystemChristian

Looks nice!!

I figured "Plant Department Sales" meant number of products sold from one manufacturing plant, which were all credited to that person.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

LarryInMichigan

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on May 29, 2017, 11:16:37 AM
Looks nice!!

I figured "Plant Department Sales" meant number of products sold from one manufacturing plant, which were all credited to that person.

Thank you.  You could be right.  I am ignorant about such things.

Larry

poplar1

#11
Plant (as in "outside plant"), Traffic (switchboard operators), Commercial are departments of operating telephone companies.

Perhaps Mr. Ellis or his installers sold the most extensions, color, long cords, etc. for that month.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Alex G. Bell

Quote from: poplar1 on May 29, 2017, 12:04:22 PM
Plant (as in "outside plant"), Traffic (switchboard operators), Commercial are departments of operating telephone companies.

Perhaps Mr. Ellis or his installers sold the most extensions, color, long cords, etc. for that month.
I agree.  I think it's a telephone industry reference and the phone was given to an employee of an independent telco which used ITT phones.  BTW it's common to chop the line cords off phones which are used for display.  I have a factory original ivory 205 that suffered that fate.

Alex G. Bell

Quote from: poplar1 on May 29, 2017, 12:04:22 PM
Plant (as in "outside plant"), Traffic (switchboard operators), Commercial are departments of operating telephone companies.

Perhaps Mr. Ellis or his installers sold the most extensions, color, long cords, etc. for that month.
I agree.  I think it's a telephone industry reference and the phone was given to an employee of an independent telco which used ITT phones.  BTW it's common to chop the line cords off phones which are used for display.  I have a factory original ivory 205 that suffered that fate.