Western Electric Red 1955

[Doug Rose]

In 1955 Western Electric was rolling out the color 500s but could not meet the demand for color phones. Below is a picture of three Red phones from 1955. The 500 set you know, but how about the Continental Red D1 202. The rarest of them all is the Blood Red 302. This is not the Pekin Red color. See how it matches the 500 set. It was soft plastic, NOT thermoplastic and the handset was factory painted to match. This is a tough phone to find.  Western Electric did not waste a thing, recycling old stock into "new" phones.....Kidphone

[bwanna]

kid, thanks for sharing your rare red phones! very handsome.

just curious, do they "live" in the bathroom or is this where you had the best lighting to photograph.

[Dennis Markham]

Stop!  The more you show us the more I want!   Just kidding, post more.  I love the red phones.  Let's see I have the red 500, now all I need to find is the 302 and the 202.  Great phones, thanks for the picture!

[Doug Rose]

Bwanna....Bathroom for best lighting, My wife would kill me otherwise

Dennis,,,,the red, as I remeber was a 591. It came without a ringer and was sold to the independents, who added their own ringer? I think. I do not collect 500 set and this 591 is no longer mine.

Kidphone

[Dan/Panther]

Kidphone;
When that Red 302 is no longer going to be yours, think of me.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Those 591's were sold to Independents with no ringer.  Also the logo was stamped only Western Electric and did not read Bell System.  A few that I've run into had frequency ringers.

[John S]

WOW...
those are some beautiful phones.....very cool.........

[AET]

GREEN with envy!

[Jester]

Just found this listed on ebay:http://tinyurl.com/ygj9exr

Is this the real deal?

[Doug Rose]

Jester....in my opinion, its a not a factory painted phone; although the paint job look superb! When the 202 D1 that WE recycled into a  Continental set, they also had matching color cloth cords. The black cords on this are in no way new as the paint job and the paint on the inside is inconstant to the way WE factory painted there sets. This is in no was a slam, the paint job is very good, just not factory WE.....Doug

[Dennis Markham]

It's tough to tell whether or not that is a factory job (to my untrained eye).  There are a couple of things about the phone that make me tend to agree with Doug.  Looking at the ear cap the paint looks rough.  I would like to see a better side view of the dial.  It should have a white edge.  That is a #4 dial which is a bonus.  I have a 4H dial in two of my Continentals.  There is a repair date on the dial of '55 which is when most of these Continentals were made.  Also, looking at the cradle ears and the plunger these are pretty clean and the paint looks newer.  Many of them have some wear in these areas.

When I first saw this on eBay last night I thought this may be the darker red color like Doug's phone, rather than Pekin Red.  I made a cursory bid just to help  keep vultures from trying to buy it from under the table.  I was quickly outbid overnight.  I didn't expect that my bid would win the auction.  But Doug's evaluation of the phone has prompted thought that perhaps more investigation is needed before bidding higher.  The seller's previously sold items do not appear to be phone related so getting an evaluation on the paint job from the seller is going to be of no help.

One more thing, I have seen over-spray inside the phone on legit Continentals similar to what's inside this phone.  The black handset cord is suspicious but could have been a field replacement sometime after 1955.  It would be nice to be able to see it in person.

[Doug Rose]

Dennis....nice evaluation... .. I agree....Doug

[Dan/Panther]

The underside shots show obvious overspray on the brackets and screw heads, I doubt original factory would spray the bases with hardware installed. My guess a repaint. May very well be original, but definately a repaint.
Also, there is a slight amount of wear to the cradle. The date of the receiver element is 46, could be a replacement.
D/P

[bingster]

The underside shots show obvious overspray on the brackets and screw heads, I doubt original factory would spray the bases with hardware installed.

That's an excellent point. I've seen plenty of factory refurbs with overspray inside the body, but they all had the switches and contacts removed before repainting.  Painted switches and contacts would seem to indicate a backyard job.  That said, it really is beautifully done.

[McHeath]

It is a nice paint job, and may have been done professionally as it's so good.  OldPhoneWorks paints phones using Polane, perhaps it was redone by them at some point in the last years.