Big Phone Haul, all for FREE!!!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

On Thursday night, I was invited by my uncle, an attorney, to visit the home of a gentleman whose estate my uncle is overseeing.  There was supposed to be a box of phones that were going to be disposed of one way or another.  Since the man was an avid collector of cameras, telephones, railroad items, and a few phones, his relatives thought that since I appreciated phones they'd be glad to dispose of them in my direction, though I was warned in advance that a lot of the phones were cheap "Radio Shack" specials. 

Well, they were right...for the most part.  The first picture shows some of the tonnage of consumer phones and answering machines that I carted off.  There are literally a couple hundred pounds of these phones, which will be donated to Salvation Army and Goodwill, or given to families in need that we know.  Sam the Golden Retriever is not included. 

The second picture shows all of the "keeper" phones or parts phones that are pre-1984. Here's what I got.  Top row from left to right: 1953 WE 500, 11/51 WE 500T (all dates matching except handset cord), 1970s WE 2554, 1966 WE wall-mount round-button Trimline, 1980s WE Trimline wall-mount, 1970s NT 500, a Wheelock strobe ring annunciator, and a WE external ringer.  Middle row from left: 1949 WE SpaceSaver, AE scissors wall mount, 2 1980s 2500s, 1963 WE 500 (early 1970s refurb date), yellow 1976 WE 500.   Bottom row from left: 1980s AT&T 2554 for parts, 1957 WE 554 with fat switchhook, 1970s WE 2500, and a WE 40AL with 47A scissors mount (missing wall or desk bracket), and a late 1970s ITT 2-line 500. 

I'm guessing I'm going to be kind of busy for a few weeks!

[Matilo Telephones]

Congratulations! Very good haul. You´re a Lucky man1

[dsk]

  Congratulations!
Is it an old German phone plug in the box?  (Yellow ring)
dsk

[WesternElectricBen]

Good stuff, I love getting big hauls of stuff! You can see one of mine: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9592.15

500T's are pretty special, I heard, and worth quite a bit, luckily like you, I was fortunate enough for someone to give me one. And that is a sweet scissor gate candlestick, I wish I had one of my own.

Ben

[Matilo Telephones]

Crickey, Dag. Have you scrutinized every pixel of these pics?

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Congratulations!
Is it an old German phone plug in the box?  (Yellow ring)
dsk

No, Im pretty sure it's just a 110 volt AC wall plug.

[twocvbloke]

Is it an old German phone plug in the box?  (Yellow ring)
dsk

Looks like a standard NEMA 1-15P plug (or a 2-pin US & Canada 120v plug) to me...

Nice haul, I was hoping for a somewhat smaller haul on ebay earlier today but didn't have enough money to bid for it...

[HarrySmith]

WOW
Nice haul! This is a find we all look for! Congrats!

[paul-f]

Wow!  Congratulations!

And in 30 years someone will run across this topic and say, "Look at all those lost treasures in the first photo!  If he'd only kept them!"      

[WEBellSystemChristian]

T

Wow!  Congratulations!

And in 30 years someone will run across this topic and say, "Look at all those lost treasures in the first photo!  If he'd only kept them!"      

That's EXACTLY why I also collect Western Electric modular phones, because in the future they'll be as valuable as 1950s 500s today.

[Mr. Bones]

Nice haul!

     Enjoy your new toys. I've been looking for one of the scissor mount phones at an affordable price for quite some time; how fortunate to have it as part of a bulk purchase. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for such things.

Best regards!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I took the scissors mount off of the stick to polish the paint. I noticed that there was no wear on the base or neck, and the paint looked very flat and dark grey. My dad did a little research, to find that the candlestick has a Bower-Barff finish. How rare are these sets?

[Dave203]

Wow. That is so awesome. You are so lucky. I think it's cool when someone gives me a phone or two here n there but that's like Christmas. That's like 10 years of Christmas lol that's just a lot of phone stuffs. Have fun with them. I'm soo jealous! 

[dsk]

Crickey, Dag. Have you scrutinized every pixel of these pics?

No, I just happened to want to look at that Panasonic box, it looks equal to the answering machine my father used.

dsk

[Sargeguy]

Code Select Expand

How rare are these sets?

They are pretty common.  Were the other parts painted to match the BB finish or are they black?