What's your most unusual telephone item?

[JimH]

Jim, that is a really cool looking 500!  I've never seen one like that.  What is the date on the bottom?  It looks like a #8 or #9 dial and the round feet make me believe it was a later made phone.  I wonder if it was a factory release or what??

Thanks for the photos.

I forgot to mention Elvis has one like it from the late 50s in his bedroom at Graceland.  Here's a picture of his actual phone:

[McHeath]

Hmm, interesting.  I guess that certain folks could get highly specialized and customized phones back in the day when Ma Bell owned them all.  Probably if one was willing to pay them for it, they would give you whatever you wanted.  I note that Elvis phone seems to be able to shut off the ringer.

[Mark Stevens]

I forgot to mention Elvis has one like it from the late 50s in his bedroom at Graceland.  Here's a picture of his actual phone:

I was thinking that the gold would probably wear off, and it appears that the King had that issue with the handset. I just kept thinking about all those faux-chrome parts from model kits. 

[benhutcherson]

"I was thinking that the gold would probably wear off, and it appears that the King had that issue with the handset. I just kept thinking about all those faux-chrome parts from model kits. "


On my car, the front grill and trim around the license plate are that fake chrome plastic. After four years and 57,000 miles, the grill at least doesn't look all that good to my eye. There are a bunch of fine scratches that show plastic through.