Last year for W.E. Soft Centered Finger Wheels.

[Dan/Panther]

What was the last regular production year for soft centered W.E. 500 Finger wheel ?
D/P

[JorgeAmely]

I have a WE500 in turquoise color, from 4-64 that has a soft centered Lucite wheel. However, Paul F's site says that they changed to solid centers in 1962.

http://www.paul-f.com/we500typ.htm#Key

This other site has a good detailed history of the WE500 and he mentions that they changed to solid centered wheels in 1965.

http://members.dslextreme.com/~zuperdee/telephones/500_history/we_500_history.html

You could say that they stopped production is 1962 and ran out of stock in 1965. That would explain why my set has one.

[Dennis Markham]

That sounds like a good explanation to me Jorge.  I have sets from '63 and '64 that have the open center finger wheels.

[McHeath]

Yes that does seem like a logical explanation.  Ma Bell seems to have quit production of certain items in certain years but then used up old stock for who knows how long afterwards.  It's been an adjustment for me to realize that just because they "stopped" making whatever in whatever year, does not mean that you won't find that whatever in something made a year or three later. 

[benhutcherson]

I just picked up a Princess that's '66 all the way through and has one.

[benhutcherson]

Here's my 5/66 Princess with the open center wheel. I couldn't find a date on the dial, but, like I said, everything else I could find matches to this date

[JimH]

That's the first Princess I've ever seen in years of collecting that has the open-center finger wheel.  Could that be factory?

[Dennis Markham]

I was going to say the same thing Jim.  I've never seen an open center finger wheel on a Princess.  Some of those Princess phones were from pre 1960 so it seems logical, but I've never seen one.

[Dan/Panther]

Ben;
They're right, send me the open centered fingerwheel, and I'll send you a solid centered one for the Princess.
I don't have very many Princess phones (3), but all are solid centered Fingerwheels.

D/P

[benhutcherson]

You would know that my first open center fingerwheel phone would be an oddity.

The fact that you all have never seen one on a Princess, plus the relatively late date of this one compared to what others are reporting for open-center wheels makes me think that this might have been done after the factory.

I wonder if perhaps this was a field replacement, or some other arrangement.

[Dennis Markham]

Ben, it still look great on the phone.  Those finger wheels are getting more difficult to find.  I saw one on eBay go for $35 plus shipping.  That seems a little high to me, especially when you can buy an old yellowed phone with one of those on there for less than that.  The very old ones were a bit wider (thicker) than the later ones.  And then there were those that were found on the 202 conversion phones (Continentals) that have the little latch under the wheel rather than the pin-hole for releasing them.

[Phonesrfun]

My guess is that the newly designed dial for the princess was made from the git-go with the new finger wheel.  I once saw a somewhat detailed list of which items Western was making in which plants, so different models may have been made in different locations. 

The princess came out in 1959. I suspect it was probably entirely manufactured or at least the dial was manufactured in a separate plant than the 500's were.

-Bill

[JimH]

Now if I could just file out the cradle on my Princess a bit more, the F-1 handset will fit!

[Dennis Markham]

Jim (and others), you can "modify" your post if you see you made a typo.  Just click on the "modify" button, make your change and save it.  I did that for you with "cradle" and deleted your second posting.

[JimH]

Thanks, Dennis!