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Green STC Phone 1933 - Very rare! (and expensive)

Started by tubaman, October 11, 2018, 12:10:30 PM

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tubaman

I have a black one of these and it is one of my favourite phones, but I have never seen one in another colour.
This green one is far from perfect but is still a very beautiful thing IMHO.
Comes at a price though! :o
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-green-bakelite-telephone-Unique-1933-Standard-Telephone-Company/153214804735
( dead link 12-26-21 )

FABphones

I saw that listing, seems like a lot of money with what looks to me like a very long crack down the back and several fractures either side of it, plus fractures to the cradle. Even if it is a hard to find colour, I prefer them in black.  :)

...I'll let you into a little secret, schhh don't tell. I used to work at STC (I've kept that quiet). Don't even want to think about how many phones were in the stores on the shelves (and no doubt elsewhere). I walked through the stores daily, even sat there sometimes. Never gave them a second glance.

I started collecting phones about six months after I left.

...someone pass me a large Brandy.  :'(
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

tubaman

Agree that it's a lot of money for a very imperfect phone - I rather doubt it'll sell at that price.

I hope the ones you remember in STC's stores weren't coloured too!
:)

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

FABphones

#4
Quote from: HarrySmith on October 12, 2018, 03:11:34 PM
OK, I'll bite - what is STC?

You probably know the company better under its US name, Western Electric.  ;)

'STC, the British telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications, and related equipment manufacturer started out life in London in 1883 as International Western Electric (the UK arm of the US company Western Electric). It only became known as STC in 1925 after Western Electric sold off its international operations, and its new owner ITT Corporation, renamed its new UK operation'.

STC - Standard Telephones & Cables.

Quote from: tubaman on October 12, 2018, 01:02:16 PM
I hope the ones you remember in STC's stores weren't coloured too!
:)

I don't want to even think about it.  :(


A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

HarrySmith

OK. Figured it was something like that. Are the stores just for phones? Similar to the Phone Centers we had over here?
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

FABphones

#6
Quote from: HarrySmith on October 12, 2018, 04:45:03 PM
...Are the stores just for phones? Similar to the Phone Centers we had over here?

I don't know what your phone centres were, shops maybe?

Stores is 'storeroom'. In this instance a very large room in even larger building, more like a warehouse really. As I recall the shelves were metal/wood from one side of the room to the other and up to the very high ceiling. All sorts of telephone related stuff was on those shelves. Cables, spares... honestly it would be Christmas for a phone collector.

I remember one of the storeroom guys taking a phone off the shelf once and saying something about 'people want these now, starting to be worth some money these are'. And then he put it back. I can't recall what phone he was holding. I remember thinking something like I'd like to start collecting myself.

Sigh.




A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************