Analyze This! Cherry red handsets and 10-button "Shmoo" phone?

[Greg G.]

This is a picture I saw on a Facebook page called "A Little Slice of Vintage Life".  The wooden receiver on the left is obviously a mock-up, but I'm wondering about the 6-hole cherry red handset and the 10-button "Shmoo" phone.


Paul F's site says cherry red was introduced in 1953, but, they came with black handsets and cords.  Earliest red 500 I have in my collection is 66, but it has a 7-hole cap.  Shmoo phones appear to be only rotary dial versions.


So are the others also artistic mock-ups?

[unbeldi]

I don't understand the question.
Red handset cords, in fact all colors except blue and green, were available starting in August 1955.

Is there any indication that the ad is from years prior?

The Shmoo was field-tested around 1959, so everything seems just find with that ad. The ad is probably from 1959 or 1960 or just a little later, since somebody already knew about the DTMF keypad. However, TT keypads were tested in the late 1950 and early 60s too, so it seems to all fit together.

The center holes in the handset caps started appearing in 1959 with the conversion to ABS plastics.

[Greg G.]

I don't understand the question.
Red handset cords, in fact all colors except blue and green, were available starting in August 1955.

Is there any indication that the ad is from years prior?

The Shmoo was field-tested around 1959, so everything seems just find with that ad. The ad is probably from 1959 or 1960 or just a little later, since somebody already knew about the DTMF keypad. However, TT keypads were tested in the late 1950 and early 60s too, so it seems to all fit together.

The center holes in the handset caps started appearing in 1959 with the conversion to ABS plastics.

The ad is vintage.  You answered my two basic questions - Did red handsets have 6-hole receiver caps? (A: Yes).  Was there a 10-button Shmoo phone?  (A: Yes).

[paul-f]

It's from a Western Electric ad that was run in 1959 and 1960.

I have seen several wood/display models of pushbutton dial-in-handset phones, but no working or field trial models.  Let me know if you find one!

   http://www.paul-f.com/weprotot.html#Trimline

[Greg G.]

It's from a Western Electric ad that was run in 1959 and 1960.

I have seen several wood/display models of pushbutton dial-in-handset phones, but no working or field trial models.  Let me know if you find one!

   http://www.paul-f.com/weprotot.html#Trimline

A ten-button Shmoo phone is the new 49-500!  I wonder what the wooden mockups would sell for?

Was there a 10-button Shmoo phone?  A:  No working model is known to exist