Just found this on Ebay, being it's made in 57 I figured it could be the "very rare" soft plastic in yellow...
it doesn't look like it by other signs but some of you guy's could probably tell better then me.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Bell-System-Western-Electric-Rotary-Phone-500_W0QQitemZ260564934157QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3caae15e0d
Nope, that's ABS all the way. This phone was probably refurbished in the early '70s. See the residue left by the rectangular sticker over the 2-57? That would have had the refurb date on it--the seller probably peeled it off. Also look at the handset: the logo on the underside should read
Western Electric
MADE IN USA
G3
After '68 or so it read
BELL SYSTEM PROPERTY
NOT FOR SALE
Western Electric
A soft plastic receiver cap (earpiece) only has six holes--it's missing the center one. The handset cord on a '50s phone is usually fatter than later cords and has a squared off grommet where it enters the handset rather than the tapered one that came into use in the late '60s. Another dead givaway is the dial. Look where the fingerstop comes through--on a '50s/early '60s dial plate the hole is a wide rectangle. After '65 it's just a slit. Lastly, when viewed from the underside, a '50s to mid-'60s housing has more structural ribs than later versions, although I've seen the older style as late as '73 before. Here are a few photos that may help illustrate these points. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the tips on that. My telltale was the handset cord and the peeled off sticker, I completely forgot to look at the holes in the receiver cap, the hole for the finger stop is a new one to me but I can easily see the difference there.
P.S. that's a very nice red phone there!
Glad to be of service. For some reason soft plastic yellow is super hard to find. I finally gave up and settled for a mint condtion '61.
I too have been looking for the ever elusive soft yellow 500. Fin has summarized the differences very well.
Years ago I had a soft yellow set. I didn't much like it. It smelled bad and the handset cord didn't match, it was fat and grey. I am not sure what ever happened to it.
I have been chasing soft sets for 5 years or so. Now that I want a bad smelling yellow w/ fat grey cords. I can't find one.
Jim
Jim, I guess "you don't know what you got, 'til it's gone."
I was "fortunate" enough(?) to find this one as a Buy It Now last summer. The good news is it has two nice cords & the mounting cord is the HTF 13' example. It also has nice suede feet--another bonus. The bad news--well the pics. tell the tale. I'm still hopeful I can make something of it. Either way, the price was right--$10.00 plus shipping.
Even with the crack on the back, it is a nice, rare yellow canary bird. Was the switch that was added to shut off the bell? What's the date? Thanks
Dan,
I presume the switch was added to silence the ringer, but this one was wired to L1--which took the whole phone offline. The date on the cover is 9/11/57 with all remaining parts dating somewhere close to that.
Stephen, that is a shame that it was modified, but $10 for that phone?! Great buy. Cleaned and polished it will look nice on display until another one comes along. Great handset cord!
Quote from: finlover on March 13, 2010, 01:27:19 AM
Nope, that's ABS all the way. This phone was probably refurbished in the early '70s. See the residue left by the rectangular sticker over the 2-57? That would have had the refurb date on it--the seller probably peeled it off. Also look at the handset: the logo on the underside should read
Western Electric
MADE IN USA
G3
After '68 or so it read
BELL SYSTEM PROPERTY
NOT FOR SALE
Western Electric
A soft plastic receiver cap (earpiece) only has six holes--it's missing the center one. The handset cord on a '50s phone is usually fatter than later cords and has a squared off grommet where it enters the handset rather than the tapered one that came into use in the late '60s. Another dead givaway is the dial. Look where the fingerstop comes through--on a '50s/early '60s dial plate the hole is a wide rectangle. After '65 it's just a slit. Lastly, when viewed from the underside, a '50s to mid-'60s housing has more structural ribs than later versions, although I've seen the older style as late as '73 before. Here are a few photos that may help illustrate these points. Hope this helps!
Don't forget the transmitter cap also has no center hole.
Whoops--right you are, foots!
Stephen:
I have seen chrome plugs at the hardware store that could be used to cover this hole. From the inside, it has tabs you open to secure it and prevent them from falling. If painted in a shade of yellow, it could discreetly cover the hole and make the phone very presentable.
That's a GREAT idea, Jorge. I've actually used those befor to plug a hole someone drilled in a cover, but hadn't thought of doing it here. I had dreams of sending it to Mark Scola & having that hole filled, but simple is sometimes best. Here's a pic. of the last time I used these--I meant to paint it, but it looked nice enough Au Naturale I just left it alone.
Jester,
If you look around, you might even be able to find a plastic cap in yellow. Perhaps a store which sells shelving or cabinetry might have caps for covering screw holes like the kind which are often included with the type of unassembled furniture.
Larry
Both of my black WE's (554 1962, 500 1961) say G1 on the handset. Does that mean that it is Bakelite? I am trying to replace the caps so that they are correct. The earpieces both have the center hole, and the 1961 has all matching dates (except the mouthpiece cap which has been painted).
The G-1 is a bakelite handset, but all the examples I've seen that were made in 1960 or later have plastic caps on them. I even have one here with parts all dated 1958--and plastic caps! Center holes in the caps on your two handsets should be correct.
Plastic caps seem to be from 1958. I have found many G1's dated 1958 with plastic caps with no center hole, as Jester said.
Funny you should mention this. I got in some bakelite caps just the other day to replace my hard plastic ones. They are both dated 4-55, but the shinier one appears to be made of ABS plastic. It looks shinier, it feels a bit lighter, I am just about certain it is hard plastic, but 1955 is a few years earlier than we are talking.
Quote from: Craig T on March 15, 2010, 08:19:47 PM
Funny you should mention this. I got in some bakelite caps just the other day to replace my hard plastic ones. They are both dated 4-55, but the shinier one appears to be made of ABS plastic. It looks shinier, it feels a bit lighter, I am just about certain it is hard plastic, but 1955 is a few years earlier than we are talking.
The Bell system had a lot of minor exceptions. The secret is to allow for exceptions. I know some collectors that accept the BSP's as gospel. BSP's are gospel 99% of the time. The exceptions are things to note and point out. The bell System was one of the largest organizations in it's time. There had to be exceptions, That is just the way it was.
Paul F. Generally notes the mainstream. His site doesn't log exceptions, however, I believe Paul does.
JMO,
Jim
BTW I have seen more than 1 of the prong "G" handsets dated "57 These probably came from specialty 500-type sets.
Craig,
Jim has a point about test runs & theories on dates versus the evidence we find on parts & whole phones. I suspect both your transmitter caps are actually bakelite, though. Did you do the "click" test--rapping both parts with a fingernail & comparing the sound? ABS makes a sharp sound, but it still won't sound like bakelite.
Yes, I tried that already. It does not sound like the bakelite one to me :-\
Quote from: Craig T on March 15, 2010, 11:30:31 PM
Yes, I tried that already. It does not sound like the bakelite one to me :-\
ABS wouldn't surprise me, However, I try not to be surprised.
I am funny that way regarding phone stuff.
Jim
For me personally, I don't worry whether it's soft or hard plastic. I have a white soft plastic '59 and a yellow ABS plastic '59, I find the ABS shines better and is much harder to scratch.
Amen to that, brother. I love my soft plastic phones, but some of my favorites are the '59 through '62s with the nice, thick ABS cases and the waffle feet.
Mmm, waffles.
You should try putting them on your feet--you'll never wear shoes again!
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h136/beggs88/icecreamwaffles.jpg)