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Northern Electric Soft Plastic 1958 Rose Beige 500 C/D on eBay

Started by TelePlay, August 28, 2015, 06:15:14 PM

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TelePlay

Anyone watch this auction? Anyone want to admit they won the phone?

Ended today at $177.50 plus $13 shipping.

Seller described it as "BEIGE DESK STYLE NO. 500 DIAL TELEPHONE  -  Made by Northern Electric in Canada and used in USA.  Phone gave me a dial tone but I am unable to use dial type on my line.  Has vintage dirt/dust. C/D 500stamped on underside -has a paper label with hand written wire diagram. " Was the light bad or is this a Rose Beige instead of a Beige phone as claimed by the seller.

Seems like a nice phone in good condition. Is it beige or rose beige and did the buyer get a deal at $190 total?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIAL-DESK-STYLE-500-NORTHERN-ELECTRIC-TELEPHONE-/331634418633


poplar1

White letters and figures on the number plate indicate it's rose beige (-55) and not light beige (-60)....What year did Northern Electric start making color phones, and how late were they still making the colors that WE had already discontinued by 1958 ?
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

jsowers

Quote from: poplar1 on August 28, 2015, 06:32:11 PM
White letters and figures on the number plate indicate it's rose beige (-55) and not light beige (-60)....What year did Northern Electric start making color phones, and how late were they still making the colors that WE had already discontinued by 1958 ?

Definitely rose beige and Northern (not North) Electric. I saw the phone after it was listed and it went for more than I wanted to pay. It was obviously lightly used since the feet are so clean. NE soft plastic comes up very seldom, and this was even sold from the US. It has a Montreal area code on it. I haven't seen enough to know when it was offered.

I wish I knew more about when they started issuing "colour" phones in Canada. Evidently they continued with the older colors a little longer than WE, but did have the new colors by 1960, judging by some Annual Reports I have. Below are scans from two of them. First two are from 1958 and there is a rose beige (white dial letters) pictured in the second picture and also a white 554, and white was part of the new colors. With what the text says, it seems like 1958 wasn't the first year since "more and more customers" were getting them. Third picture is from 1960 and you can still see coil cords that look like the 1950s on some of the phones.
Jonathan

TelePlay

Quote from: jsowers on August 28, 2015, 10:37:18 PM
Definitely rose beige and Northern (not North) Electric.

Thanks for that. My error. It was right in the eBay listing and I missed it. The title has been fixed.