Help ID these?

[Bumble]

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and have this phone and subset I inherited from my late Father who picked them up when he worked as an installer, and would like to ID and date them if anyone can help. I'm thinking about refurbishing and installing some time this year.

The phone is marked "41A", reciever is an F1 and the subset is stamped with a February 1915 patent date on the underside. Is it possible to know the date of manufacture for each?

Also, in case I opt to have the worn metal finishes powder coated, which I imagine would require sandblasting first, there looks to be copper plating under the old finish on the box. Would removal of this screw anything up, or would it be better to just leave it alone and spray it black?

[Dan]

That's a western electric spacesaver. I don't have one, but if you look at the F1 handset and unscrew both pieces, you will see dates under the caps and the elements. This could give you a ball park figure on age.

[bingster]

The  subset's induction coil (the part marked "IND 101A" should have a date just below that mark, too.  I can't make it out because of the flash.  It should have a roman numeral and then two digits.  The roman numeral is the quarter of the year in which it was made, and the two digits are the last two digits of the year.  So, if it says III 38, it's from the third quarter of 1938, etc.

It's possible that the subset is older than that date and was updated with the 101A coil at a later date during a refurbishment.  It's a lock that it's not from 1915, though--All common subsets bore that patent for thirty or forty years.

The "model" number for that particular phone is probably "211," but more properly it goes by "G-Mount," which is the style of the body, and if you look on the back where the mounting cord should come out, it will probably say "G-1."  "41A" is just the part number of the bracket that the dial mounts to.

Welcome to the forum!

[Bumble]

That's a western electric spacesaver. I don't have one, but if you look at the F1 handset and unscrew both pieces, you will see dates under the caps and the elements. This could give you a ball park figure on age.

Thanks, that helps. It's stamped 8-21-41

The  subset's induction coil (the part marked "IND 101A" should have a date just below that mark, too.  I can't make it out because of the flash.  It should have a roman numeral and then two digits.  The roman numeral is the quarter of the year in which it was made, and the two digits are the last two digits of the year.  So, if it says III 38, it's from the third quarter of 1938, etc.

It's possible that the subset is older than that date and was updated with the 101A coil at a later date during a refurbishment.  It's a lock that it's not from 1915, though--All common subsets bore that patent for thirty or forty years.

The "model" number for that particular phone is probably "211," but more properly it goes by "G-Mount," which is the style of the body, and if you look on the back where the mounting cord should come out, it will probably say "G-1."  "41A" is just the part number of the bracket that the dial mounts to.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks. "G1" right under the hook, and "I 38" on the subset coil. You guys know your stuff.

I'd like to pretty this up first. Where do I look for a...what is the right name..."dial ring"? And what's a rough ballpark figure for having the phone case, hook and subset case powder coated?