What on earth is this?

[deedubya3800]

I saw this in an antique mall today. Metal body, painted pink, good dial motion, clear plastic fingerwheel, LAMP?!?!

[Greg G.]

(Sigh), 'fraid so.  This is not new, you'll see it again and again in your phone travels.  For some reason, some people think vintage phones are only good to drill holes through and stick a lamp in it.  Why, I'll never understand, they look don't look anymore attractive as lamps than does a stack of books:

[Kenny C]

i would buy it (if not too high) for the dial.

[Dan/Panther]

That appears to be, originally an Ivory 302, Maybe $150.00 phone reduced to $20.00. Still worth the price for salvageable parts.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

The dial looks like a 5J (white dial housing).  A few years ago those would sell for $50 apiece.  I have seen them recently on eBay for half that price. 

[deedubya3800]

The pink paint job doesn't even look that good. The shell, though, is metal, so it ought to buff out just fine, save for the hole. This was at the last place I visited and I was running out of time for the day, so I didn't get to look at it much closer than these two pics. I'll take another look at that dial, though, if it's still there when I go back to finish looking. I'm pretty sure it will be.

[Greg G.]

Yeah, if the price isn't as ugly as the lamp, get if for parts at least.  Somebody here was actually able to fix the holes in a phone lamp, can't remember who or what kind of phone it was.

[rdelius]

Watch out, sometimes the guts of the telephone were destroyed in place.Also sometimes the dials were altered to switch the lamp on and off. appears to be painted see seam on handset.
Robby

[paul-f]

This topic reminded me that I put up part of my phone lamp photo collection for viewing last year and haven't added to it lately.  Soooo, here is the link.  There are about a dozen new additions.  Enjoy!
  http://www.paul-f.com/Lamps.html

There were articles in magazines for many years suggesting techniques for do-it-yourselfers to use.  Apparently it was a popular hobby activity for many years.  Here's one example...

[deedubya3800]

I just remembered that the underside of the handset wasn't painted very well. Most of the cap is this green-gray color underneath. But the metal shell is just metal. I can't tell if there's a layer of paint under the pink. Since the dial motion is so good, I can't help wondering if it's intact. I'm just going to have to see this thing again and be prepared to do some dismantling to see what's going on inside, and I'll be sure to note the price. I took a screwdriver into every place I went because as I wouldn't buy a car without popping the hood, so wouldn't I a phone.

[Doug Rose]

Collectors...I don't think its an Ivory set, I think its metal. The handset has groves and I can see metal on the corners. Its not a 5J, I think its a #6 dial, probably 6A. A 5J 9 out of 10 times will have white painted sides and I can see black on this. Is it worth the salvage for a metal case that is drilled?  #6 dial with a clear finger wheel, maybe $25 at best. This is a shame, looks like a Junior achievement lamp....Doug

[deedubya3800]

The shell is metal. And the handset cord is white; not sure if you can tell that from the picture.

[Dennis Markham]

Yea, Doug I agree with your evaluation of it.  I wouldn't pay $25 for it.  There are too many other fish in the sea.

[Greg G.]

This topic reminded me that I put up part of my phone lamp photo collection for viewing last year and haven't added to it lately.  Soooo, here is the link.  There are about a dozen new additions.  Enjoy!
  http://www.paul-f.com/Lamps.html

There were articles in magazines for many years suggesting techniques for do-it-yourselfers to use.  Apparently it was a popular hobby activity for many years.  Here's one example...

I hope the popularity of that hobby has waned.  They're just not asthetically appealing, I'll go as far as to say they make butt-ugly lamps.

[AE_Collector]

Also sometimes the dials were altered to switch the lamp on and off. Robby

Likely always AE dials. They are real easy to modify so that dialing any odd number alternately switches the lamp on and off.

Terry