Well my birthday present from the missus arrived, and it's pretty sweet. All the dates match to Jan/Feb of 1966. Even the line cord in pink is dated 66'. I'll put up some pics later tonight when I get a chance.
The bottom is black, major surprising as I thought that in 65' they stopped painting the bottoms. It's dated 2/66. Anyone else seen a 1966 WE 500 with a black bottom?
We await the pictures with baited breath, Oh Heathen One. ;D
Okay due to the overwhelming and shockingly high demand, or not, here are some pics of the pinkie.
First pic is just general shot of the phone on the cutting block island in the kitchen. The handset cord is the weakest link, with some disfigurement and some color loss at the handset end. I may try the cooking/freezing method on it and see if I can reform it. The fingerwheel also has some cracking near the numbers 1 and 2 at the edge.
The color is like bubble gum, nice and crisp.
Next up is the base. I'm really pleased that the bottom is black, I did not know it would be black when I bought it so this is a big bonus to me. Guessing that the Bell System simply used up all the painted bases from 1965 into 1966 and when they ran out then they started using the cad plated ones. Note there is some rust on the foot rivets.
She's quite purty, Heath, and the cord looks to be an easy fix.
And lastly here are the guts. You can see all the various key dates, love that the transmitter is dated 2/14/66. Nice and clean all. She was about 90 bucks, so it was not as cheap as I'd wish for, but I'm very pleased and it looks great on the desk.
Heath, you have yourself a very nice original forty-three old telephone! It really does look nice and that handset cord isn't that bad either. Very nice!
Wow, even at 90 bucks still a decent deal considering the shape it is in. :)
Heath;
I hate to admit it, but I find myself waiting, for my pink phone to get its turn on my desk, as I rotate them. For some reason EVERYONE likes the pink phone, and baby blue phone, exept Bill Cahill of course.
I have to admit, I'm partial to the pastel colors and black. Only because the solid colors aren't the shade I expect them to be, for example the red phone is more blood or maroon than red, to me Red is Coca Cola red. Green is avocado green where it should be kelly green. Sromberg Carlson, and ITT got it right, but not WE500's. Why did W.E. seem to use non mainstream colors ?
D/P
Quote from: Dan/Panther
I have to admit, I'm partial to the pastel colors and black.
I'm the same way. For the WE colors the only ones I like are the pink and baby blue (and I like the yellow, too). Otherwise, just give me black.
I really would like to know the reasoning behind some of the color choices. I guess avocada green would have been acceptable in the 70's, but it came out long before then, and Coca Cola, is almost as old as the phone itself, and besides firetrucks and Santa Claus, defines Red. As far as Green, How much more green can you get than Irish...Yellow, ever have a hotdog....???and Brown, ever take a S.....Never mind...
D/P
Exactly, D/P. How hard can it be? Actually the brown WEs remind me more of Hershey bars. ;)
Matt;
As far Brown.
I was going to write Snickers..... ::)
D/P
Nice one! That looks like one I was bidding on. I had to settle for the consolation prize:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190302407855
Nice 554!
This pink phone is growing on me pretty fast and I can see it ending up a serious favorite. I also like the baby blue and the turquoise as well, but that avocado green is not really all that exciting. The lime green and flaming orange look interesting, they were Stromberg and ITT I think. No idea why WE picked the colors they did, that seminar report of the release of the model 500 said that they were researching colors to use and were going to try for a contemporary blend of colors.
I also got for my birthday a 1954 WE 500, it was only 15 bucks total, and the reason I wanted it was the straight handset cord. Planning to put that cord on my prize 1951 model 500 to try to make it look as early as possible. This straight cord is in great shape, just dirty, as was the phone, I think it lived in a garage it's whole life as it had mud dabbers in the shell and all sorts of beetle cases dropped inside. Ewww. It also was broken in shipping, I ask the guy to wrap the handset separately and he did, but he just put the whole thing in a box of peanuts. Arrgh! And it was an all date matching phone as well, looked like no one had ever touched it.
Heath, how much and what kind of damage did your 1954 500 sustain? Can it be repaired? I just don't understand how people can package so poorly that a piece of history like that can get broken. Grrrrr......
Quote from: Dennis Markham
I just don't understand how people can package so poorly that a piece of history like that can get broken. Grrrrr......
I've gotten into the habit of always politely requesting that the seller/shipper separate the handset from the body, wrap both in bubble wrap taped lightly, and pack it tightly all around with peanuts. They are usually grateful for the advice so they don't have to worry about damage, and after about fifty phones, I've never received one with any shipping mishaps. I also add the note that "It would be a pity that a phone that has survived for so long be damaged in shipping". It's just that some well intentioned folks simply don't know how best to ship these heavy yet somewhat fragile old phones. Anyway, it works for me. :)
It cracked the shell clean in two right below the dial bezel. Must have taken a good hit to do that. Probably fixable with some glue, sanding, and polishing, but it may still show up.
I like Hobiesport's idea of what to tell the shipper and will borrow it.
The G1 handset of this broken 54' has certainly decayed over time, it's in terrible shape, all the smooth finish is gone and it's very rough. Doesn't look like this phone was used a lot just that it probably sat in a garage/barn/ type setting and got rusty, bugs moved in, and the handset weathered. Luckily the handset cord is okay, I cleaned it up tonight and it looks good.
Quote from: McHeath
I like Hobiesport's idea of what to tell the shipper and will borrow it.
Heck, you can have it. ;D I just see no reason for careless or ineffective shipping, when the good shipping techniques are just so simple and easy when one knows how. It always makes me sad to see any phone get damaged. :'(
Quote from: McHeath on April 30, 2009, 08:43:15 PM
avocado green is not really all that exciting.
I like my avocado/moss green. It looks so
normal.
Ay, different strokes for different folks on color. Avocado was hugely popular in 73' when my parents bought a new ranch style house, they could have the interior colors in either Harvest Gold or Avocado Green and they went with the gold while the house next door was the green, and I must admit they were both pretty cool looking.
So I must retract my Avocado is not very exciting statement and repent in sackcloth and ashes.
BTW I started a new thread about color in phones in general here:
http://tinyurl.com/cmpcd3
:)-Matt
Well here are the pics of the black 1954 500 that looks like it was living in a barn for the last 40 years. Nassssttyyy phoneeess, as Gollum would say.
The broken case can probably be an easy fix with glue and sanding a bit.
The bug parts and mud dabbers nests mean that at the moment this phone is living in the garage.
Actually McHeath I think that particular 500 was Gollum's original phone. He used it in his cave to harass Bilbo about that pesky precious at inconvenient wee hours. It also looks as if it fell into Mount Doom. However...
A little elbow grease and... :)
Ouch! My 305 that I won for $28 arrived with a chunk missing from the back. It was packed loosely with about 2 square feet of bubble wrap. I was pretty P.O.'d.
I bought a good phone today for a good price and sent the usual message to the seller, politely requesting how I would like it packaged. He wrote me right back and thanked me, saying that he was glad that I bought the phone, even though he was hoping for a better price, because he could tell that I cared about it enough to request the good packaging and it was going to a good home. But he's a phone guy so he "knows". But I get the same reaction from sellers who know nothing about phones. They are glad to learn how best to package it.
I'm repeating myself here, but darn it, it works! :)
http://www.paul-f.com/SaveThePhones/
Yeah I'm going to use your packing speech on my next e-bay bag. Maybe it will stop the inflow of broken history that I am having all too often.
On a side note, the straight cord that I wanted off the beater 54' 500 turned out to have serious problems. The wires had high resistance and the black had an internal break. So, I mulled about what to do and ended up pulling the wires out of the cord jacket and replacing them with new wires. When the old wires came out I found several places where they had corroded through, looked like moisture got in there, hence the problems. When pulling them out the wires broke off right in the middle and I figured the deal was done, but my 16 year old came up with a method of using a coat hanger to push the wires out of the jacket so the day was saved. After putting the new wires in, and replacing the clips and grommet, it's as good as new and no one can tell the difference.
Now my 51' looks pretty sleek, sporting a straight handset cord.
Actually, I love baby blue.
But, Oh, Pepto Bismol pink! I'll say it's in very nice shape. Congrats. But, that pink..Oh......
:-X Bill Cahill ;D
Bill please feel free to send any and all pink phones to me. I also prefer the baby blue but the pink ones may be handy for attracting the pretty womens. 8)
If I can paint it mahogany, I will go for your pink phone. Just line them up on the windowsill and the wimmins will come running.
And all this time I thought lining up dollar bills was the secret?
D/P
I have no difficulty enticing wimmins to run. Windowsills and dollar bills are another matter.
No, the diamonds and dollar bills always turned me off. Too embarrassing to base a romantic interest on finance. Once the romance is established, $ are fine, but not as an enticement. Yeah, well, so I got the romance, and the $ never showed up, nor the pink phones, so here we are, happily eating Chinese takeout for a romantic picnic.
What were we talking about?
Quote from: Ellen
...Yeah, well, so I got the romance, and the $ never showed up, nor the pink phones, so here we are, happily eating Chinese takeout for a romantic picnic.
What were we talking about?
:D Oh I guess we're just rambling and biding our time until we hear more from Heath about his "Gollum" 500. BTW, what are "$"? ;)
QuoteOh I guess we're just rambling and biding our time until we hear more from Heath about his "Gollum" 500.
I like that, the "Gollum 500". It's one nasty phone my phone phriends, nasstttyyy. So far I've not managed to work up the gumpshun to gert out there and scrape off the bug nests and mold and see if it works.
Meanwhile the pink 500 is sitting pretty on my desk, gathering admiring crowds of well wishers on a daily basis. (Well it should be)
I see finlover sold a pink 500 for about 130 last week, this week he has a another glowing blue one up.
Yep, Heath, you might need to use one of Gandalf's famous purges on the dreaded Gollum 500.
And yes indeed, that '63 aqua 500 of Finlover's is awesome as usual. Where does he find them? :o
He has a backyard bombshelter filled with colored 500s left over from a guy who worked for Ma Bell in the 50's and 60's and swiped phones every Friday on his way out the door.
Stranger things have happened.
Beautiful phone, McHeath! The pink color looks good as new. I'm sure the cord can be untwisted, then given a boiling/ice water bath.
Quote from: McHeath on May 06, 2009, 10:49:12 PM
He has a backyard bombshelter filled with colored 500s left over from a guy who worked for Ma Bell in the 50's and 60's and swiped phones every Friday on his way out the door.
Stranger things have happened.
If only it were true! Here are the before pictures of the '63. Typical gross green color but a nice phone underneath the filth. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and hated to see it go. It went to one of my best customers who has an aqua fetish :).
In case you missed that auction, here are a few "after" pics.
Finlover, How did you revert the yellowed (greenish) aqua back to the original color? I have a couple of yellowed aqua 500s and had assumed they were too far gone, short of spending tons of time sanding them.
Try the hydrogen peroxide gel method on them, just check them frequently to make sure it isn't burning the plastic. That white residue can be harder to sand away than yellowed plastic. After that, you can use sandpaper to remove any surface imperfections and polish as usual.
If only it were true! Here are the before pictures of the '63. Typical gross green color but a nice phone underneath the filth. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and hated to see it go. It went to one of my best customers who has an aqua fetish :).
Thats a great looking turquoise phone you ruined there Fin :)
Quote from: Steve on May 24, 2009, 08:14:56 PM
Thats a great looking turquoise phone you ruined there Fin :)
You're right, it would have been so much easier to polish it up and call it turquoise! What was I thinking?! ;D
Finlover, I think you're my hero.
Quote from: AtomicEraTom on May 24, 2009, 09:50:41 PM
Finlover, I think you're my hero.
Trust me, Tom, you do NOT want to see me in tights!! A cape would be cool though...
My eyes, MY EYES!! ;) ;D The blue is so bright 8)
LOL, I'd prefer to see no man wear tights if I can avoid it. Stick to jeans, khakis, or double-knits! I can picture the Cape haha. Lookin' like Gene Chandler during his "Duke of Earl" routine.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00004YNFT.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
Quote from: finlover on May 24, 2009, 11:11:08 PM
Quote from: AtomicEraTom on May 24, 2009, 09:50:41 PM
Finlover, I think you're my hero.
Trust me, Tom, you do NOT want to see me in tights!! A cape would be cool though...
Fin lover, I have only done the 20-40 % peroxide on yellowed white ones. (BEAUTIFUL results). How far do you go (how many applications) before you resort to the NOVUS 1 and 2 ? I was thinking one 4 hour application of 20% on a colored phone. I did a 40% on a moss green and burned the plastic (white swirls). Dennis wants me to repost the burnt picture but someone has borrowed the digital camera, so I'll post the pic when I get the camera back.
Nice result on the turquoise.
4 to 6 hours sounds about right, Dan, and I found the "oxy booster" ingredient unnecessary. At first I was only using 40%, but it can burn the plastic before it reverses the yellowing in some cases. So I'm trying 20%. We'll see...
This stuff also works on yellowed cords to some extent. Its funny but the results aren't very consistent. And it doesn't seem to work as well on soft plastic. Hmmmm ???
I think I would even dress like the "Boy Wonder" if it would get me closer to that Batphone!
FIN, I used it on a soft plastic yellowed white 500 from 1958 and it did work beautifully, but it again was WHITE. I don't think I would try it on a colored tenite , unless I had a perfect one as a back up.
Finlover;
How did you first encounter the Peroxide treatment. Are the Aqua phones really that color aqua, or does the peroxide somewhat change the color ?
D/P
No, the treatment doesn't seem to alter the color. For some reason it works especially well on aqua and white, while pink "burns" more easily. I tried it on a moss green soft plastic and it didn't do much.
The white "blushing" can be impossible to remove from the crevices around the cradle. I'm trying to salvage a pink phone like that right now and it's very frustrating!:P Still trying to figure it out...