Antique Mall Western Electric 202... $20.00...One "Small" Problem

[Rigger1]

I was in a local antique mall the other day and saw a Western Electric 202 displayed. I checked the price tag and it was twenty dollars. It was near complete and had a clackety dial, so I decided to go for it. There is one problem however. Some where along the line it was painted blue. Looks like they used an enamel paint. I have it sitting in my shop and every time I look at it, I use my thumb nail to chip some paint off. It comes off fairly easily, but, it is going to be a long process. I did open the phone up and the inside looks pretty darn good. Oh, also, the gray cord looks different to me. Is this common for the 202? Any one have an idea on how to get the paint off any faster? I am attaching a couple of pictures.  Thanks...

[wds]

Looks like you got yourself a nice B1 with that 4H dial.  Great catch!  You can remove all that paint with some paint stripper in just a couple hours.  Tape off the inside of the base so you don't damage the original paint or markings.  How's come I never see those kinds of deals at my flea markets?

[bingster]

What a great find!  

The most interesting thing to me is the cords.  They've faded to grey, but if you look at the photo of the insides, you can see they were originally blue.  They appear to have original Western Electric cord restraints, and also appear to be silk, rather than cotton.  I've never heard of WE silk cords in blue before.  Can you report back with the markings on the brass cord restraints (circled below) inside the phone, please?  The markings tell how old the cords are. The wiring inside is completely wrong, but that's not unusual and it's an easy fix.  Just head over to the "Technical Stuff" forum and check out the 202 wiring diagrams to put it right.  

[Rigger1]

Thank you for your replies. I just checked the phone a bit more carefully. The mounting cord is broken or cut off at the base. It was a 2 wire (red and green). The markings on the cord restraint are, top line: 5-6, Middle line: D2D, and the bottom line: T-39. The cord going to the head set is a 3 wire  and appears to be in decent shape aside from the fading. The restraint is marked, top line: 4-0, middle: H3C, and bottom: 1-49.

[Dennis Markham]

I wondered if this phone may be a factory refurb as they did paint some D1's in dark blue.  But did they paint B1's in the colors?  I think this was probably a back yard paint job but the blue cords are interesting, Bingster.  Those restraint dates seem earlier than the Continental sets which would have been painted in the mid 50's??

[Doug Rose]

I wondered if this phone may be a factory refurb as they did paint some D1's in dark blue.  But did they paint B1's in the colors?  I think this was probably a back yard paint job but the blue cords are interesting, Bingster.  Those restraint dates seem earlier than the Continental sets which would have been painted in the mid 50's??

I think WE put anything they had in stock, back into service. Whether it be a D1 or a B1. The cords are definitely interesting. My vote goes to a WE/Bellsystems refurb. Really cool find. What color is the bottom cover?, is it brown.......Doug

[bingster]

Yeah, it gets curiouser and curiouser.  The flaky paint doesn't look well adhered, and really does look like a backyard job.  But why the blue cords on a black phone?  Maybe somebody had a pair of blue cords lying around and put them on when he painted the phone?  Maybe the blue cords were the whole reason the set was painted in the first place?  I dunno.  It's also very strange that it would have a 2 conductor mounting cord.  

So the rundown on the cords is you have (or had) a 5-1/2 foot, 2 conductor mounting cord from the first quarter of 1939 (I-39), and a 4 foot, 3 conductor handset cord from the first quarter of 1949 (I-49).  There's an odd ten year spread there, too.

Strange and intersting.  And I've nominated it for Find of the Month.

[Rigger1]

It is a typical brown cover...not in great condition. I will add a picture later today.  Bill

[baldopeacock]

 But why the blue cords on a black phone?  Maybe somebody had a pair of blue cords lying around and put them on when he painted the phone?  Maybe the blue cords were the whole reason the set was painted in the first place?  

Seems possible to me that someone parted out a blue 302 and used the cord from it?

[LarryInMichigan]

I have mentioned here before that I use 3M "Safest Stripper" to strip paint from most things.  It does not harm bakelite, and it seems to leave original the original factory paint on phones alone (at least if it is not left to sit too long).  It would probably remove all of your blue paint in a half-hour.

You got a tremendous deal.  When I see a phone in an antiques shop or mall, it is usually a 500M or a Japanese imitation of a European phone for $50-$75.  I need to start shopping at the antiques shops in your area.

Larry

[Doug Rose]

The B1 is one of my favorite phones and these strip wonderfully. Most were two different metals,  with the base actually a black colored metal. I have stripped a few, this is one I kept. The cradle, finger wheel and retainer ring are all a heavy steel. Makes a fantastic contrast. This is one of my all time best job, pictures are old, from the ATCA in 2008. This phone was in much worse condition that the Blue 102 you found. Just my opinion.....Strip it!!!....Doug

[Vern P]

Yes a GREAT find !!! The #4 is worth $40+ by it self.

I would call it a back yard paint job.  Because #1 The color is to light of Blue. #2 The dial finger wheel would have not been painted. #3 WE would have used a batter grade of paint.

It would be GREAT if this was a WE job, as 202 (D1) and 102 (B1) Blue is rare. I have not seen a Blue one, Yes I have heard of them. Also I an looking for a Blue 202 for my set.

In colored sets, WE used a "J" dial, with a White body.

About the base cover in Brown, The Imperil have an Ivory cover, but in my colord 202's, the cover is Brown.

My 2 cents.

Vern P

[Rigger1]

Thank you all for your replies and thank you Bingster for the nomination, I am honored. I took a few more pictures. Here is the base, a shot of the inside showing the date (I believe), and one of the dial. I didn't know about colored cloth cords, I assumed that brown was the only color out there. I did take a quick look at the Technical  Stuff category and I am really impressed with all the great information in there. Finding the forum was my find of the month. 

[bingster]

...a shot of the inside showing the date (I believe)...

Exactly right.  Western Electric dated just about everything, using two different formats.  One format is all numbers, such as the one on the base.  The last two digits are the year, and the number or numbers which precede that are the month.  So your base was made in March 1929.  The other format consists of one, two, three, or four Roman numeral I characters followed by the year, such as you see on your dial.  The roman numerals denote the quarter year, so in your case the dial was made in the third quarter of 1931.

I didn't know about colored cloth cords, I assumed that brown was the only color out there.

Yep, cloth cords came in a rainbow of colors.  In the late 1920s the colors were limited (ivory, grey, brown, dark brown), but later they had blue, rose, red, green, etc.

[Sargeguy]

Is the handset black or brown bakelite?  Is it an F-1 or F-1W?