What do I have here?

[MrJ2333]

I recently rescued these from a trip to the dumpster at an old Bell building the other day. There were 3 rotary dial and three touchtone. All western electric. All appear to be unused in original boxes. All black. I honestly don't have the first idea of what these are, besides phones. I just thought they were cool, and thought they might be nice for some collector somewhere to enjoy. They all work and all have the red light that still lights up when ringing.

I didn't really want to unscrew the bottoms, but the handsets have dates (i think I am looking at the right spot) from 1976-1982.

Any info would be appreciated?

[Dan]

 They are single line w/ neon ringing/message waiting lamp for PBX.  First  Available in 1958.

[GG]

Those appear to be made in 1983.  The neon lamps would be used for "message waiting."  For example at a hotel or motel, you return to your room to see that light blinking, so you wonder "why is that light blinking?" and you call the front desk ... who tell you that you got a call, and here's the name and number.

Those lights should also flash when the phone rings, which is useful for finding it in the dark when the ring is turned down. 

I have a couple of ITT 500s that are set up that way. 

[paul-f]

You can decode the model number and date code on the bottom using info here:
   http://www.paul-f.com/we500typ.htm#Model

The hotel/motel sets often had a dial overlay, such as this one from Holiday Inn:

[allineedislove]

Do you want to sell or trade one of them?
Oscar

[gpo706]

Wow, wish we had dumpsters of that quality over here!