Unusual Western Electric Phone

[poplar1]

Anyone familiar with this WE phone? Seller says it doesn't have a model number on it, just a serial number 2562.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130875319111

[Dan/Panther]

Just when you thought you'd seen it all. Maybe a Chinese ripoff ?
Paul, HELP !!!
D/P

[LM Ericsson]

Could it be a prototype?

[paul-f]

Congratulations on the win, David!

Perhaps you'll tell us more after you tear it down and look for dates and markings inside.

The dial appears to be the same (or very similar) to the one in the Touch-a-matic-S.  That would date it around or after 1980.

The set reminds me of styles that came out just before the break-up of the Bell System and the start of moving manufacturing to Mexico and later offshore - as everyone fled from making phones.  It's doubtful that any phone from that time would have had a long production run.

I vaguely remember seeing sets with similar design elements years ago on a visit to the Lucent Archives, but had limited time and was focused on researching 1950 - 70 at the time.  I'll see if I have any relevant notes from that trip.

[WesternElectricBen]

I'm in agreement with paul, the keypad looks nothing like what Western Electric made at the time.

Ben

[poplar1]

Paul, I couldn't find the TAM "S" on your site, but the dial on this phone and on the TAM S do look alike. See Figure 1 on page 2:

http://wedophones.com/TheBellSystem/pdf/bsp/touchamatic_s/503-400-100-8207.pdf

This is from an interesting website: http://wedophones.com/TheBellSystem/

[paul-f]

I haven't ventured much past the Design Line yet.

Here's a photo of the TAM-S for reference.

[poplar1]

Here is another one I've never seen before. It has a sticker saying "AT&T International." This is a Western Electric model ZX5201T03A-B dated 10 10 83 with an XM1B handset.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360633677376

[Jim Stettler]

The yellow butterdish is probably a prototype. It has a touch a matic dial pad.
The TAM-S is a touch a matic S
It is a combo of a touch a matic and a touch a matic dialer.
The orange phone is a touch a matic.

I have seen 1 in clear and it has a beige swirl in it, and  a volume control handset, the tt mask says touch a matic. I  assumed it was a proto-type.
I think the final version (US)  was the TAM-S.
Jim
Here is the clear touch a matic Thread
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2346.msg31192#msg31192

[poplar1]

Jim, I like the clear TAM better than this rust one. Still, I'm happy to find one in any color.

[Jim Stettler]

Thanks,

The Rust one is pretty cool. I had never seen another one. For me the clear set works better with my collection.
If you scroll up on the link you can see some of my butt sets.
Jim

[poplar1]

I just noticed that the number plate is all numbers, no letters. No 1-800-COMCAST from this model.