Which Yellow is This?

[Dennis Markham]

This comes in handy..............


http://www.bennetyee.org/ucsd-pages/area.html

An area code listing.  It shows 311 as "Reserve For Special Applications"

[bingster]

Most "official" services were X11 numbers, so having 311 as an area code would probably not have been possible, anyway.  For example, in most places 211 was long distance, 411 was the information operator, 611 was the business office, 811 was repair, etc.  Dialing 311 would probably have triggered something in the central office. 

[bellsystemproperty]

At&t still uses Jane's voice, at least when I tried to call the 311 area code. It makes sense, why change something that isn't broken? I didn't know so much time was put into making those recordings.

[Dan/Panther]

Speaking of time, was Jane the same person that recorded the time voice. Now that must have taken time.
D/P

[LarryInMichigan]

Brinybay,

I'd didn't want to admit it, but yes, I did win that yellow phone.  It looked so yellow in the picture, that I thought that it would be nice to have, but now that Dennis has pointed out the signs that show that it isn't what I first thought it was, I am less enthusiastic about it.  At least, the seller agreed to charge me $10.35 for flat rate shipping instead of $13.

Your SC 500 phone looks like the same color as my 1981 ITT 2554 which appears on the table in this picture (http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss74/LarryinMichigan/Kitchen.jpg).  Given the time period, I would guess that it is Harvest Gold.  Mine looks great after a bit of polishing, but it was displaced by the AE50.

Larry

[McHeath]

Nice set up in your kitchen.  As much as I like the 2554s, especially have a soft spot for harvest gold ones, I must say that the AE50 looks super in it's place!

[LarryInMichigan]

Thank you McHeath.  The AE50 does look great in the kitchen, and the extra long cord I added allows me to talk while working in the kitchen.  The problem though, is that the AE handset, being rounded as it is, tends to slide off of my shoulder while I am talking, which can be awkward if I am talking while washing dishes in the sink.  Of all handset designs, the G-types worked the best for holding on the shoulders.

Larry

[Greg G.]

more on Jane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQK8kpkAosQ

Very interesting interview, and she as as pretty as she sounded.

[jsowers]

Speaking of time, was Jane the same person that recorded the time voice. Now that must have taken time.
D/P

Yes, Jane Barbe is the lady on the time and temp announcements. Even after her death, she's still doing her job at my local telco. I don't know for how much longer, though. Dial (336) CHestnut 3-2351 and after the ad, you will hear Jane give time and the forecast for Lexington, NC where I live. We have fog this morning and Jane's on top of it.    Below is a recording I made of it some time back.

About the yellow 500, it looks like standard WE yellow to me and the handset could be painted. They did that especially with yellow refurbs. I have no idea why. I get the yellow paint off with Denatured Alcohol and a pile of paper towels. Often underneath the paint is a pristine yellow handset. It's a mystery why they painted it in the first place.

[Dennis Markham]

I just gave the number a call Jonathan, thanks.  It was fun listening to the pre-recorded words of Jane Barbe.

[bingster]

That's interesting to me for several reasons.  Our time and weather are separate numbers, but the weather used to be given in the same way, assembled from recorded bits and pieces.  In the late 1980s, they changed to weather forecasts recorded by meteorologists.  It's also interesting that you can only hear it once and then you're disconnected.  With ours you it keeps repeating until you hang up.  And ads before the message. I've never heard anything like that before.

Is our time lady Jane Barbe or the newer lady?  Give a listen: (202) TIme 4-1212

And which one is giving the temperature before the weather? (202) WEather 6-1212

[LarryInMichigan]

The yellow phone arrived today, and it is not quite what I originally had in mind.  The yellow is somewhat more pale than the picture in the ebay listing suggests, but it is not really pastel.  The base and network are from 1955, but the shell, handset, and dial are dated 1972.  The receiver is from 1968 and the transmitter from 1957.  The back of the shell and top and one side of the handset have turned a much redder shade of yellow, almost certainly from U/V radiation from being in the sun (the phone lived in the California desert).  There does not appear to be any paint on the handset.  I applied denatured alcohol and rubbed it, but the rag did not turn yellow.  I guess that this phone wasn't quite a great bargain, but at least I didn't pay $135 for it.

Larry

[finlover]

Hi, Larry,
This is a common situation.  For some reason, early yellow phones that have all their original parts are nearly impossible to find.  You could try the peroxide gel treatment on the plastic to get rid of the discoloration, but sandpaper and plastic polish might be the only cure. 

I don't know why WeCo decided to call this color Pastel Yellow.  Looks more like Dijon Mustard to me--but I guess that doesn't have as nice a ring to it!