Find of the Month - January 2011

[wkostelic]

I held my breath until the auctioneer came to the box where this working Princess was buried under a bunch of junk. No one else russeled through it to see this gem just begging for a good cleaning. The price for the box? $2.50!

[stopthemachine]

I held my breath until the auctioneer came to the box where this working Princess was buried under a bunch of junk. No one else russeled through it to see this gem just begging for a good cleaning. The price for the box? $2.50!

Great find!  I like that there's a funeral home sticker on it--who would put them on their PRINCESS phone of all phones?  HAHAHA.

[Dan]

Per Jim S recommendations, I'd like to nominate my pink 5302 off ebay. only 50 bucks too!



http://tinyurl.com/4gahm38  Dead link: 2/8/2014

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3852.msg96683#msg96683

[stopthemachine]

Per Jim S recommendations, I'd like to nominate my pink 5302 off ebay. only 50 bucks too!



http://tinyurl.com/4gahm38

Man, that is truly incredible--I just won a GRAY 500 set with AT&T markings for just $33.  The guts are Western Electric--the plastics seems almost untouched over the years!  I know it's not a 50's gray set, but I did OK.  I still can't believe the 5302 in COLORS though...and pink at that!  I'm GREEN...errr pink?...with envy. 

This is the perfect chance to tell (brag about) the story of my greatest phone find EVER.  Years ago, I won a WE 500 set off eBay.  The only reason I bought it is because I wanted a beige phone to go with my 500s.  When I got the set, I quickly began to realize that it (actually ivory) was an early 500 set with all early soft plastic and in fantastic condition!  (All '56 dates, inside and out, but I'll have to check it again.)  I bought it for 50 CENTS plus shipping/handling!  (I actually sent the guy a dollar because I felt bad!)

[Dan]

Nice--GREYS- are always rarer and HTF. You did well!!

[Dave F]

I don't think that anybody will beat out a pink 5302, but here's my Find of the Month:

http://tinyurl.com/4b7x4h5

702B Princess in Gray.  A tough phone to find, and no other bidders.   Housing needs some TLC, but what the heck, it's GRAY!  Yippee!

(That little decoration glued to the handset came right off with no problems)

[Kenny C]

some one needed a ringer for a 701 a while back but i cant think of who it is. I found one and it is factory painted light gray over beige

[stopthemachine]

some one needed a ringer for a 701 a while back but i cant think of who it is. I found one and it is factory painted light gray over beige

I love those little ringers.  I have a gorgeous, white 701B Princess Phone, dated 1-60, which is hooked up to one of those--I even have the original box for the phone!  I noticed there's an SC ringer for their Petite phone on eBay now.  I was tempted to pick it up and have it hooked up to my one and only Petite phone. 

It doesn't seem like the little ringers for the 701B phones come up much.  I guess it's because most people used the phone as an extension and didn't care about the ringing capability too much.  I have NOS AT&T modular ringers from the early 90s that greatly resemble the early WE Princess ringer boxers.

[Kenny C]

the one i have is from II-60 so its pretty early. I have a few i think they are all grey.

[Doug Rose]

I'd like to nominate Sargeguy's outstanding manual B1 as the find of the month. It sure is a beauty....Doug

[stopthemachine]

the one i have is from II-60 so its pretty early. I have a few i think they are all grey.

I'll have to open my ringer up to see when it is from.  (I just checked, and there are no external dates.)  The ones I have from the early 90's are beige and fully modular.  (I have no idea why I haven't put a few of them up for sale yet becauce they're pretty cool, and frankly, I will only need maybe three of them.)  I will also have to check to see if they were US-made or not--I would think probably not, but I remember that these boxes were made by a third party for AT&T (with the usual "AT&T" branded on the top of them) so there's always the chance. 

[Jim Stettler]

I am going to nominate my "Factory Custom" SC 1543. I paid less than $40.00 BIN delivered.

This phone has a silver basecoat with a gold topcoat. The dial was custom painted. and the plungers are clear

I feel this is a factory set because of the basecoat/topcoat paint job, and  the clear plungers.

The clear plungers were worth the $40.00 to me. I wanted  them for spare parts. I also like unusual "finishes".

This phone was covered in several decades of "kitchen grease". This photo is after 2-1/2 hours of gently cleaning the exterior of the phone.
Jim S.

[Doug Rose]

I am going to nominate my "Factory Custom" SC 1543. I paid less than $40.00 BIN delivered.

This phone has a silver basecoat with a gold topcoat. The dial was custom painted. and the plungers are clear

I feel this is a factory set because of the basecoat/topcoat paint job, and  the clear plungers.

The clear plungers were worth the $40.00 to me. I wanted  them for spare parts. I also like unusual "finishes".

This phone was covered in several decades of "kitchen grease". This photo is after 2-1/2 hours of gently cleaning the exterior of the phone.
Jim S.

Wow Jim.....that came out fantastic!!!....Doug

[Jim Stettler]

Thank-you Doug,

I was very happy at how nice it was turning out, My wife and oldest both saw a good "before" and a good "during". They were amazed at the difference.

I have never spent as much time cleaning phone "plastics"

I suspect it will take about 5 more hours (mindless soap massage) to dissolve the final grease deposits. These are more tactile than visual.
I will eventually get this phone detailed out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a prime example of a "protective" layer of grime. The entire phone was "sticky" with cooking grease.
This coating (layered with dust) accumulated over decades. The paint is in great condition for it's age.
To clean it:
I soaked the plastic parts in Dawn dish soap and water for 3-5 minutes.
Then I  "mindlessly massaged" small amounts of dawn detergent into the phone (fingertip massage) for 15-20 minutes at a time , I then gently rubbed the grime off with a wet micro fiber towel. Repeat, {concentrating on visual deposit first}.

I think it will take many more hours of cleaning (5?)  to finish up the "plastics" (texture grease, not sticky grease)
I returned the dial to center for photos, and it still needs tested (eventually).

I am really happy with this phone, I enjoy it more than I thought I would. I was satisfied when I saw clear plungers.  I was happy with it when it was sticky. I really enjoy it now.

Jim S.

[Doug Rose]

Jim....I saw this auction and stopped in on it a few times. I would have bet the house it was a "bad" after market paint, especially the way it looked orange peeled, I guess that was the layers grease. You did a wonderful job on this. I missed the clear hookswitchs. Good for you that the pictures did not show a good shot of them. But...you didn't miss it. This looks like one of those one of a kind phones. You should be really proud of this, just a really outstanding job....Doug