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Pictures of My Telephone Collection - ETS1979

Started by ETS1979, March 11, 2010, 08:23:39 PM

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ETS1979

Even my garage is not safe from my telephone obsession!  This is a telephone call box for official use.  (police, fire, etc.)  The innards are WE 500 parts.

JorgeAmely

ETS:

Where did you find the dress up kit?
Jorge

ETS1979

I bought it on Ebay.  If I recall correctly, it was from Ebay User,  "JFLOWERS" which may also be a member of this forum.

ETS1979

I have several other phones which have not been restored.  I would call them "nice original".   This one is interesting in that it has a clear fingerwheel assembly on it. It is a black colored 302 if you will.   The previous owner claimed it was there when he found it.  Since it is 100% numbers matching, it probably is original.  It would involve a lot of effort for someone to create it.  Though this one has a 5H dial, I have seen one other one on Ebay like this that had a 5J.  Does anyone have any info on this subject?  Did WE build black 302's with clear fingerwheels?

ETS1979

This one is what I would call an "assembled" telephone.  I took the best of 3 phones and created this one.  The paint is about 95% original.  I did some touchups here and there that are not visible unless you put the phone in direct sunlight.  It probably would have been easier to strip and repaint.   The cords are NOS.  I don't think WE put rubber cords on very many of these, but the beige color matches so perfectly I decided to use them.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: ETS1979 on April 04, 2010, 07:53:00 PM
I have several other phones which have not been restored.  I would call them "nice original".   This one is interesting in that it has a clear fingerwheel assembly on it. It is a black colored 302 if you will.   The previous owner claimed it was there when he found it.  Since it is 100% numbers matching, it probably is original.  It would involve a lot of effort for someone to create it.  Though this one has a 5H dial, I have seen one other one on Ebay like this that had a 5J.  Does anyone have any info on this subject?  Did WE build black 302's with clear fingerwheels?
I have heard of oddball indigo 302 sets produced by WE. They used clear plastic and indigo. The resulting sets were Black in apperance. You can flake a rib to check in a bright light. You might try tilting the housing so a rib is in a bright light and see if it is truely black.

I am thinking the indigo sets had other odd things about them as well. This story was 2-3rd hand and was on one of the listservers several years ago.

Your set reminded me of the story.
I think your set was either done by a collector or a special order by a customer.  WE would do special orders and  a "colored" black set would of been easy.

JMO,
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Doug Rose

Quote from: ETS1979 on April 04, 2010, 07:45:45 PM
I bought it on Ebay.  If I recall correctly, it was from Ebay User,  "JFLOWERS" which may also be a member of this forum.
that was me, jflowres.....Doug
Kidphone

baldopeacock

#67
Quote from: ETS1979 on April 04, 2010, 07:53:00 PM
I have several other phones which have not been restored.  I would call them "nice original".   This one is interesting in that it has a clear fingerwheel assembly on it. It is a black colored 302 if you will.   The previous owner claimed it was there when he found it.  Since it is 100% numbers matching, it probably is original.  It would involve a lot of effort for someone to create it.  Though this one has a 5H dial, I have seen one other one on Ebay like this that had a 5J.  Does anyone have any info on this subject?  Did WE build black 302's with clear fingerwheels?

Should note, ETS and I are old friends going back about 35 years.   So I've seen this black/"color" 302 up close.   Whether it's something that was assembled or was a special order WE item - or one of the oddball "indigo" phones someone else mentioned --  whatever its history, to me it's an interesting addition to ET's color 302 collection.   Taken as a group, it's an impressive set of phones and this one fits in nicely.

ETS, I didn't realize you had not done any restoration to that phone.   It shows really well in person.

What were the dates on the components in this phone?   

baldopeacock

Quote from: ETS1979 on April 04, 2010, 07:58:42 PM
This one is what I would call an "assembled" telephone.  I took the best of 3 phones and created this one.  The paint is about 95% original.  I did some touchups here and there that are not visible unless you put the phone in direct sunlight.  It probably would have been easier to strip and repaint.   The cords are NOS.  I don't think WE put rubber cords on very many of these, but the beige color matches so perfectly I decided to use them.

For that matter - someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the Continentals were pretty much "assembled" phones, as ET calls this, when they were put in service by the phone company - weren't they?   

As I understand it these were somewhat like the Imperials, recycled and reused older stock put together by the refurb shop,.   I would think that it's likely this phone didn't have much close to matching dates when it was refurbed as a Continental.   Kind of a factory Frankenphone.

again, you more knowledgeable folks please set me straight if I'm misinformed.   Thanks.   :)

Phonesrfun

Imperials and Continentals were pretty much the same thing, except that the Imperials were the Cadillac and the Continentals were the Chevy.

Even though I love my Imperial and have one in my living room, it was kind of a way of the Bell system "putting lipstick on a pig" - oh I know that phrase is worn out... but they had a bunch of old D1 handset mounts and they basically recycled them by painting them and dressing them up a bit to not only add color, but to do a little nostalgia thing.

So, yes, they were a factory Frankenphone in one sense, but in the sense that these old phones were relegated to their own model names and marketed as such, kind of makes them a real model in their own right.

My Imperial, for instance has an F1 handset handle, but one which was honed out to accept the later T1 and U1 transmitter and receiver, and needed to be used on a 685A subset that has a 425 network in it.  This combination of the T1/U1 receiver/transmitter and the new network based subset on a par with the 500 series phones it was competing with at the time.

So, while I can agree that it was just a remake of old parts, it was done in a way that these Imperials and Continentals were electrically a new widget.

-Bill G

AET

I thought the Imperials were Chryslers and the Continentals were Lincolns?
- Tom

JorgeAmely

ETS and baldopeacock:

What state are you guys from?
Jorge

ETS1979

I like AtomicEraTom's sense of humor!

I am from northwest Illinois.

A few more details on the 302 above.   The Ebay seller I acquired it from said that when he received the phone it was VERY dirty, as if having set idle for many years. As Baldopeacock noted, it cleaned up very nicely and shows little sign of wear.  It's numbers match at mid 1950.  I have not yet had an opportunity to put it in direct sunlight to explore the indigo theory.

The term "assembled" I used to describe a process where I take the best of several phones to create one nice example of a given type of phone such as the Continental above. I suppose it could be argued that this should not be done, as this destroys the originality of the phone.  I have others that I will post pictures of when time permits.

Can we call the Continentals and Imperials the first "decorator" telephones?

bingster

Western was tarting up phones long before the Continental.  You can probably make a case for the metallic paint finishes of the 1920s and 1930s as being the first Bell decorator phones though.
= DARRIN =



Phonesrfun

Quote from: AtomicEraTom on April 05, 2010, 04:19:56 AM
I thought the Imperials were Chryslers and the Continentals were Lincolns?
You win that one Tom!  That's pretty observant.
-Bill G