Western Electric "Continental Sets"

[Dennis Markham]

Recently I was able to acquire four new Continental sets to more than double the size of my collection of them.  I feel very fortunate to have the phones that I do have and wanted to share the color palate of Continental Sets with the Forum.

Two of these sets have Brown Bakelite handsets that were painted to match the painted bodies.  Those are the Gold and Dark Blue sets.  You'll notice there is no groove along the handle of the F1 handset.  The Moss Green and Ivory sets have #4 dials.  I show the Pekin Red and Dark Red (Cherry Red) sets side-by-side for a color comparison.  The Dark Blue one has replacement cords from Oldphoneworks.  The Cherry Red phone has a neutral gray coiled handset cord.  It is a modified four conductor cord from a 500 set.  That is how I bought the phone.  I'm not sure what color or type of handset cord would have been on the phone when it was put together.  The coiled cord on the Rose Beige Continental is a bit stretched.   I haven't had time to try and improve on the condition yet.

The Pekin Red, Ivory and Moss Green sets I've had for a while.  The new additions are the Dark Blue, Rose Beige, Cherry Red and Gold.  I display them along with my Gold and Silver Imperials.

(Click the image twice for a larger view)

[cihensley@aol.com]

Very nice Dennis. When I look at an (single) Imperial set I can't tell if it is gold or silver. Are they readily distinguishable when they are side-by-side?

Chuck

[TelePlay]

Dennis,

That top center gold Imperial Continental base looks painted like my one and only, my avatar right now, but with a heavier coat of paint. Can you either send me a close up of the base or post one so I can compare the finish? Thanks.

By the way, nice collection. Very nice collection.

[LarryInMichigan]

Beautiful as usual   I especially like the dark blue one.  I am thinking about painting one of my unwanted metal 302 shells and perhaps also a D1 blue like that.  If anyone can suggest a brand and color of spray paint which closely matches the official WE dark blue color, I would appreciate it.

Larry

[Dennis Markham]

Thank you guys for the compliments on the phones.  I did not photograph the Imperial, only the Continentals.  John the Gold you see is a painted D1.  The Imperials have the very shiny, clear finish.  I can get a photo and of my Gold one and post it.  Chuck, you're right, when they are side-by-side (the Silver & Gold Imperials) it's often difficult to distinguish which is which from across the room.

[Doug Rose]

Dennis.... a beautiful collection of WE Continental sets. I thought I had them all as I never knew there was a Rose Beige. It is a beautiful set. With the brown bakelite F1 you can pretty much rest assured it was a WE Factory paint 202. Outstanding display!!...Doug

[Russ Kirk]

That is a very nice set of phones.  I bet they are quite impressive when seen together.

I did not know they came in two shades of red.

[Dennis Markham]

Dennis,

That top center gold Imperial Continental base looks painted like my one and only, my avatar right now, but with a heavier coat of paint. Can you either send me a close up of the base or post one so I can compare the finish? Thanks.

By the way, nice collection. Very nice collection.

Here are a couple of comparison shots.  My Gold Imperial doesn't have the best finish.  There is some streaking that appears to be below the lacquered finish.  But you can see the differences between the painted Continental set and the Gold Imperial set.  Also shown is a comparison of the Gold & Silver Imperials side-by-side.

John, perhaps your set is a Gold painted set where someone replaced the handset with an Ivory, like the Imperial.

Thank you Russ & Doug for the compliments on the collection of Continentals.  Doug, I'll get a shot of the Rose Beige along side a Rose Beige 500.  The colors are very similar.

[Doug Rose]

John....I believe yours is a Continental and not an Imperial. I think your base is painted gold with a Ivory Handset and not plated like the Imperials were. It is a very handsome set....Doug

[TelePlay]

John....I believe yours is a Continental and not an Imperial. I think your base is painted gold with a Ivory Handset and not plated like the Imperials were. It is a very handsome set....Doug

Yes, Doug. I used the wrong model in my first post but have edited that error out. As for mine, it is painted but it is a very unusual paint job. Looks like a speckled gold and then covered with a clear coat of something. That's why I wanted a close up of you gold Continental, say showing the D1 area or to either side of the dial real close up. I wanted to see what your paint looks like close up.

Got to dig mine out and take more pictures of the base with the dial removed to show you the unusual paint job that was applied to my Continental.

Maybe if I can remember the "p" in Imperial means plated, I can keep them straight.  

[Doug Rose]

Has anyone else been fortunate enough to find a Rose Beige 202? Until Dennis posted the pics, I never knew the color existed before in the WE 202. I have no doubts that it is real. Does anyone else own one? This could be a rare one! ....Doug

[jsowers]

The variation in colors for those Continental sets has always puzzled me. The small bit of advertising we've seen has only shown that they came in red, green and ivory. Sometimes only green is shown. The great info Russ Kirk posted recently about color availability during July, 1955 only showed green, ivory and red. Link below...

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=7275.msg81597#msg81597

Could it be that different branches of the Bell System offered different colors in their Continentals and only a few offered dark blue and rose beige? There could be other colors--who knows? Also I wonder since these were refurbished phones, did they come from refurb houses across the US instead of the plant in Indianapolis? That could explain the differences. Some we see with metal fingerwheels and some with the clear Lucite. Most of these phones have 1955 capsules in the handsets, like the Imperials, don't they?

Paul, do you have any info that would shed some light on this? Dennis, that's a great display you have. If you don't mind doing some research, what are the dates on your handset capsules on those Continentals? It would be nice to know if these were produced before or after 1955.

We also have to keep in mind that 202s were painted and sold by companies other than the Bell System in the late 1960s and early 70s. Those usually have painted metal fingerwheels and color matching vinyl cords. The colors I've seen were the latter-day WE colors and not dark blue or rose beige, but Gold was listed in the colors in the catalogs I have. The paint isn't very sturdy, but they can be easily mistaken for Continentals.

[poplar1]

I have one that is rose (pink not rose beige). IIRC they were originally made in 302 colors (Pekin Red, Ivory, Green, Rose, Blue) but later they were---as were painted 302s--offered in 500 colors (including dark beige and dark red).

[Dennis Markham]

Jonathan, I will do some close-up examination of these "new" sets and post my findings.  I'm anxious to learn about them as well.  It's been a busy week.  Perhaps by the weekend I'll have time to open a couple up and get some dates, with photos.

[Doug Rose]

These are the colors I have in the Contintental sets

Ivory
Blood Red
Pekin red
Blue
Green
Old Rose
Gold
Old Brass
Statuary Bronze
Oxidized Silver
Metallic Gold
Never painted looks Pewter in color / Green Thermoplastic handset

Black

Imperial sets


Imperial  Brass   Ivory Thermoplastic handset
Imperial Silver    Ivory Thermoplastic handset
Nickel plate        Blue Thermoplatic handset
Brass plate

If they have matching cords, I assume they were done by WE, but only an assumption.I had seen Dennis' Blue set before and feel its a WE factory paint. I got one painted to match, but Dennis' is the real deal

Besides the 302 colors, this is my favorite set of colors. Where they are painted sets, it is definitely not an easy task to find them all in displayable condtion.

Funny thing is you see so many phones painted beige, it comes in right after Ivory as the most coomonly painted color. I have never seen a 202 in beige and NEVER Rose Beige. Thought I had them all. This is really quite a find in Rose beige. Where it has the brown bakelite handset, my vote is its the real deal.

Nice find Dennis....Doug