I was speechless when I found these:
In cyberspace, no one can hear you scream!
Maybe we should retaliate by starting a movement to convert old lamps into telephones ;D
I have a parking meter that was made into a lamp. When a coin is inserted the light comes on....depending on how much money was put in when the flag pops up the light goes off. Just like the electric company.....one doesn't pay, one gets no light!
Hi,Sorry Stub....were you the winner of this? Long Tall Cat is a great song by Loggins and Messina. Ya...I'm old....Doug
I don't know why it needed to be made into a lamp? If it had the correct handset it would still be working. It's a AE - 32A14 Handset desk telephone with the wrong handset. The correct handset has the induction coil receiver in it, I just happen to have one in my greedy little hands, and they work great today.
Oldphoneworks likes the one they have with no clapper on the ringer, 599.99
Maybe it can be fixed by the right person. I'll let ya'll know when I get it home!!!!!!!! I can finish 2 phones now instead of one!!!
Doug , shhhhhhh, your killing me there, made me a nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs , ha ,ha ! Later stub
Who the hell started this lamp-phone fad anyway? It's not even attractive decor, they're butt-ugly as a lamp, may as well use beer cans instead. Nice rescue. (Now if you're like me, right now you're googling "beer can lamp"!)
I think that may be a price tag from another item you are seeing. The lamp was priced at $89.
I would bet its solid Ivory by the way the handset cracked when drilling. Either bakelite or tenite. If it was paint it would of chipped. Good luck, hopefully it can be repaired.....Doug
I've contacted someone named Paul Pontrello, who referred me to a Dan Blake. Both of these guys are supposed to be some of the best at vintage plastic repair. Their work looks pretty impressive. It looks like the majority of their work has been done on radios. The first said he was unable to help and referred me to the second (Blake). Blake is an artist who is closing down his studio to travel the country for three years. He suggested some ways to test to specifically identify the type of plastic it is made of, and said to contact him in three years (!!!) if I was still interested in the repair. So I guess I'm back to square one.
Someone named Bret Menassa put out a DYI vintage plastics repair DVD for radios a few years back, so I may get a copy of that and see if it helps at all. It looks like most of the techniques used involve airbrushing or painting to achieve a close match between the patched area and the original part of the plastic.
Jim
I saw this earlier, why do people turn good phones into lamps?
it would probably be parked in one of our garages right now with Hyundai or Kia badges on it.
Terry
Actually, I've always wanted one of those meter lamps. I think they're kinda awesome.I have one and it is superb!....Doug
I have a Junior Achiechment electric meter lamp.
The guy that I got my step switch lamp from, got the idea for it from the JA meter lamps.
Jim
BTW I did pick up a AE 40 lamp yesterday.
We're going to need a picture of the Strowger Switch Lamp....
Terry
I will try to get one posted soon. Did I mention it is clear and works?
Jim
The LA office I threw in the Z to see if anyone was paying attention. ::)
Jim
It's pretty easily fixed, actually. I have a couple of 293A subset boxes that have been languishing. I will swap the backboard and door from this phone onto one of those, and drill a few holes for the hook using the panel as a jig. Finding the guts is going to be the hard part.
It's pretty easily fixed, actually. I have a couple of 293A subset boxes that have been languishing. I will swap the backboard and door from this phone onto one of those, and drill a few holes for the hook using the panel as a jig. Finding the guts is going to be the hard part.Sarge....I agree...it is still a really great looking phone that you can bring back to its past glory. What was this person thinking? A new way to burn down his house!....Doug
This has Boy Scouts written all over it.
Good detective work, Jonathan! The old put-it-next-to-a-Western Electric-box trick. :)Fooled me....I thought it was the real deal. Not that it is that hard to fool me ;D....Doug
CLASSIC ROTARY PHONE LOVERS, this is what we were thinking: This phone was in sad and non-working order when we got it. We specialize in upcycling discarded items into something new and hopefully useful. We've left all the parts inside. No phone was seriously hurt in the making of this lamp.
We took this vintage rotary dial phone and gave it a new life. There are battle scars inherent to both is age and unknown background. I have attempted to provide close ups so you know what you are buying.
A new cord and in-line rotary switch controls the frosted C7 bulbs in the handset. The black spiral cord is original to the phone and hides a new gooseneck lamp pipe which keeps the handset suspended above the phone. The rotary dial works nicely.
Bulbs included.
I take it you've received numerous emails from antique phone collectors. I don't want to add to that, but should you come across another "sad and non-working" phone like this, please keep in mind a similar one that I refurbished. A picture is attached. I think yours is the single-line version of mine, although I'm not sure.
Hello,
No emails but yours at this point, but I did find the link to my creation on ClassicRotary... I expect that there will be phone people pecking away for the next who knows how long. lol I put the note on the listing to head them off.
You did a fine job on the resto. Wow! Is the phone in use or just a working historical artifact?
I find phones all the time in my searches of junk shops, thrift stores, garage sales, etc. I rarely research them. When I amend them for lights, I try to leave as much of it untouched as possible. This particular phone could be "brought back to life" by the right person.
Just today I found another phone. 1937. Oak box with generator that rings two bells. There is a desk phone (black) that is attached by a cord and there are two smaller wires coming from the box that look like they are electrical. I have it in my studio, not certain what will be done with it down the road. Any expert thoughts on it? Would it be sacrilege to alter it? :)
Thanks for the kind email.
Rodger
Hi Rodger
I don't want to use the word "sacrilege", but it's a bad idea to alter any antique phone into something it wasn't meant to be. The phone you turned into a lamp, even though you preserved as much as possible, could have fetched you two or three times as much with a little effort to clean it up, e.g. the phone appears to have been painted by a previous owner. Removing the paint and repainting it the original color would have made it a very collectible piece, even if you couldn't vouch for it's functionality. Heck, even as is (or was), it was a very collectible piece.
These phones were made to last. I found a 70yo phone at a yard sale and even though it was rusted and corroded inside, when I hooked it up I got a dial tone and was able to dial out and receive calls, it fully functioned, I just cleaned it up. Here's a link to my thread on it: www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3039.0
Chances are your phone could easily be made to function also. I've been collecting phones for almost 3 years. I have no knowledge of electronics, but the vast majority of the non-functioning vintage phones I find can be made to function using just a screwdriver and moving a wire or two.
As for the phone in the picture I sent you, right now it's non-functioning, but only because I need help in interpreting the schematics in order to make it function as a single-line phone. Yours was made by the same manufacturer, Stromberg-Carlson.
Before you alter any more phones, I would like to invite you to use Classic Rotary Phone Forum as a source for researching the phones you find. It's a very friendly group and I've gained a lot of knowledge from it, I'm sure you will too.
Greg
Show a picture of how you connected the bulb on the back. If it is reverseable it is not sacrilege, just a momentary lapse of reasoning. If you drilled the metal........Welcome to the Forum...DougMy, Doug... You didn't tell us you were a diplomat :) Well put.
Thank you all for your comments and input!Ed...if the metal has been drilled, sad to say, it should remain a lamp...good luck....Doug
As for messing up... sounds like we did. A hole was drilled in the top to insert the metal pole for the lamp portion. Inside where the receiver hangs from we installed an insulated pressure switch, so when you pick up the receiver the light goes on, hang up the phone and the light goes off.
To return to original state would only require removing the electrical wires, but would need to replace the curved piece at the top of the phone.
I will try and get pictures of the other phones, one looks similar to this one, but at the mouthpiece end it is sliver in color with "Kellogg" stamped on the face at the top, and at the bottom is stamped: 818577L, no markings on the bottom, just one screw.
The other is a desk model, I will have to dig out of box it's in.
Thanks again for the input!
Ed
Ed...if the metal has been drilled, sad to say, it should remain a lamp...good luck....Doug
http://tinyurl.com/663r64j
Patented??? I'd like to see proof of that patent. People sure are full of themselves.
I saw that listing and was glad that at least the phone was a later model AE80. I have been looking for an early read AE80 (and not a lamp).
Larry
You are buying character!
I wonder how the chrome pipe that the coil cord gets wrapped around is being anchored to the base plate? It has to be pretty secure at that point. Maybe the tube is flattened and bolted to the base plate inside the phone base.
I did not think about wiring inside the pipe but that could still be accomplished by drilling a hole into the pipe to insert the wires on the other side of the point where the pipe is flattened and bolted to the base.
Terry
That arrangement would make the handset a bit difficult to access.
Did WE make a lamp phone? :D ;D :D ::)Maybe they were sitting around an R&D table one day when the lights came on! Better than using candles.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180945080921
Well, daisyba did another one in.
And it can be yours for only $150.00 BIN (plus shipping). Inflation sets in. The last one was only $129 BIN but sold with one bid for $99. Guess because it actually sold, she was encouraged to "create" another and raise the price.
http://tinyurl.com/cqnzapf
As an update, this phone today was re-listed for a second time. It didn't sell the first time it was listed, the second time it was listed and now up for a third time. Maybe daisyba will get the message and quit putting these phones through her chop shop. Here's the 2nd re-listing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221090007984
It is sad, but worthwhile if it has salvageable parts.
On that phone, the plunger and possibly the whole hook switch assembly is gone.
No great loss here on this conversion, except for the money paid should someone bite on this listing - $75 plus $20.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190755960070
I still don't get why people can't let lamps be lamps and phones be phones....
I wonder if anyone has destroyed a lamp to turn it into a phone? ???
Another lamp crime
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290816420740
Another lamp crime
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290816420740
This is very coolNo it's not!
What better lamp to have in your phone display than a Phone made into a Lamp?Just a regular lamp would be infinitely better.
This is NOT a working phone!Well yeah, not now! Reduce the price to $10 and I'll buy it just for that dial, never seen a QZ one before.
Bakelite is in outstanding condition
using a working vintage rotary phone to dissect and turn into s lamp is just wrong, and takes more of what we're looking for off the market... :(
Here's an ALL-TIME great "Phone-Lamp Atrocity"!
Yep; they're the first 2 that I got restored from the find in the railcar. Working on the rest, but they are in worse shape.Here's an ALL-TIME great "Phone-Lamp Atrocity"!
No Mickey Mouse Phones in that picture Ray! Snoopy & Woodstock YES, but no Mickey Mouse.
Are the AE's Jonnathan's? Are they anything to do with the lot out of the railcar that you posted for find of the month awhile ago?
Terry
I found this treasure at a local antique store a few years ago. For once, the maker mounted the lamp by using a bracket behind the phone and didn't drill through the top. Aside from two screw holes mounting the base of the phone to the wooden lamp base, and the usual polishing off the nickel, the phone was left intact.
Best of all, it was cheap.
using a working vintage rotary phone to dissect and turn into s lamp is just wrong, and takes more of what we're looking for off the market... :(
I've had that same thought for a while now. It would make sense to separate out the lamp phones from all of the other hideous phones into their own page. I'd bet there are a lot more out there because more and more are surfacing and most of them without bulbs, harps or shades meaning they haven't been used as a lamp in quite some time, but finders see they bring money on eBay.
Frankly, I find nothing offensive about turning phones into lamps, or into whatever for that matter.
Many of the Lamp phones or at least the idea for them originated with Junior Achievement programs operated by some Telco's. Youngsters were given some business training by doing projects such as turning the Telco's old retired telephones into things like Lamps and then selling them to the public to gain business experience.
I have seen articles and pictures about this but I am not sure where now. Maybe someone has something they can add about this.
I think that Old Phones and Phone Lamps were used as retirement gifts for Telco Employees.
Terry
2 Rotary Phone Table Lamps - $115 (Stayton)
Date: 2012-11-20, 9:53AM PST
Reply to this post Reply to: ng5rq-3364423629@sale.craigslist.org
2 matching table lamps. The base of the lamp is an actual rotary phone that works. The light part has a nice beige lamp shade. This would make a nice novelty Christmas present or maybe just a good way to show your children a part of the past. I am asking $65.00 a piece or $115.00 for the pair.
If interested call Judi at 503-569-4174. Come check us out at Judi's Junktion 333 N 1st St Stayton, Or. 97383
I was hoping it was a reproduction and not a real 202 but I was quickly disappointed once I I opened the box and found that it was once a real telephone
Many of the Lamp phones or at least the idea for them originated with Junior Achievement programs operated by some Telco's. Youngsters were given some business training by doing projects such as turning the Telco's old retired telephones into things like Lamps and then selling them to the public to gain business experience.
I have seen articles and pictures about this but I am not sure where now. Maybe someone has something they can add about this.
I think that Old Phones and Phone Lamps were used as retirement gifts for Telco Employees.
Terry
It seems that even antique dealers don't know the difference between an antique and any thing elase.
It was made by WE as an "ANTIQUE CANDLESTICK TELEPHONE LAMP" classified as "PATIENT 1915" and done well enough that "THE LAMP WORKS" according to the seller.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321046763656
"THIS IS A REAALY NEAT LAMP. LIFT THE RECEIVER AND IT TURNS THE LAMP ON PUT IT ON THE HANDLE AND IT TURNS IT OFF. MADE BY WESTERN ELECTRIC PATIENT IN 1915 STANDS 32" TALL WITH THE SHADE." :o
It was patient in 1915, but is it still patient? I'd have lost my patience by now....It makes me wonder how many of those who sell phone lamps are or should be patients!
<snip>...Seriously, how does one come up with a price like that on an item like this?I think all these phone lamps can be lumped into the category, "If you build it, they will come". Jerks wouldn't be selling them if morons weren't buying them!
I think all these phone lamps can be lumped into the category, "If you build it, they will come".
Æsthetics and the value of that shade aside, looking closer I'd have to say that's the least "destructive" lamp conversion I've seen recently, with its socket on a bracket and not on a rod drilled down into the set.
I'll pass; no bulb included !!!
I'll pass; no bulb included !!!
I don't think any of us will jump to this kluged gadget, whatever it is supposed to be.
I don't think any of us will jump to this kluged gadget, whatever it is supposed to be.
Wouldn't the bulb just quickly burn out anyway if you plugged it in over there Remco?
Terry
The clue's in the title, "Steampunk", sticking vintage looking stuff together to make some abomination to impress their steampunk brethren, while destroying some valuable stuff in the process... ::)
I don't get out much.
NOTE: This is a 1970 telephone that has been used and abused. You are buying the character wrought by its years of trustworthy service.
I suppose it's better than ending up in a dumpster but, as a keyset lover, it still makes me queasy. Excuse me, but I really have to look for that bottle of Pepto Bismol.....
NOTE: This is a 1970 telephone that has been used and abused. You are buying the character wrought by its years of trustworthy service."
http://tinyurl.com/bbqhrda
Excuse me, but I really have to look for that bottle of Pepto Bismol.....
I was speechless when I found these:
I was speechless when I found these:THAT IS A REAL BLUE 302 :'( :'( :'( :'( >:( >:( >:(
Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, oooooohhhhhhhhhhh! :'(
"Truly unique one of a kind piece. This Western Electric Co. Imperial 202 phone was made in to a workable lamp."
D'oh!
Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, oooooohhhhhhhhhhh! :'(
"Truly unique one of a kind piece. This Western Electric Co. Imperial 202 phone was made in to a workable lamp."
D'oh!
And wasn't that a solid white handset?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360567585499
OLD BAKERLIGHT TELEPHONE EXCHANGE
I HAVE CONVERTED THIS INTO A HALL TABLE LIGHT
HAVE THE NOSTALGA OF AN OLD PHONE AND THE USE OF A MODERN LIGHT ALL IN ONE WILL LOOK GREAT IN A
PERIOD HOUSE OR A MODERN APARTMENT
HAS NEW WIRE PLUG AND FITTINGS HAS AN INLINE ON OFF SWITCH
Very decorative ......
Terry
Junior Achievement also made a lot of lamps from 202s. On the one I had, all the contacts on the dial and hookswitch had been removed.
Junior Achievement also made a lot of lamps from 202s. On the one I had, all the contacts on the dial and hookswitch had been removed.
Junior Achievement... they should be shot as well!!! :P
What we hold dear others do not... If it were not for the ones we save, I fear they would have all been destroyed.
If it hadn't been recycled into a lamp would it still be around today?
Junior Achievement also made a lot of lamps from 202s. On the one I had, all the contacts on the dial and hookswitch had been removed.
At least when the phone service was down.... the device could be used for optical signaling...
when phone service is getting boring... one also needs a clock to watch the time fly by...
I found a well converted, dual use, lamp-phone (or phone-lamp) in ebay.
We must recognize this design is original.
Cheers
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIQUE-1970S-SEE-THRU-ACRYLIC-LUCITE-ROTARY-PHONE-W-LIGHT-YELLOW-BLACK-/251240546528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7f1a80e0
I don't know where they come up with these descriptions
Here one in New Hampshire
http://nh.craigslist.org/atq/3625849873.html
The seller is the guy who make convertions.
We must admit, the switch system is really cool...
$325
Cheers
Want to make the seller cry? Tell him what this would be worth without the illuminating attachment.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181129857304
$190 BIN plus $25 shipping in a brand new 7 day auction.
Almost looks as though it could be used to make butter!
Terry
Well, it's different, almost human, but, still a waste . . . :-\(http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1000.0;attach=52152;image)
Insides of this 315H look good, as does the wood not bored out for legs and the lamp. Expensive parts lamp phone.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321125036988
7 day auction starting at $99 plus $17.50 shipping.
. . . to make your own power
A nice AE lamp >:(
I think those eBay items pretty much started this thread didn't they?
This one makes my head hurt. The finger stop is strange but the dial seems legit. The colored caps are strange but the shell and handset look legit. Gnat bites to the plastic? Seems gutted since they say there is a light inside the shell (fire hazard?). No switch other than pulling the plug. Was/is this an ivory 302?
Seller says "This pink lamp is APPROXIMATELY 8 1/2" from base to top, and is meant for a little girl's room. It is plastic...and the cool thing about it is that it lights from both inside and on the top. Theres no on and off switch, so you must plug and unplug. The plastic is a bit faded with normal wear, no cracks, minor scratch on front near the dial and a few very minor gnat bites to the edge in the back."
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231055112659
Seller wants at least $9.99 with $9.15 shipping.
Look at the feet. This is probably a 302 replica toy. I have seen similar things, without the lamp part, at the flea market. There is another listed now (item 390651262496).
Look at the feet. This is probably a 302 replica toy. I have seen similar things, without the lamp part, at the flea market. There is another listed now (item 390651262496).
Do clock phones count?
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/VINTAGE-RETRO-TRIMLINE-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-Orange-Blue-PHONE-DIGITAL-CLOCK-Rare-/00/s/OTIwWDE1OTc=/z/1LgAAMXQ4YtSM8b4/$T2eC16JHJHMFHBNVZpWwBSM8b3nDcw~~60_57.JPG)
http://tinyurl.com/ppr2b8m (http://tinyurl.com/ppr2b8m)
I was JUST going to post that yesterday, but I thought it was off topic, so I moved on. >:(
Are they supplying 120 VAC through the flat line cord :o I wouldn't want that clock plugged in in my house.
Larry
I was JUST going to post that yesterday, but I thought it was off topic, so I moved on. >:(
There are a variety of items converted into lamps and other types of stuff in this topic. Since some of the "lamp phones" reappear, are re-listed, it gets confusing as to what has been and what hasn't been posted in the topic. People who own these atrocities keep trying to sell them, over and over and over. To that end, one of each of all of the "lamp phone" pictures from this topic have been compiled and can be seen at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/mydkrkh
Non-lamp phone pictures were not included in the compilation but always welcome in the topic.
Oh, sweet Jesus. #8 in the first set of pics. Is that a murdered blue 302?
NOW IM MAD! >:(
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181219094189
Are they supplying 120 VAC through the flat line cord :o I wouldn't want that clock plugged in in my house.
Larry
Do you guys mean something like this antique floor lamp turned into a phone?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=141065411943&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:3160#ht_3624wt_650
This thing is currently on eBay for $199...
What! That beauty hasn't sold yet?So, I guess it doesn't pay to put a lamp on a subset and stick some broomsticks in its adze! Go figure! Does that symbolize "The Rape of Ma Bell"?
So, I guess it doesn't pay to put a lamp on a subset and stick some broomsticks in its adze!
Well, if anyone's interested, they could buy this item and turn it into a "just like it" lamp or buy the lamp above and turn it into a "just like it" magneto ringer subset . . . ::)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281192072115
Well, if anyone's interested, they could buy this item and turn it into a "just like it" lamp or buy the lamp above and turn it into a "just like it" magneto ringer subset . . . ::)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281192072115
Nothing else with this item TelePlay ?..
Maybe you can just replace the drilled F-1 and find the innards for a nice manual
202. I have seen lots with the cradles snapped off, cheap parts phones. The body looks in good shape & a nice dial card in it!
Here's a lamp that looks and works like a real WE 60's payphone! And at a payphone price to boot: $499 opening bid or BIN at $675 (shade not included and shipping is $78.50).Well, the vendor states "1960'S ROTARY DIAL 3 SLOT COIN PAY PHONE LAMP WESTERN ELECTRIC BELL SYSTEM------IS IN EXCELLENT WORKING CONDITION,HAS BEEN TESTED AND WORKS GREAT,HAS OLD TIME RINGER SOUND," therefore a ringer has been added - chances are extremely likely it has been installed in the location of the coin relay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111216492191
Okay, so if "THE FRONT COVER FOR THE COIN BOX IS MISSING," then why didn't the current owner drop a dime to see if the chute worked? The vault is open! :-\
Maybe you can just replace the drilled F-1 and find the innards for a nice manual
202. I have seen lots with the cradles snapped off, cheap parts phones. The body looks in good shape & a nice dial card in it!
I may have asked before, but has anyone found a source for the 2 bushings (originally phenol) that guide the plunger, one at the top and one at the bottom?
What became of the Junior achievement WE dial card??
This one:ebay link (http://www.ebay.com/itm/301083872597) should not escape mention :o
Larry
I recently sold a Kellogg Ashtray phone, and the buyer converted it to a lamp. Here's a before and after picture. List price for the lamp is $400, which is about $360 more than the phone cost, so not a bad profit for the guy. Actually doesn't look too bad. The phone had a small chip, and no internals, so this isn't a horrible use for the phone.
http://www.jssculptures.com/
wonder if he could turn my x-wife into a lamp.Why don't you list her on ebay and see ;D
List price for the lamp is $400, which is about $360 more than the phone cost, so not a bad profit for the guy.
I recently sold a Kellogg Ashtray phone, and the buyer converted it to a lamp. Here's a before and after picture. List price for the lamp is $400, which is about $360 more than the phone cost, so not a bad profit for the guy. Actually doesn't look too bad. The phone had a small chip, and no internals, so this isn't a horrible use for the phone.
http://www.jssculptures.com/
Apparently no object is safe from this guy.
Larry
That has been listed before, I remember looking at it a while ago. I thought about purchasing it just because the gold is so nice but I had the same reservation you did, I wonder whats inside? I like the plungers too.
Another shining example of a drilled upper, and a light tent. And, both the light and the dial work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Bell-System-Electric-3-Slot-Payphone-Lamp-With-Working-Dial-/161536603389
Starting at $79.95 plus $16 shipping.
Know what would be really bad? A mushroom phone with a light added. Think about it, :)
Ben
Know what would be really bad? A mushroom phone with a light added. Think about it, :)
Ben
From what you say, a mushroom phone with a light added is so different Ben,, this kind of phone is factored with a light. but the phone that teleplay shows, is an atrocity. ugly for me anyway :P... but I understand your view point . ;)
Haven't posted this link for a few pages so if anyone wants to see all of the 94 phones posted above in this topic to date in all their shining glory, check out this link, which has now been updated.Lamp Phone Atrocities (http://s1000.photobucket.com/user/CRPF/library/Lamp%20Phone%20Atrocities)
Hi Denis,
Yes, the post was not intended as a reply, merely a thought.
Ben
Know what would be really bad? A mushroom phone with a light added. Think about it, :)
Ben
That's perhaps the first constructive idea in this thread. :-* ;D
Wouldnt a mushroom phone with the mushroom light removed and discarded and a flexible gooseneck lamp say with a big bright halogen lamp in it attached where the mushroom lamp had been, be a big modern improvement?
Terry
:'(Ugh, a 20-B at that!
SOLD!How much would a working #2 dial be worth? (Just curious.)
Someone neededa #2 dial (wasn't me)
Terry
They go for around $100 in decent shape.SOLD!How much would a working #2 dial be worth? (Just curious.)
Someone neededa #2 dial (wasn't me)
Terry
This one:ebay link (http://www.ebay.com/itm/301083872597) should not escape mention :o
Larry
Here's a great bedside phone for a collector. :oI've been thinking about this phone. How cool would it be to install a '30s era light fixture to a candlestick scissors mount, but a candlestick wouldn't be attached at the same time? It would be interesting to mount a painted pipe to the clamp (or in this case, the four screws that attach to the phone stem), and mount the light to that!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161662986816 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/161662986816)
This thread is always rough on me. But I can't resist opening it up every time I see a new post....
Nice phone, could be restored but at $200 BIN?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-CANDLESTICK-PHONE-CON-TO-LAMP-L403-/171790822990
Telephones made into lamps are so much in demand and with the prices skyrocketing they are now making reproduction telephone lamps. So when you're buying you next telephone lamp be carefully.That's weird looking!
http://preview.tinyurl.com/lea8vz8
BTW, your link isn't working.
Telephones made into lamps are so much in demand and with the prices skyrocketing they are now making reproduction telephone lamps. So when you're buying your next telephone lamp be carefully.
Well, it's still out there, for sale, in case you thought you might have missed it. But the seller seems confused. Original listing was $35 plus $15 shipping. First re-list was at $25 plus $15. Second re-list was at $25 plus 15. But the 4th re-list is a BIN at $45 plus $15 shipping or Best Offer. :-\
The last of the four.Ohhh... I want one!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TELEPHONE-LAMP-Anthropologie-Vintage-Antique-Phone-Rare-Table-Lighting-/111705475516 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/TELEPHONE-LAMP-Anthropologie-Vintage-Antique-Phone-Rare-Table-Lighting-/111705475516)
We've all seen phones made into lamps, but this one is a new twist. The subscriber set "porch light". Link to list : http://r.ebay.com/SznGtg
Item description says it needs rewiring because if it's plugged in it will give the person a "shock". Can't understand why that would happen.
Jeff Lamb
We've all seen phones made into lamps, but this one is a new twist. The subscriber set "porch light".
I haven't added to this thread for a while, so here's one I came across. That area code is for Portland, OR.Ugh, it isn't even drilled on straight!!!
How about this:That's pretty creepy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINTAGE-CLOWN-CANDLESTICK-TELEPHONE-LAMP-LIGHT-/391258763898?hash=item5b18d6f27a
How about this:That's pretty creepy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINTAGE-CLOWN-CANDLESTICK-TELEPHONE-LAMP-LIGHT-/391258763898?hash=item5b18d6f27a
What scares me even more is what gruesome, horrifying throughts must be going through the head of whoever painted that thing!!
How about this:
This may not be a recent conversion. How long has it been since lamps had cloth covered electrical cords?
This may not be a recent conversion. How long has it been since lamps had cloth covered electrical cords?
Rather than let vintage rotary phones collect dust, we like to rescue them from estate sales and flea markets, wire them up, and turn them into slick little lamps.
Yet again another telephone lamp for sale.
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collectibles/oakville-halton-region/antique-telephone-art/1060207003?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true (http://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collectibles/oakville-halton-region/antique-telephone-art/1060207003?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true)
Doug
Someone needs to make a lamp into a telephone. That would drive 'em crazy.
You would make the Tiffany and Co proud........ :)
A person can make a lamp from a Frito and an alligator clip and a match. Why do they have to drag a telephone into it?
Found one! I'm on my phone, so a link
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Candlestick-Telephone-Lamp-Light-Working-Western-Electric-Bell-Phone-/291663981010?nav=SEARCH
Did anyone notice the shade is sitting right on the light socket? So does the bulb go above the shade or does the shade sit precariously on top of the bulb? Maybe it would work OK if you used a flame shaped bulb? Very odd.
That "Kellogg " stick in the last auction is a Chicago/Montgomery W/ Sears stick with a Late SC capsule rec.The cup can be replaced or turned hole down to hide it
Did anyone notice the shade is sitting right on the light socket? So does the bulb go above the shade or does the shade sit precariously on top of the bulb? Maybe it would work OK if you used a flame shaped bulb? Very odd.
I think it is all AE except for the dial, a 2 something or other dial I guess. Notched number plate though and an unmarked outside mounted finger stop. I guess the brass housing could be WECo as well? To me these brass bases for AE and WE look pretty similar to each other. It does have the brass bushing around the cord exit hole which might be more WECo than AECo and it has a base plate that seems more WECo than AECo to me with the snap ring inside to hold the felt in place rather than a rubber ring like AE's usually have.
I dislike telephone lamps ,however, I do buy them if cheap and use them in my phone room as...lamps.
My response is: Wrong! I somehow bet that it won't work as a 5 line 10A2 phone any more...
Well, it never was an (AE) 10A2 phone but point taken and I agree, chances are pretty good that it no longer works properly as a phone. It is (was) an early AE 87 3 line / 3 hold phone with all clear buttons. The only give away that it is Not an AE 86 10A1/2 AKT phone is the signal key that was supplied only on 87 sets.Thanks for clearing up the model number - I hadn't seen one without the red buttons (until this weekend in Lancaster). Still sadness...
Terry
And then there is this waste of what once was a very nice D1 with an E1 handset . . .Good grief, that's just sad..
Good grief, that's just sad..
I hope it retains it's title as one of a kind.
It would not surprise me that the WE sets were Jr Achevement projects.Bell got rid of old sets and they were not useable as telephones anymore
Here's one that will make you scratch your head.
Here's one that will make you scratch your head.
The more I look at it, the more I am unsure of what it actually does...... :o
And, then, what was it before it was assimilated?
As opposed to a page of fatuous descriptions for "steampunk", why not just the hallmarks: stark, ugly and destructive. I'm sure someone out there is making something in keeping with it that would be something a sane person would be proud of, or use.Why do you presume those that don't agree, as not ''sane''. The idea of re-using what is considered junk at any given time to make works of "art", using that term without prejudice, has always been popular.
You said it, "art". :D
http://tinyurl.com/jhtygvm (http://tinyurl.com/jhtygvm)
Stan S.
Another interesting contraption based on a more interesting phone.I have one of these. It is missing the watchcase receiver and the stand/lamp kit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Telephone-Lamp-ONE-OF-A-KIND-About-20-inches-tall-Brown-wood-/222514077560
What a "WASTE" !
Internally stripped so without the magneto...[snip]
Do people actually buy this stuff?
(P.S. Are any of the forum folks that are into lanterns into carbide lamps? I have a few I picked up as a result of being a caver.)
While not a phone, nor an antique or a desirable lantern, there is still something totally wrong with this lobotomy.
It's just wrong in so many ways.
And I'd like to see what low profile bulb is used to clear the bail.
Here's a really pretty chrome plated North.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Telephone-Lamp-Rotary-Dial-Silver-Black-Mid-Centuty-Modern/282716015032?hash=item41d33009b8:g:DFwAAOSwWHBZ-Rus
I agree, and I offered $25.00+ shipping and it now sits on my in table! :D
They say it's a 1942 phone bird house.
Well at least they did harm the phone. :o
Think you meant " . . . didn't harm . . . "
Seem to be mounted on a back board and the plumbing attached to the board, not the phone. Still a bit high for the phone itself.
I guess I am "steampunk" although I am not quite sure what it means . . .
Do you have to keep putting change in the meter to keep the light on?Yes....its very cool as a quarter gets you and hour ..etc. When its stops ticking the light goes out. ....Doug
This guy not only destroys phones as he did with this nice color Pink AE 90 wall phone. Check his other items!
The Chinese Red / Gold Trim AE 50 lamp phone a few posts back has sold today on eBay for $525. I was hoping to be the lucky winner but not today.To bad Terry,
Terry
Stromberg Coffee Grinder
This should go in the atrocities folder, but I couldn't find it. It looks as close as it can get to being a total disaster, but there still seems to be some value in it. It does still have the egg shaped bells that has been discussed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152937507904
Just my opinion, but, yuk.
~
This seller has not one but SIX lamp phones offered on EBAY, your choice, only $139.00.
I believe he/she has gone into mass production!
Never understood why making a phone inoperable and stuffing a bulb socket on it makes it worth 100$ more than when it was a new phone.
Yes, I have heard that too. Seems to be the major consensus on them. Would either one of them make one for a WE retiree?
What kind of phones were those before they were arted around with?The first, second and the last are Siemens s62.
...they were arted around with...
What kind of phones were those before they were "arted" around with?Did you mistake a "word' on your proofread?
Exactly, who wants a handset lamp... Desperado, someone has been out mending feces for so long, there loosing touch with reality.Looks like a Junior Achievement project to me. The kids made them and sold them as a business project. They had a sponsor that helped create the project and got them the parts.
Exactly, who wants a handset lamp... Desperado, someone has been out mending feces for so long, there loosing touch with reality.
How hard woukd it be to find a brown base/lamp cord for this? Instead they find this “almost matching” bright blue cord!
It looks like they took a gooseneck desk lamp modified it into a phone lamp. I think I would of left the phone base off.
Not sure what the silver disk underneath is, probably to stop the whole thing falling over.
Even 1980's/90's transparent phones can't escape.
Here is one I found for $265, what a shame!
That seller also has a Contempra he ruined!
Thing is, I can't look at a Contempra now without wanting to check if it has the upside down logo on it like Duffy's...I saw the auction and checked it against Duffy's post. It appears contempras are upside down on-hook and right-side up off-hook, while in-use................usually.
Hopefully these little gems should sate the destruction lust of the truly gifted....
Bookends, not a lamp, but harder to make than a lamp, and much harder to convert back to a telephone!
This is a clock made from a payphone front plate. At least they only used a part vs the whole payphone.
https://tinyurl.com/ybt54yay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/WEIRD-FIND-AT-T-Vintage-Bell-Rotary-PayPhone-CLOCK-OAK-TRIM-FACE-WIRED-CLOCK/223949757944
Another eBay auction with another payphone converted!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Illinois-Bell-Pay-Phone-Converted-to-Steampunk-21-Table-Lamp-Bob-Steinmetz/223923427026 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Illinois-Bell-Pay-Phone-Converted-to-Steampunk-21-Table-Lamp-Bob-Steinmetz/223923427026)
Illinois Bell Pay Phone Converted to Steampunk 21" Table Lamp Bob Steinmetz
Sellers description:
This listing features a vintage and original Illinois Bell Public Push Button Pay Phone professionally Converted to Steampunk Table Lamp by Got a Light Custom Steampunk Lighting, Bob Steinmetz. Tested and lamp is in excellent working condition. Dimmer knob switch on back. Measures approximately 21" x 12" x 9". Made in USA. Shows some wear from age, rare vintage piece.
They could've made that out of a paper towel holder.;D
Read the description, I dont think this is a modern modification. It seems this was done by bell system in the 20s.Despite what the seller states, anyone working for Bell Telephone/Western Electric back in the day would never have turned out work like this - I doubt any professional would have.
Bringing the concept up to the modern era.
I saw one of those in a yard sale, waaay back, for free. Snatched it right up, tbe guy laughed said thats a brick.I stopped at a yard sale, mentioned I collected phones. He gave ma an original big brick , It was from Hawaii with box and 2 batteries, and a very nice holster w/accessories. He said it was high dollar and air time was $2.00 a minute.
I said yes it is, but believe it or mot its worth a few bucks! He had a bummed look.
But to do that to one, geez.
Never had a brick, but I had a Motorola Tough Talker. The shoebox sized one with a mobile handset and half of it was the battery. It was my first cell phone.At another yard sale I was offered at least 20-30 maybe closer to 40 "bag" phones that the guy had collected.
Was that even a real phone?
The Lamp Collector Group (LCG) are ticked off because someone turned a lamp into a phone! LOL :o
The lampshades on those poor phones look as good as one on a partying drunk.