darnit, I'm getting the bug. Won the eBay bidding at $30, plus $10 shipping. I told myself I really didn't want to may more than $20 for a phone, but with all the hype surrounding Kellogg Redbars/Masterphones/1000s, I couldn't resist.
The package arrived quickly. I heard Redbars are prone to cracking, but this one was intact. I think it's because the case is
metal, not Bakelite. I read that some Redbar cases were aluminum, but this phone seemed was too heavy to be that, like it was actually drop-forged from steel. Even the Bakelite handset is heavy enough to double as a blunt weapon; I'd say it weighs about 50% more than a Trimline headset.
I apologize in advance for the terrible photo. I don't have my good camera handy.
darn, this is one
manly phone. It'll find a permanent place on my desk, from which I'll use it to call dames, broads, and skirts, demanding that they bring me coffee, gin, or cartons of filterless Lucky Strikes.
As with many eBay phones, the Redbar needed some cleaning. Some Zymol made the case shine. The black paint, likely leaded, has a wet look to it. The dial was sticky and slow, but some bearing assembly oil fixed that. The dial action is now nice and smooth, quietly winding up, and returning with a soft mechanical buzz. The dial doesn't have a governor, so you can forcefully pull it back quickly.
The guts: The Redbar was definitely ahead of its time. I wonder why the folks over at Western Electric didn't take any lessons from the Kellogg 1000 and apply them to the 500. The Redbar is clean, modular, hacker-friendly. It made me respect the ingenuity, foresight and engineering that went into non-WE phones.
For some reason, the line cord was attached to the receiver. I only discovered that after connecting another line cable to what would have been the handset connections. Unbelievably, I managed to get a dial tone, but I couldn't break it. After checking out some schematics, I realized what was wrong with the wiring.
The cloth line cord is a bit frayed. All the phone needs is a headset cord, and the number plate fixings (which I can't seem to find on Old Phone Works), and it'll be good to go.
