Vintage Phones

[BinkieBaumont]

It has to be worth a small fortune, so rare!!!

 

[Sefton]

Brinybay, the Japanese characters are basically instructions on how to place a call; rotate and release. As for the phones value I have seen similar phones for sale in antique shops in Japan for reasonable prices. Of course such a phone is rare here and might be worth more to a collector. Good find.

 

[Brinybay]

Brinybay, the Japanese characters are basically instructions on how to place a call; rotate and release. As for the phones value I have seen similar phones for sale in antique shops in Japan for reasonable prices. Of course such a phone is rare here and might be worth more to a collector. Good find.

Sounds like the hassle I went through to get it was worth it. Had a hard time finding the place, but eventually we connected. Funny, I was going to guess "Nippon Electric Company", but my first guess was it was just a US phone with an Asian dial card, perhaps used in an Asian business, and didn't know if it was Japanese or Chinese. I know to people who can read either one the difference is probably vast, but I'm not educated in Asian writing.

Thanks for the translation and info. I'll do some research on it and let y'all know what I find.

 

[Brinybay]

Well, I've been home sick with a bug and only energy enough to surf the net, I can't find diddly/squat about antique Japanese telephones. I sent an inquiry under the category of "other" to NEC themselves. Also having trouble trying to find a local (Seattle area) antique telephone club, gotta be one around here somewhere.

I took the bottom off to get a look at the innards to see if there's a model #. Silly me, it's in Japanese! This phone appears to have been used very little and packed away for decades. No wear marks, scratches, cracks, nicks. The insides look very clean, no "old smell" and very little dust.

innards1.jpg
innards2.jpg

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Unmistakable Nippon Denso logo on that square silver thing that's probably a capacitor. I remember that from my days of working on Datsuns.

I think NEC began as the Japanese division of Western Electric, but that phone does not look like a WE design at all.

 

[Hatsquad]

This is a Stromberg Carlson like mine, refurbished by: Old Phone Works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. They replace parts as needed and also sell complete restorations. (I am not associated with them in any way, just a customer.)

If it's ok, here's their website: www.oldphoneworks.com.


Regards, Gerry

 

[Brinybay]

This is a Stromberg Carlson like mine, refurbished by: Old Phone Works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. They replace parts as needed and also sell complete restorations. (I am not associated with them in any way, just a customer.)

If it's ok, here's their website: www.oldphoneworks.com.

Regards, Gerry

My barber has one in his shop. I was just in there today for a haircut and took a peek at it, Stromberg Carlson.

 

[Brinybay]

It's a Type 3 desk phone, circa mid-30s

Japanese phones

 

[Sefton]

Very cool. Banzai.

 

[Brinybay]

Brinybay, the Japanese characters are basically instructions on how to place a call; rotate and release. As for the phones value I have seen similar phones for sale in antique shops in Japan for reasonable prices. Of course such a phone is rare here and might be worth more to a collector. Good find.

Can you decipher what the paragraph at the bottom of the schematics say? I'm trying to find a mfg. date, there's nothing on the inside of the phone that resembles a date.

Schematics closeup.

 

[Sefton]

Can you decipher what the paragraph at the bottom of the schematics say? I'm trying to find a mfg. date, there's nothing on the inside of the phone that resembles a date.

Schematics closeup.

Sorry, there's nothing about a manufacture date. It's literally just a guide listing which color wire / lead goes to which terminal, safety warnings, etc.

How's it working for you? Does the bell have a nice tone?

 

[Brinybay]

Sorry, there's nothing about a manufacture date. It's literally just a guide listing which color wire / lead goes to which terminal, safety warnings, etc.

How's it working for you? Does the bell have a nice tone?

Thanks. Haven't tried it yet. I have instructions on how to rig it to plug into a modern jack w/o compromising the original cord. First I have to do that, then I need a land line. Getting a land line Wednesday the 11th.

 

[Brinybay]

How's it working for you? Does the bell have a nice tone?

Finally got the land-line in my new apt. The good and not-so-bad: I get a dial tone and can place and receive calls. The not-so-bad is there is static on the line, but it's not overwhelming, I can here the person on the other end fine and vice-versa. Also it doesn't ring, but I was told I have to do some trial and error with the middle wire on the cord to get it to ring. Exhausted from moving and still have more to go, so I'll mess with it later.

 

[Brinybay]

Another vintage phone rescued.

My 2nd phone is another Craigslist find. A WE 500 model that was used and abused. So far the problems appear to be cosmetic. It was in a basement shop and appears to have a lot of grime, paint, and a few splats of plaster for good measure. Otherwise appears to be in good shape, just missing that clear plastic doo-dad for one side of the switch hook. The body and handset are not cracked, broken, or chipped, dial rotates and returns good, switch hook springs back ok. Worst part is it has a gouge on the right side and some other scratches, but overall it doesn't appear too bad. The gal said it was in use and worked well, until they emptied out the basement and one of the guys just yanked the cord out of the wall. (What a bozo!)

This is going to be a project phone for learning purposes. If I screw it up, it isn't a big loss.

Anyway, pics are below.

http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone3.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone4.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone5.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone6.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone7.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone8.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone9.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~gsgoebel/500_phone/500phone10.jpg

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I am big into phones, particularly the WE 500, but like anything with a rotary dial practically. Including my trimline and Starlite that I have recently acquired. I also like the 500 look-alikes by Stromberg Carlson, ITT, etc. My daily driver (the brown one) is a 1972 SC, but these phones date from 1958, 1966(2(same month produced as well)) 1959, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, and those are just the ones I've checked. Brinybay, you'll be seeing these on the RPF as well.
Thanks everybody and God bless!

 

[Brinybay]

I am big into phones, particularly the WE 500, but like anything with a rotary dial practically. Including my trimline and Starlite that I have recently acquired. I also like the 500 look-alikes by Stromberg Carlson, ITT, etc. My daily driver (the brown one) is a 1972 SC, but these phones date from 1958, 1966(2(same month produced as well)) 1959, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, and those are just the ones I've checked. Brinybay, you'll be seeing these on the RPF as well.
Thanks everybody and God bless!

Glad you found this place Tom! There is literally NOTHING concerning vintage ANYTHING that you won't find here!

 

[Brinybay]

I haven't updated this thread recently. I have these over in the yard sale thread, but may as well post it here too:

Craigslist finds:

WE D-Type w/subset, circa 1935. I want to put a period correct dial in it and get a subset that will work with it.

PTT, (Dutch) circa mid-60s? Works, only needed a jumper to get it to ring. Had the guy ship it to me, but told him how to pack it, came to $13.44 w/shipping.

I found this one at a Goodwill near me. Stromberg Carlson from 1971. Only $1.99 and it works, came with the 4-prong to modular adapter.

 

[Shangas]

While perusing this thread and looking at all the pretty rotary telephones...I saw this post. Holy mother!

I must ask, Lucky Strike...Do any of those phones actually WORK?

Here are a few old ones:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Nice Finds! Heck the 4-prong to modular goes for about 10 bucks by itself on eBay, I know, I've been hunting LOL. The goodwill in town here, and the saint vinnies told me they were gutting the metal out for scrap and tossing them or just flat out tossing them. When they saw the look on my face they said, "Oh, you mean people want them?" I told both stores to PLEASE hold any Rotary phones for me!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Brinybay:

That there is a nice score! I know it hasn't a dial but, you can find original period WE dials and finger wheels on ebay... some times NOS. But, be careful, they made those dials all the way into the 50s and they were much more quieter and smoother by then... For a 202 Oval base, you want one that clacks and clicks as it returns to its stop. Ya know, like ya hear in old movies! That's how my 202 sounds... wouldn't trade that thing for anything in the world!

I would hold on to that phone just as it is... and if you find a dial, great but you may find a better 202 with the original dial and you can use that dial-less model just for incoming calls like I use my WE candlestick!