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Bless you, Lizzie, you are always such a wealth of information!
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Vintage Phones
- Thread starter Nick Charles
- Start date
Parsonage
New in Town
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Derbyshire, UK
Hello All - first post here. I've not worked out where the best place to say hello is, so I settled on this thread. I'm a Parish Priest in the Church of England, living in a modern Vicarage which is gradually being decorated in a William Morris style in the domestic parts (apart from a 60s kitchen) and Mid-Century Modern in the public parts. The reason for posting in this thread... I collect and restore telephones and switchboards, so if any of you are having trouble with UK telephones (or trying to source them), then I might be able to help!
John
John
- Messages
- 10,883
- Location
- Portage, Wis.
Bingles
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 330
- Location
- Buffalo, New York
I have a question for the more technical folks out there. A friend of mine has a 1970s reproduction candlestick telephone (not the Deco-tel style - I believe it is marked as "American Classic"). Anyway.. the ringer is not a bell ringer but makes an electronic "chirp" which he can't stand. He was wondering if he simply cut the wire leading to the ringer/speaker if this would simply cut off the ringer or does he run the risk or damaging other functions of the phone?
- Messages
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If he cuts it right at the ringer and tapes off the bare ends of the wires, everything should be okay.
LinaSofia
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 475
- Location
- Brighton, UK
I have a bakelite 300-series phone... at least I think that's what it is! Can someone help me date this? I really don't know much about phones.
This one doesn't have any marks or labels or similar, and it has a fake drawer, not a real one. It's been refurbished by someone else and is working fine, except it doesn't seem to hang up very well... you replace the receiver and if you lift it again after a while the call is still there, especially the case with calls to companies when you get a recorded menu... not so good for the phone bill, I bet!.
ps. I'm going to replace the repro label in the middle! Does anyone know if this style should have a plastic cap over the middle?
This one doesn't have any marks or labels or similar, and it has a fake drawer, not a real one. It's been refurbished by someone else and is working fine, except it doesn't seem to hang up very well... you replace the receiver and if you lift it again after a while the call is still there, especially the case with calls to companies when you get a recorded menu... not so good for the phone bill, I bet!.
ps. I'm going to replace the repro label in the middle! Does anyone know if this style should have a plastic cap over the middle?
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Indy_Rhodes
New in Town
- Messages
- 20
- Location
- Sheffield, England
@LinaSophia: I have an old 300 series phone, similar to yours. I love it.
I am no expert, but this type of phone was issued from 1938 until the 1960s. Many of them have the drawer covered with a blanking plate - I think the earlier ones tended to have the drawer, but that often these got stuck and jammed so that often they were replaced, or produced without them. My phone has the plastic cap and a more authentic label. I think that the originals also had a plastic cover.
I believe that a lot of these phones in the UK are imported now from India - they are marked with an "ITI" logo (Indian Telephone Industries) - where they were produced under licence. They are very similar to British ones produced at the same time, and of good quality.
I am no expert, but this type of phone was issued from 1938 until the 1960s. Many of them have the drawer covered with a blanking plate - I think the earlier ones tended to have the drawer, but that often these got stuck and jammed so that often they were replaced, or produced without them. My phone has the plastic cap and a more authentic label. I think that the originals also had a plastic cover.
I believe that a lot of these phones in the UK are imported now from India - they are marked with an "ITI" logo (Indian Telephone Industries) - where they were produced under licence. They are very similar to British ones produced at the same time, and of good quality.
LinaSofia
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 475
- Location
- Brighton, UK
Thank you Indy Rhodes, I guess it's hard to determine exactly when it dates from.. except I guess it's not an early one because of the drawer. In any case, it's a great phone! I'm going to try to make a more authentic label and see if I can find a replacement plastic cap.
Parsonage
New in Town
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Derbyshire, UK
Hello LinaSofia
What you have is a type 332. Perhaps the best way to date it is from the components - each of them will have a code on, which, if you can de-code it, will tell you the manufacturer, and/or the part number and the date it was produced. I've just looked under one of my handsets and it says '164 54' i.e., a type 164 handset, made in 1954.
As Indy Rhodes says, the drawers were often replaced with blanks because people tended to put all sorts of things into the drawer for safe keeping: the problem being that there is nothing between the drawer and the working parts of the phone. The GPO got fed up of sending an engineer to repair a phone, only to find a 10 shilling note trapped around the bell stopping the clapper. That does make them harder to date... early ones were made with drawers, later ones were made without them, but early ones that needed repairing often had them removed as a matter of course: so you might have an early one even though it is deprived of a drawer.
The phone not cutting off the call when you replace the handset might be a problem - does it happen when you make a call, receive a call, or both? If it is only when you receive a call that might not be a fault: in the UK a call is only disconnected when the person MAKING the call replaces THEIR handset (they are deemed to be in control of the call). It might be that the automated calls you mention are not registering that you've put your phone down.
The labels always had a plastic cover on them - you can probably make one if you get some plastic from some packaging and cut it to size and shape. The thing that you are missing is the 'circlip', the metal retaining clip that keeps the label and cover in place. Sadly they are like hen's teeth, and you can pay a fortune for them. I'm afraid that I haven't got any to spare (I'm missing one or two myself).
They are good steady phones, and one of the delights is that they don't skim across the desk as you dial - they're weighty enough to stay in place.
One word of warning though - keep it out of strong direct sunlight. If it was made during WWII it will have slightly poorer quality bakelite than usual, and the UV light might break down the surface which can lead to pitting and roughness. Though I guess that Nottingham (like Derbyshire where I live) is not troubled by too much strong direct sunlight!
I'm glad you like your phone. I think they are wonderful, but it can be the start of an obsession... I started out with one, and now I have lost count and even have switchboards and exchanges to run them all. It can happen easily! Perhaps that ought to be the second word of warning?
John
PS - One or two of the 332s I have came from Nottingham - from the Boots head office. Boots were such big users of the telephone that the GPO had an engineer permanently stationed there. They were all taken out in the 70s and 80s, and a lot of them found their way into the collectors markets around Nottingham. Another bit of info - British Ericsson had their factory at Beeston on the edge of Nottingham, so it is possible that you have a locally made, locally used phone. There used to be a nice museum at Beeston with a lot of telephonic stuff, but I don't know whether it is still there.
What you have is a type 332. Perhaps the best way to date it is from the components - each of them will have a code on, which, if you can de-code it, will tell you the manufacturer, and/or the part number and the date it was produced. I've just looked under one of my handsets and it says '164 54' i.e., a type 164 handset, made in 1954.
As Indy Rhodes says, the drawers were often replaced with blanks because people tended to put all sorts of things into the drawer for safe keeping: the problem being that there is nothing between the drawer and the working parts of the phone. The GPO got fed up of sending an engineer to repair a phone, only to find a 10 shilling note trapped around the bell stopping the clapper. That does make them harder to date... early ones were made with drawers, later ones were made without them, but early ones that needed repairing often had them removed as a matter of course: so you might have an early one even though it is deprived of a drawer.
The phone not cutting off the call when you replace the handset might be a problem - does it happen when you make a call, receive a call, or both? If it is only when you receive a call that might not be a fault: in the UK a call is only disconnected when the person MAKING the call replaces THEIR handset (they are deemed to be in control of the call). It might be that the automated calls you mention are not registering that you've put your phone down.
The labels always had a plastic cover on them - you can probably make one if you get some plastic from some packaging and cut it to size and shape. The thing that you are missing is the 'circlip', the metal retaining clip that keeps the label and cover in place. Sadly they are like hen's teeth, and you can pay a fortune for them. I'm afraid that I haven't got any to spare (I'm missing one or two myself).
They are good steady phones, and one of the delights is that they don't skim across the desk as you dial - they're weighty enough to stay in place.
One word of warning though - keep it out of strong direct sunlight. If it was made during WWII it will have slightly poorer quality bakelite than usual, and the UV light might break down the surface which can lead to pitting and roughness. Though I guess that Nottingham (like Derbyshire where I live) is not troubled by too much strong direct sunlight!
I'm glad you like your phone. I think they are wonderful, but it can be the start of an obsession... I started out with one, and now I have lost count and even have switchboards and exchanges to run them all. It can happen easily! Perhaps that ought to be the second word of warning?
John
PS - One or two of the 332s I have came from Nottingham - from the Boots head office. Boots were such big users of the telephone that the GPO had an engineer permanently stationed there. They were all taken out in the 70s and 80s, and a lot of them found their way into the collectors markets around Nottingham. Another bit of info - British Ericsson had their factory at Beeston on the edge of Nottingham, so it is possible that you have a locally made, locally used phone. There used to be a nice museum at Beeston with a lot of telephonic stuff, but I don't know whether it is still there.
LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,763
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Jo -- have you tried a pocket tone dialer? They 're a little battery-operated gadget with a touchpad that you hold up to the mouthpiece, and play the tones into the phone. No alteration to the phone is required, and it's small enough to just toss in the drawer until you need it.
They were very popular in the 80s, when those automated systems were first coming out and a heavy percentage of people had rotary phones. I don't think they're made anymore, but you can find them easily enough online, for very little expense. The tones are pretty much universal in any country, so you shouldn't have trouble getting one to work.
They were very popular in the 80s, when those automated systems were first coming out and a heavy percentage of people had rotary phones. I don't think they're made anymore, but you can find them easily enough online, for very little expense. The tones are pretty much universal in any country, so you shouldn't have trouble getting one to work.
Brinybay
Practically Family
- Messages
- 571
- Location
- Seattle, Wa
One of my recent additions to my collection, a Stromberg-Carlson 1216. Haven't figured out how to convert it to function as a single-line phone yet, so for now, it serves as a decor piece.
- Messages
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- Location
- My mother's basement
I have some recollection of posting these photos before (which were themselves taken a coupla-three or four years ago), but I don't find 'em anywhere in this thread, so ...
Nothing much special about the phone itself, a WE 302 ...
But I'm still tickled by how little I paid for it ...
It was something more than 30 years ago that I bought this phone, at the main Seattle Goodwill store, at 1400 S. Lane St., and something like 20 years after that when I just coincidentally crossed paths with a fellow who replaced the original cord, the kind with the four wires at the end, with an original-looking cloth-wrapped job with a modular plug. I asked him to leave that price tag be.
It is now one of three land-line phones in our "new" place, which we moved into after these photos were taken. The other two are cordless jobs, which will quite likely become landfill fodder long, long before this one goes out of service. For a time I had it plugged into the back of a Mac (perfectly compatible), and now it's plugged into the wall, where it happily plays along with the Comcast cable system.
Nothing much special about the phone itself, a WE 302 ...
But I'm still tickled by how little I paid for it ...
It was something more than 30 years ago that I bought this phone, at the main Seattle Goodwill store, at 1400 S. Lane St., and something like 20 years after that when I just coincidentally crossed paths with a fellow who replaced the original cord, the kind with the four wires at the end, with an original-looking cloth-wrapped job with a modular plug. I asked him to leave that price tag be.
It is now one of three land-line phones in our "new" place, which we moved into after these photos were taken. The other two are cordless jobs, which will quite likely become landfill fodder long, long before this one goes out of service. For a time I had it plugged into the back of a Mac (perfectly compatible), and now it's plugged into the wall, where it happily plays along with the Comcast cable system.
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Brinybay
Practically Family
- Messages
- 571
- Location
- Seattle, Wa
I just happened to come across it in another thread: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?6752-Sound-Quality-Old-Phones&highlight=telephone
- Messages
- 10,939
- Location
- My mother's basement
So it's been more like five and a half years ago. Time flies, etc.
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- Messages
- 10,883
- Location
- Portage, Wis.
Glad to see we've had some good findings here! I picked up a few rotaries since I last posted, nothing too exciting. Even picked up a Design Line Candlestick today, again nothing exciting, but still looks neat in the house.
Argee
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 116
- Location
- New Orleans, LA
This has got to be the newest phone in the thread, but it is a rotary. 1978 Western Electric "Fortress" payphone. All the original guts are still there but it has been wired for home use, no coins required.
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- 10,939
- Location
- My mother's basement
Wouldn't mind having one of those myself, Argee. Got a section of wall here where one would fit right in. Leaving the coin mechanism operable might be kinda fun, I'd think, provided the key doesn't get lost.
How'd you come across that one?
It occurs to me that there's now at least one generation coming of age who likely don't know the meaning of "dropping a dime" (or nickel) on someone.
How'd you come across that one?
It occurs to me that there's now at least one generation coming of age who likely don't know the meaning of "dropping a dime" (or nickel) on someone.
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Argee
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 116
- Location
- New Orleans, LA
Both the key locks have been removed on this one, so its easy to get into. I found it an an antique store. As I understand it, it was in the store owners personal collection, but she decided she wanted an older model, so she put this one up for sale. Got it for a reasonable price too. I've been wanting an aluminum phone booth for years and now I'll have something to put in it when I get one.
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- 10,883
- Location
- Portage, Wis.
I can't wait to finally get my hands on a vintage payphone. Awesome find!
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