Vintage Phones

[Nick Charles]

How many of us are using vintage phones? I just bought this, it needs a jack but it looks cool, and the bottom is stamped Property USN.

Anyone have a reliable repair man or supply house for parts.

 

[feltfan]

Siemens Brothers 354

I run one of these in the kitchen:

Some kinds soul has even posted the schematics (though mine
are intact in the phone):

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/freshwater/siemensb/354.htm

Pretty much works out of the box with today's system.
Apparently they were made for the Canadian market and
are among the earliest phones made for long distance calling.

I believe I bought the line to the wall from here:

http://www.houseoftelephones.com/

Seemed like good guys.

 

[scotrace]

Our current everyday phone

The portable's on the fritz.

 

[MK]

.

Mine is the one you see here:

http://www.thegoldenera.net

 

[hotrod54chevy]

we just disconnected our house phone because we both have cell phones and decided to switch to cable internet..so i've been thinkin about stickin an older rotary phone in the living room and bed room just for looks...could never force myself to sit on a phone with a cord for very long anyway!
frank

 

[Baggers]

I'm too lazy to post a picture of it right now, but I have a late thirties Western Electric 202 with the wall mounted ringer box sitting on a table in the "library." Our house is small enough that I've turned off the ringers on the rest of the phones (all modern) and just use the dual bell ringer from the WE to alert us to incoming calls.

Cheers!

 

[Baggers]

we just disconnected our house phone because we both have cell phones and decided to switch to cable internet..so i've been thinkin about stickin an older rotary phone in the living room and bed room just for looks...could never force myself to sit on a phone with a cord for very long anyway!
frank

Ahhh, I've never been able to totally break the land line habit. I tend to look at cell phones as a necessary evil that only have utility when I can't get to a land line. That, and I've never liked the audio quaility. I can usually tell when I'm talking to someone who's on a cell because most of the time they either sound scratchy or they're "frying out" the mic because they're talking too loud (when they're not momentariily dropping out completely). You just can't beat copper wire for dependibility and signal quaility.

Then there's that whole etiquette thing that most people can't seem to wrap their brains around when out in public...

Sorry.

Cheers!

 

[The Wolf]

I have one like scotrace's. I used to use it as a phone but our newest house has only 1/2 of the phone jacks working. It is now ornamental but also useful for when the power goes out and we can't use the cordless.

The Wolf

 

[Senator Jack]

The vintage gossip table was a mess when I got it, but I repainted and reupholstered and cut a new top. I have yet to stain it. Another job to be done.

[URL=http://imageshack.us] [/URL]





One of these days I'd like to get the high polish done on the phone.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[WetDog]

Do rotary phones still dial out correctly on these new-fangled digital land lines?

I was hoping to find an old farmhouse phone with the two piece receiver (where you actually speak into the box while holding the receiving cone to your ear). Didn't put too much effort into the search, since I didn't think I'd be able to dial out on it.

Richard

 

[Senator Jack]

I believe I read it's required that phone companies provide outward dialing for rotary phones. I plugged mine in and dialed right out. Hve you ever dialed someplace like the electric company and the recording says 'If you have a rotary phone, stay on the line,'?

We had a modern version of the farmhouse phone at one time. My brother also had a candlestick phone. They both look great, but aren't comfortable for calls longer than two minutes.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[WetDog]

They both look great, but aren't comfortable for calls longer than two minutes.

Good! Between my wife and three boys, the darn phone line is tied up far too much!

Richard

 

[Naama]

we just disconnected our house phone because we both have cell phones and decided to switch to cable internet..so i've been thinkin about stickin an older rotary phone in the living room and bed room just for looks...could never force myself to sit on a phone with a cord for very long anyway!
frank

Me too! But I haven't found a good enough looking one, but I'll keep on track!

Naama

 

[hotrod54chevy]

we JUST shut our phone off on saturday,so i havent been in the market for one for too long.i dont think i'll have to look to hard for one since my dad likes to keep EVERY old phone instead of throwing it away when he gets a new one..i think he's got some old rotaries in his basement and if not the local thrift store carries them for about $3 each..last time i checked he still had a red rotary by his bed, however it's broke so when you try to call someone you keep getting the wrong number! :rage:
frank

 

[shindeco]

I've had this one for a while. The ringer doesn't work (the repairman was great; he searched for 5 months for the replacement part -- a transistor, I think --but couldn't find one) but the rest of it works just fine. It's not the main phone; more of an accent piece.

 

[bgbdesign]

I've had this telephone about twenty years. it is working but I dont use it any more.
It now sits on an antique desk next to a vintage radio-both safely protected by a fine patina of dust...
bg

 

[magneto]

I've had this telephone about twenty years...

Very nice 50s two-tone, bgbdesign. Love that sea-foam green.

 

[Sefton]

My Western Electric 1966 rotory phone

I've had this for years. Works great and has that beautiful real bell ring that puts digital to shame...

Senator Jack wrote: "I believe I read it's required that phone companies provide outward dialing for rotary phones. I plugged mine in and dialed right out. Hve you ever dialed someplace like the electric company and the recording says 'If you have a rotary phone, stay on the line,'?

I've noticed that the recorded messages that you hear now don't include the part about 'staying on the line if you have a rotary phone' anymore. I've had to hang up and switch to a push button phone. Very frustrating....

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I have a 1937 Western Electric 302 that had been restored to a high polish. It's almost too glossy in that it almost looks like a toy. All of my other phones are old and unrestored, and I'm debating on how to spruce them up without "over-restoring" them.

Frankly, I like that aged "patina" so much I may just leave 'em alone, just clean all the contacts and have some of the dials rebuilt and recalibrated.

 

[Sefton]

My "new" 1940 Western Electric 302 telephone!

Hello all, Today I received a dated 1940 Western Electric model 302 phone. It has the heavy (emphasis on heavy!)metal body and bakelite handset. The cloth cords are a modern reprodution and the paint is original. I had to put the LIFE magazine into the photo...it just arrived today also and they looked perfect together!

Thank you for looking!