Bell system

[Outlawmws]

Two Bell System's from yesterday - Anyone have a clue who made the metal polish? you are looking at the only markings on the can:

Driver is Stanley wood handle

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Anyone have a clue who made the metal polish?

You might get lucky poking around inside the telcom archives. Or searching the indexes on "polish." Link in post #1. I remember seeing something about polish in one of my forays, but I believe it was furniture, not metal.

Nice find!

you are looking at the only markings on the can:

Almost martial or generic in its paucity, which is par for the course for them.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Anyone have a clue who made the metal polish?

How old do you think that can is and how much reading time do you want to spend on this?

Breaking into my best NJ mafia accent..., "Let me make you an offer you can't refuse."

I present a 1972 Congressional Hearing on Organized Crime that I just found on Google Books searching the term "Bell System Liquid Metal Polish" linked HERE. It provides a brief history of Bell's metal polishing requirements (phone booths and equipment sent back for repair!), spends a lot of time discussing "KS-19432", their specification for a solution they developed and tested internally, in their labs, in 1962, and then contracted out to Magnolia Chemical Company, Dallas, TX, for production, before ABRUPTLY switching to a commercial solution in 1964, called "Poly-Clean", distributed by All-Purpose Chemical Company, East Orange, NJ (of course!), chief sales agent Rocco Mazza, made by GNR Corp., Palmer, Mass.

All-Purpose and its methods of merchandising Poly-Clean to supermarkets, school districts, government facilities, and Bell are the subject of the hearing!

 

[Outlawmws]

How old do you think that can is

No clue as to age, but this was a place that was clearly a "been there forever" home, and way older part of town. I was told they hauled Four 20 yard dumpsters out before the sale!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't know what, if anything, they were using to clean phone booths prior to 1962. But I would say the chances are pretty good that's either their homegrown solution or the mafia's!

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Was trying to taper off buying anymore phones online. But since I’m not overly disciplined, so oops I did it again.
This one a little more compact was similar to one installed in our newly built farm house around 60 years ago. My Mom had the local rural man (Wilf) install it in a closet between the kitchen and living room. The closet had sliding doors and was referred to as the phone booth. I sent a pic (phone) of it to a buddy(rural man’s youngest son) who was Wilf that installed it originally.
Cool story was that Wilf and a few other local guys actually owned the rural telephone company. My guess once it was expanding the province bought them out and they did well financially. Wilf had the local exchange right in their family home where his Wife Alice managed the equipment and operators.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The closet had sliding doors and was referred to as the phone booth

That's the cutest family idiosyncracy story I've heard in a long time.

 

[RTM]

here is a pickup from a few weeks back, (just noticed it was post #2000 in this years' thread) finally had time to sort them out. This was a tough one: where to post>? M. Klein, Pliers or Bell Systems. This thread won.

A pair of wire nippers, with the stripping notches cut in the jaws. Code marked Delta NML, so Q1 1963, not quite older than I am, but close enough to still be quality. Being new to figuring out ages on Klein tools, I first read the code as AMNL, and that didn't go far. But popping into the M. Klein thread got me through

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Kind of a neat Bell Related find today. General Telephone and Electronics trucker hat. They were independent and purchasing other telco companies until Bell Atlantic acquired them in 2000.

 

[tym]

I find this short-ish screwdriver with beefy handle at ReStore. After dressing the tip on the grinder. I have already put it to use in the shop.

Since taking the picture, I have removed the white paint splatter (the bane of 50% of all old tool purchases, it seems).

 

[ArmyVW_GuyInTX]

Bell Labs card cabinet (nos). Modular - two sets of drawers and the lid.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Dug out the rest of my wall phones, at least I believe so. Little dusty as they have been sitting for a long long time.

I really didn’t realize how many I had accumulated.
Hung up a few more slightly newer wall phones that just have a way of accumulating. The ivory rotary phone, fourth of the left used to be our cabin phone. 36 years ago I hung this on the wall at the lake. The only reason I knew this as it had 1990 stamped on the back. An ivory rotary dial 554 wall phone was known as a 1FRVA on your equipment list and was part of the monthly rental/subscription included dial tone and repairs, including the set itself. Years later that changed and repairs only as far as the demarc.

what are the details on the one with the large numbers? I like the looks of it.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I’m at the lake at the moment, I’ll check it out when home. I’m guessing that one is around 30 years old. There maybe some date on it however.
I presume you are talking about this phone.

Some info from the web.
The Cateo 2901 is a specialized, hearing-aid compatible big-button phone built for seniors, the visually impaired, or individuals with dexterity issues. It features high-contrast keys, amplified sound for noisy environments, and a built-in speakerphone for hands-free conversations.Key Specifications & FeaturesBig, Easy-to-Read Buttons: The high-contrast numeric keypad is designed for comfortable dialing.Amplified Sound: Includes an adjustable built-in amplifier and tone control to make voice frequencies clearer for users with hearing difficulties.Visual Alerts: Equipped with an extra-large display screen and a highly visible indicator for incoming calls.Simplicity: Focuses solely on core communication needs rather than complex menus.