Old phone collection

[jeffmoss26]

jvitez wanted to see my old phone collection, I had pictures of a few in the workbenches thread, so here goes:

Old wooden wall phone I was given and restored. It does not work as I could not afford the parts to convert it to touch-tone dialing from the very old magneto battery it was made for (connected to an operator way back when)

Here is what it looked like when I got it:

Rotary phones from the 1940s (Western Electric 302)

Rotary phones from the 1950s-1970s (Western Electric 500) I am in the process of cleaning up the one on the right which is why the dial is missing. The handset is not original as the one that came with it was beyond cleaning!

Touch-tone phones from the 1960s-1970s. (Western Electric 1500, 2500, Trimline) The 1500 is the one without the # and *. This was one of the first Touch-tone models.

My personal favorite, a 2500 set I painted orange because I could not find an orange one

Enjoy!

 

[torqueman2002]

Nice collection, how'd you get started?

I've used them all, except the 1st 2.

 

[RivennHewn]

Love the old phones.

Being a phone guy, tell us your favorite phone prank call.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I've always been interested in anything mechanical, building and tinkering. Had my very own workbench at the age of four. Always had lots of tools but not much to do with them

My dad went to work as in-house attorney for a telecommunications company here in Cleveland when I was 10. A few years later, I started going in to work with him whenever I had days off from school. I learned the telecommunications industry from the ground up. I started accumulating old parts, phones, and then got my first phone system when my mom's work upgraded theirs. It sort of snowballed from there.

I am fortunate to be a member of an amazing phone system forum where I have received hundreds of years of wisdom and technical advice. Many of the people sent me equipment so I could learn how to install and program various systems. All of the phones you see above came from garage sales or people I knew who had stuff laying around they no longer wanted. I do still find people who refuse to part with their rotary phones, if you can imagine that.

 

[tatra]

friend of mine would be interested in the 60's 70's touchtone with volume control as she is hearing impaired and laments not having one.........she was also an employee of the local telecom so has had ampe opportunity to try all types and still her fave......any for sale?..........

 

[jeffmoss26]

I am pretty sure you would just need a decent volume control handset, or an amplified handset.

 

[frbl]

I do remember using some of the more recent "old phones" and miss them. What I think is funny how we still use phrases like "Dial 911" but you cannot "dial" a phone anymore!

I still use the old-fashioned ring on my cell phone - so much more "romantic" than some ring tones of today.

In fact, I used one of these a few years ago on my cell phone. A great a conversation piece. But the one I had was lousy quality and ceased working within a few months.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/7830/

I even used one of these for "hands-free" calling!

http://www.mypencil.com/mall/sof301.jpg

 

[jeffmoss26]

I tried to wire up a 4 pin 3.5mm cord to a phone handset for my buddy to use with his BlackBerry like the link above, but never got it to work right

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have wall mount and desk rotary phones very much like the ones in your photo in my house, they still work fine although the receivers get awful heavy if you talk too long. I'd like to find a nice 2500 touch-tone in plain old black, but for some reason they don't show up at sales or in antique stores around here very often.

 

[malibu101]

Nice collection!
I am not a real "techy" kind of guy but I find it amazing that using the same old single twisted pair line (2 wires) from the phone pole to your house you can connect a early rotary phone or connect a modem for a computer. Even both on the same line at the same time.
Unlike so many things where newer technology requires equipment upgrades, the phone system is totally backward compatable. I think that is neat.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Stuart-now that I think about it, black seems to be really rare in 2500 sets. I am guessing that since black used to be the only color you could get the rotary phones in, once they came out with all the different colors, it was probably the least popular choice.
Case in point, I have probably 10 newer 2500 sets that I will sell customers for single line extensions (clones of the Western Electric models) and every single one of them is Ivory or Gray.

 

[Zrexxer]

No collection here - amazing because I have an addictive personality and end up collecting all kinds of stuff - but I have this old gem on my desk that was in my Grandparent's house. What's amazing about it is how heavy and solid it is... You could definitely brain somebody with the receiver.

 

[jeffmoss26]

That is a nice phone!

 

[G_P]

Do rotary dial phones still work? My parents have one down in the basement and It rings when calls come in but will it still dial out?

Would be kinda neat if I could hook up a rotary phone on my VOIP phone service!

 

[aandpdan]

Do rotary dial phones still work? My parents have one down in the basement and It rings when calls come in but will it still dial out?

Yes they do. My father has one in his wood shop. He likes the loud ringer. It just takes forever dialing 10 or 11 numbers.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Depends on the VOIP service, but most do support pulse dialing, I think.

 

[danski0224]

I've heard that rotary phones will not work with DSL connections in a home.

Is it because the phone won't dial, or because the dial pulses will spike the computer?

 

[jeffmoss26]

I've never heard that. With DSL you just have to make sure you have filters on every phone.

 

[HoseB]

Hey Jeff! Take your phones back to Sundance...this a GARAGE forum!

 

[holdover]

have a couple of wall phones and a candlestick in my home still working. They can only be used to talk , because they don't have dials. The look on peoples faces when I answer the kitcken phone is neat, picking up the earpiece and talking into the mouthpiece..

 

[danski0224]

I've never heard that. With DSL you just have to make sure you have filters on every phone.

In the setup instructions, it said that rotary phones would not work.

Never tried it.

 

[willy3486]

Hey Jeff! Take your phones back to Sundance...this a GARAGE forum!

Personally it doesn't bother me to see the phones here. Some of us do things besides cars in our shop. I liked seeing them because its just another device that someone fixes in their shop. I have a few and I save a 70s pushbutton from the trash a while back. I also have a bakelite wall mount rotary that is probably from the 50s. I think when I redo my shop I am going to mount them out there somewhere. If you have any more lets see them. I have fixed a few in mine time as well.

 

[HoseB]

Personally it doesn't bother me to see the phones here. Some of us do things besides cars in our shop. I liked seeing them because its just another device that someone fixes in their shop. I have a few and I save a 70s pushbutton from the trash a while back. I also have a bakelite wall mount rotary that is probably from the 50s. I think when I redo my shop I am going to mount them out there somewhere. If you have any more lets see them. I have fixed a few in mine time as well.

Just an inside joke between two long-time phone guys from another (telephone) forum. Apparently the sarcasm (and accompanying smiley) has whooshed way over your head...

 

[willy3486]

Just an inside joke between two long-time phone guys from another (telephone) forum. Apparently the sarcasm (and accompanying smiley) has whooshed way over your head...

No it didn't woosh over my head,not every one may be familiar with connections people have here with each other. It really doesn't bother to see stuff such as this on the site. I like all kinds of electrical devices and enjoy seeing whats out there.

 

[HoseB]

No it didn't woosh over my head,not every one may be familiar with connections people have here with each other. It really doesn't bother to see stuff such as this on the site. I like all kinds of electrical devices and enjoy seeing whats out there.

It doesn't bother me either to see it here...so why argue?

 

[jeffmoss26]

Glad everyone enjoys the phones...only problem is I have zero room to display the phones, they are all stored in tote boxes, except the wooden one.

 

[Jack Olsen]

My dial phone works great on a line I'm using with DSL -- but it's not 'internet phone service.' Seems like it ought to.

 

[Lippyp]

We have an old GPO 300 series phone, these were made between 1938 and the late 1960's and were the standard phone provided by the GPO in the UK. It's still plugged in and working, you can even dial out but it takes forever to dial a long distance number or a mobile, I love the ringing noise, takes me back to my childhood. When we moved house in 1971 into the one my parents still live in today it had the previous model to this, the 200 series still installed, it had a seperate bell box on the wall and the phone in the bedroom had a seperate additional earpiece so someone could listen in to the call! It was almost certainly put shortly after when the house was built in 1927.

Our 300 series looks like this

the 200 series, star of many a black and white film.

 

[clkimmel]

My dial phone works great on a line I'm using with DSL -- but it's not 'internet phone service.' Seems like it ought to.

Jack,
That phone is just one of the many details that I love about your garage!

 

[DodgeZ]

Here is the phone I have on my desk in my home office.

 

[BigEd]

Here's a nice collection at the Ford Museum.

 

[jvitez]

Awesome pics everyone. Thank you jeffmoss26 for starting this thread! I've got a soft spot for old phones. I grew up with one wall mounted rotary dial Nothern Telecom phone in our kitchen. It was a long time before my parents got a push button phone. When our phone company started to allow people to purchase their own phones, the choices exploded, but quality was way worse. I wired up one of the last rotary desk phones they leased, in my parent's basement more than 20 years ago. Dad passed away, and Mom didn't want to pay the extra phone rental fee so I took it back for her and bought a cheap phone. I wish I would have kept it now. It would be way cool in my garage.

I still find the old style handsets far more comfortable to hold for long conversations, and the acoustics are great because your mouth is right at the mic.

Great pics. Keep 'em coming!

 

[rustluver]

I remember us having an old wall mounted phone similar to the one in the 1st picture when I was a kid in rural Tennessee. Turning the crank would signal the operator who would respond with "Number please?", after which we would answer with the 2 digit number (ours was "47" and my grandparent's was "19"). There were 2 large 1 1/2 volt dry cells on the floor to power the ringer.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Eww, Cisco...

 

[janellelk]

Love the vintage phones.. We're looking for a cute one since our apartment security is linked up to our home line. We have iPhones and no real need for a land line. However, I would love a cute black one like pictured above!!

 

[Shadowdog500]

This makes me think of the old phone numbers. My old phone number started out as "Saratoga 9" followed by four numbers which meant you would dial 729.

I bet a lot of younger people would not know haw to dail a Saratoga 9 or Ed Nortons old number from the honeymooners which was "Bensonhurst 3-7741"

Do you remember you old exchange?

 

[mrb]

Eww, Cisco...

really? why? I use 7960G and 7940G. Zero problems, great sound quality, and very good speakerphone.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Jack,
That phone is just one of the many details that I love about your garage!

Do you remember you old exchange?

Thanks. That was part of the fun of installing this phone. I printed out a new dial card insert, and had to look up the exchange history of my area in Los Angeles. My (323) 938-XXXX number was originally Webster 8XXXX.

Figuring that out led to a discussion with my father where I learned that back in the forties that a poorer family like his would get a payphone installed in the house instead of paying a monthly fee. He remembered his exchange from the south side of Chicago and remembered that it was a nickel every time you wanted to talk to the operator and place a call.

 

[jvitez]

In Canada as a kid, when they brought in a universal emergency phone number, it was 999 like in England. They changed it to 911 because it was much faster for dial phones to dial two 1's than two 9's.

I told this to a bunch of 20-somethings at works yesterday, and they looked at me with buggy eyes.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I am a phone guy. I like real phones. Cisco is fine for routers and switches. I've had to deal with a lot of VOIP issues