Vintage Phones

[AtomicEraTom]

I thought it was a 1911 at first glance, too. Regardless, she's a beautiful gun.

Acually that's not a 1911. Thats a 1903 Pocket Hammer .38ACP

[Argee]

Took a picture of (almost) all my phones today for the first time. Payphone isn't pictured, and I have a thermoplastic 302 in the mail.

[Bugguy]

I went through a phase several years ago and had about 12 really nice vintage phones. My favorites were the two wall phones - the Red Bar and the Juke Box a.k.a. Tombstone. The Northern Electric desk phone is classic deco style from the 40's-50's and is all that remains of the collection. It works just fine and always fascinates my daughter - we had to get her a dial phone.

[Giftmacher]

Yay! It's ringing again!

[Giftmacher]

Tap dialing will work on any phone line that recognizes pulses -- you tap the receiver hook quickly in bursts for each digit. Dial 5, you tap the hook five times, dial 9, you tap the hook nine times, etc. The trick is to do this rapidly enough while pausing just enough for the switching system to recognize the individual digits. Not too many people have that level of skill, and it's something you see more in old detective movies than in real life.

I heard it from someone who was soldier in attendance service and garrison phone had locked dial, but not the handset and commander always wondered high phone bills, allegedly.

[Zemke Fan]

Details on this one...?

EDIT: Got the scoop myself... It's a North Electric 7H6 ("Galion"), Bakelite. Not as expensive (it seems) as the 302s.

[dhermann1]

I have a Galeon. So named because it was made in Galeon, Ohio. I like the unusual shape. Mine works fine, too.

[LizzieMaine]

Just picked up a Western Electric 653A metal wall phone for a very cheap price -- it was filthy dirty, spattered with paint and covered with nicotine gunk from hanging in somebody's kitchen for thirty years or so, and the receiver cord was rotten, but a quick cleaning with a rag soaked in lighter fluid, a squirt of TV tuner cleaner/lube into the back of the dial, and five minutes with a screwdriver to replace the bad cord, and it's in perfect working order. I'd been looking for a wall phone for my sun porch, and this one fits the bill perfectly.



The wiring blocks look twenties-vintage, but Induction coil is dated 1941, and the dial plate is dated 1947, which shows it stayed in use for a good long time.

Only thing I couldn't immediately fix was the chipped receiver cap -- this is the updated 706A receiver, using the same workings as you find on a 302 desk phone, and nobody seems to reproduce the cap. So if anyone has a spare one in their junk box, let me know -- be happy to buy it.

[The Soph Gent]

I just recently (6 months) started collecting and restoring vintage phones. To me there is something "sculptural" about them. Here are some of my favorites.

[AtomicEraTom]

Very nice selection!