Who has a rotary phone?

[chuckworkb]

I still have an old Western Electric rotary phone, but it's not being used.

I remember when I was a kid and my Mother got a rotary dial Princess Phone. Holy cow it had a lighted dial!!! She was the coolest Mom on the block when she got that phone.

Seeing some of the pics of the phones in the thread with their letters and numbers, I remember my first two letters were TR for Trinity. It was TR8 - 7281 when I was a kid.

 

[Fred Sanford]

There are pictures here on AK in other threads, but from memory I've got two of the Western Electric 300 series desk phones (one black and one green!), and a bunch of Automatic Electrics from the '30s - '50s (desk phones, wall phones, space savers). All working. There's also an old wooden hotel phone that I haven't yet re-furbished.

je

Found pics of a few of them...the bakelite & steel ones, at least. There's a bunch of plastic ones, too, but they'll be going away shortly.

je

 

[Fred Sanford]

Some more:

 

[Fred Sanford]

They're definitely still out there. Yesterday, I picked up yet another Western Electric 5302 (302 guts in a housing shaped like the later 500, used in the early days of the 500 in areas where the 302 worked better, yet the customer still wanted the 'modern' look of the 500), as well as a BellSouth 6913CL trimline phone with a clear plastic case (newer than my other phones, yet it looks pretty cool, and is brand new in the box). Paid a grand total of $25 for the pair.
-Adam

I might have a 5302 sitting here right next to me...the chassis date is January 1952, but the re-furb date is August 1978 (earpiece is 1963, mouthpiece 1976), and it has a plastic housing with modular jacks for the line & the headset. It was in use in my family's house in NYC from 1978 - 2008 or so, still has a "212" area code showing for Queens. Pretty sure I have the wall phone from the kitchen here, too...somewhere.

je

 

[spaceman]

Yessir, Celt, I'd grab a candlestick too, if I found the right deal on a working one. :yes: Fred Sanford, I think you have a much better collection than most of us. :thmbsp: Especially if you're like me, & your collection consists of one (1) rotary phone.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

Well... let's see some pictures.

Found this today at Hospice Thrift. A Western Electric 202 telephone from 1948. Researching it I found out that WE painted surplus D1 bases from the 1930's and added a matching bakelite F1 handset. They were available in various colors. It is in excellent condition and weighs about 5 pounds.

 

[spaceman]

Found this today at Hospice Thrift. A Western Electric 202 telephone from 1948. Researching it I found out that WE painted surplus D1 bases from the 1930's and added a matching bakelite F1 handset. They were available in various colors. It is in excellent condition and weighs about 5 pounds.

Oh man, I think I like that even more than the candlesticks. :thmbsp: Is the black cord normal for that one, I wonder? I don't expect you to know, LOL, just wondering out loud.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

I am not sure Spaceman. It looks old and of high quality. Maybe I should dial the number on the front and ask them.

 

[vinyldavid]

I've got one of these that my friend modified to have a 1/8" audio input and 1/4" headset interface.

Love the ringer. It's never leaving.

 

[spaceman]

Yay me, I got a brown rotary Sculptura, also known as the Doughnut phone. These are now called the "quintessential '70s phone", I see on the net. Mine is slightly imperfect, around the dial, but it works, and I can probably fix it. :thmbsp: There are all kinds of pics on the net, but I know some of you are just as lazy as I am, so here's a pink one.... http://www.porticus.org/bell/images/dl/sculpt/pinkrot.jpg

 

[Glinda Goodw]

Got a Henry Dreyfus designed Western Electric 302 (the "Lucy" phone), made in 1946, purchased at Goodwill for $1.79 something like 32 years ago (the price tag is still attached to its underside). About a dozen years ago I had a cloth-wrapped cord with a modular plug put on it (set me back all of five bucks for that, which is a story in itself) and I've been using it ever since. I rarely dial out on it, because, well, you gotta actually dial the damn thing, but I take calls on it regularly. Sounds great.

 

[spaceman]

Hey, wait a minute. I kinda thought that was the whole point of us getting rotary phones, because we LIKED dialing them. :scratch2: I guess you "could" just like the "real" bell, when it rings nice & loud. :thmbsp:

 

[uxwbill]

I've got a few (not sure of the make or model). The most recent one was picked up from the curb in perfect working order.

 

[robert_kc]

Since others have attached pics of WE candlesticks and 302s, I’ve attached a pic of a WE 102. I own a WE candlestick, 102, 202, and two pre-war metal-body 302s – one with a cloth handset cord, and one with a coiled cord. All have been professionally restored, look beautiful, and sound great.

Similarly, how many have introduced the younger generation to typing on a manual typewriter? Or shown them how to work a slide rule?

I’ve suggested to my nieces and nephews that long after their modern gadgets are in the landfill, my antique/vintage phones, watches, clocks, typewriter, fan, tube radios, and of course tube hi-fi gear can be kept running, and in my opinion are handsome enough to display even if they didn’t work. When one of my nephews laughed at this thought, I asked him if 50 years from now he’d be proudly displaying his iPhone in his home – and still be able to use it. His reaction:

What other vintage technology do you collect?

 

[coonmanx]

Anyone else know how to dial a rotary phone by tapping the number out on the the two plastic "ears" where the phone rests? I remember dialing like that but you had to be exact with your "tapping". That was also how you could dial a number with a phone that had no rotary dial at all.

 

[harman/kardon]

My rotary phone was built in 1954. It´s made of ivory bakelite with green dial numbers. I use it every day and I love it. I love the sound of the bell ringing RINNNNNNNNNNNG, RINNNNNNNNNNNNG, RINNNNNNNNNNNNNG, and I love to touch and feel the heavy material of the receiver. (Hope that´s the right word for German "Hörer")

Every telephone call is a fine little nostalgic experience, equal who is calling.

:thmbsp:

 

[Telecolor 3007]

I. 5. One is use (an 1982-1983 Frecnh "C.S.F."-"Thompson" Telefon).

 

[Hyperion]

I remember rotary dialling phones very well, we had one in our hallway, on the 'telephone table'.

Now my Nokia 2630 goes round a bit when it makes me cross and I throw it around the room.

 

[Oerets]

Have a wall mount wood phone that was moved from home to home over the last forty years now. But will now only accept a incoming call, not dial out anymore since going to voice over IP.




Barney

 

[WillStardust]

I use a rotary Western Electric Slim Line rotary phone as my primary phone. I find the ring of the real bell inside far more pleasing than the grating sound generated by more modern phones.

It is an annoyance however when I have to call some place with an automated answering system, as I can't generate the sound demanded when I am instructed to "press one now."