My Favorite Things About Bell System Phones
Phone-related web sites
A Tribute to the Telephone- a great web site with technical info and resources on phones
Bell System Memorial- a tribute to
PhoneCo Inc.- A great source for phones and parts
Phone Trips - An interesting page with tons of sound files of phone switching systems (note: it is best not to visit this site unless you have lots of free time!)
My page on custom number tags for rotary dial centers
NOTE: My website has a new address! The address is http://www.electronixandmore.com/adam/index.html.
Please update your bookmarks to reflect the new address.
For nearly a hundred years, telephone service in the United States was provided by the Bell System (also known as "Ma Bell"). Most of the phones for the Bell System were built by Western Electric, and were leased to Bell Systems customers (in the late 1970s, customers were given the option to purchase their phones, but these phones haven't been owned by AT&T since the breakup of Ma Bell in 1984). Among the phones made by Western Electric were the 300-series, the 500/1500/2500 series, Princess phones, Trimline phones, and the Design Line series. Unlike most consumer products, these phones were built like tanks, and made to last a very long time. In an era where quality almost always takes a backseat to quantity, these phones stick out like a sore thumb. They are quite rugged, and rarely break down. While most of them are quite utilitarian in appearance (a notable exception to this was the "Design Line" series introduced late in the life of the Bell System), they do seem to have a sense of style about them. Of course, Ma Bell wasn't truly the only phone system around back in the old days; independent telephone companies could be found in remote areas, often employing archaic dialing methods such as manual (pick up the phone, listen for the operator, and tell her which number you wanted to call) or party line (several people sharing one telephone line; often prone to snooping by the other people on the line); often, phones made by other companies such as Automatic Electric or Stromberg-Carlson were used in these systems. My collection of vintage phones seems to have stemmed from my onetime fascination with rotary-dial phones, so most of them are rotary. All of them are working to some degree or another.
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my first vintage phone, a turquoise Trimline desk phone which was given to me by my grandfather. This phone has a 4-prong plug, and I wired it so that the dial lights when picked up. Originally, this phone had been wired so it would not ring, and therefore wouldn't be detected by Bell Systems Ringer Equivalency tests. I have since managed to reconnect its ringer successfully, and it now works like a charm.
MODEL: AD-1/220A (base/handset)
DATED: 9-68
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my second vintage phone, a light beige 500 desk phone which I got at a yard sale for free. It was converted to modular sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Both the handset and case have "AT&T" molded in the nameplate area, which is a bit odd. Unfortunately, both of its internal modular jacks are broken, and if I cannot find a set of modular jacks for it, it may end up as a "parts set" for other 500-series phones (not like I'll ever really need to cannibalize it to repair another phone, but one never knows). Also, when plugged into the telephone line in its current state (without handset connected), it makes the line go dead.
MODEL: 500C/D
DATED: 11-58
SOUND: DIAL | RING (coming soon [I hope])
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my third vintage phone, a black 500 desk phone which I bought at a flea market for 25 cents. This is the one which got me into collecting these phones. It's an early model which has a metal fingerwheel and was originally meant to be hardwired; I have converted it to modular through an external junction box coupled to a modular plug, so the phone itself is original for the most part. When I got it, the dial center and the area between the handset cradles was covered with stickers, but I cleaned them off. I replaced what was left of the original number tag with a custom one I made. This phone is by far my favorite out of all my 500-series Bell System phones.
MODEL: 500C/D
DATED: 9-62
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my fourth vintage phone, a black 554 wall phone which I bought on eBay for around $10. This is another early model which has a metal fingerwheel. It is a bit scuffed up, missing its number card retainer, and has been somewhat-crudely converted to 4-prong, but otherwise it appears to be in good shape. It has not been fitted with a modular backplate like my other 554, so I will need to find another way to mount it.
MODEL: 554A/B
DATED: 11-58
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my fifth vintage phone, an ivory (used to think it was beige) 554 wall phone which I bought at a yard sale for $1. This phone has been converted to modular, and fits onto a standard wallplate. It was originally a neighbors phone, and still had their phone number on its number tag which I have replaced with a custom one.
MODEL: 554BMP (originally 554A/B)
DATED: 6-58 (228A backplate dated 11-77)
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my sixth vintage phone, a moss green 500 desk phone which I bought at a flea market for $2.50. This phone has been converted to modular, like my beige 500. It had some stickers on the dial and the handset, but I cleaned them off. Unlike my other 500-series phones, this one has a plastic center spindle on the rotary dial; this makes it easier to take the dial off, but it also makes it seem a bit more flimsy than the metal-center 500s I have.
MODEL: 500DM (originally 500C/D)
DATED: 7-63
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my seventh vintage phone, a black 302 desk phone which I bought at a flea market for $20. It was very dirty when I first acquired it, but it has cleaned up fairly nicely. This phone works well, and is in pretty good shape (apart from needing the paint on the case touched up). It has straight cloth cords on both the handset and line cords, which makes it different from my other WE phones. At first, I was unable to tell which of the line cord wires went to each terminal of my hardwired-to-modular converter due to the colors of the wires at the end of the line cord having faded and/or darkened, but studying them in a better light enabled me to tell which wire was which. So far, I haven't been able to find any model information on this phone (the bottom plate is blank for the most part).
MODEL: 302 (AFAIK)
DATED: 1-46
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my eighth vintage phone, a beige 500 desk phone which I bought at a yard sale for $2. It appears to be in fairly good shape; it's only apparent flaw was a sticker in the center of the dial (which I was able to remove). The beige coloring of this phone is much darker than my other beige-ish phones; I've read that AT&T introduced peach phones after the breakup of Ma Bell, but why do both the handset and cover have "Bell System made by Western Electric" molded into their housings instead of "AT&T" (like my light beige 500)? Like most of my other 500s, this one has been converted to modular, although the jacks on this one are in good shape. Unlike my other 500 phones, this one has an small engraved arrow pointing to HI underneath the ringer volume control, whereas the other ones simply have a painted arrow which points to LOUD. I have been unable to determine which model this is, as the bottom plate is blank for the most part, but it appears to be a newer phone.
MODEL: unknown (appears to be a 500 C/D)
DATED: 3-74 (ringer; either third quarter 1974 or March 1974)
SOUND: DIAL | RING
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my ninth vintage phone, a Stromberg-Carlson model 1443F black desk phone. This phone looks like a cross between a 302 and a 500, having the general shape of a 500 phone, but with the rounded corners and handset style of the 302 (even the dial itself is a combination of the two, having a plastic fingerwheel, but a metal number card retainer ring). Currently, this phone works to some degree (haven't tested to see if it rings or not), but the dial doesn't work right (at first it was sluggish, but I've since oiled it, and now it mis-dials frequently). I'm hoping to send the dial off to be repaired by Steve Hilsz.
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my tenth vintage phone, a blue Western Electric model 1013 test-set telephone. Often called "butt-sets," these interesting phones were used by telephone linemen to check the condition of the phone line they were working on. As with many butt-sets, this one has seen better days; there's a large crack in the case below the mouthpiece, and the belt-clip is broken. However, it dials out fairly well, and it's problems shouldn't be hard to fix.
DIAL (coming soon)
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my eleventh vintage phone, a black Trimline wall phone which I bought at a yard sale for $1. This is my first vintage phone which has a touch-tone dial. Unlike my other trimline phone, this one is modular, complete with a mini 228A-style backplate. This phone works, but the ringer has been disabled.
MODEL: AC-2P/?
DATED: 5-75 (backplate)
RING (coming soon)
PHOTO COMING SOON (I HOPE)
This is my twelfth vintage phone, a brown Automatic Electric model 90 wallphone which I was sent for cost of postage alone. Unlike the standard WE 554, the AE90 has the handset hook on the side, making for something looking similar to a payphone. This phone currently has stickers on the case, and the dial acts sluggish (I will probably send it to be fixed by Steve Hilsz along with the dial for my Stromberg-Carlsen 1443F). I have yet to test this phone.
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
PICTURE COMING SOON (I HOPE)
This is my thirteenth vintage phone, a beige Automatic Electric model 90 wallphone which I was sent for cost of postage alone. This phone currently has stickers on the case, and the handset hook is acting sluggish (most likely needs lubrication). I have yet to test this phone.
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my fourteenth vintage phone, a moss green Trimline desk phone which I bought at a flea market for $5. Unlike my other rotary trimline phone, this one has a built-in LED to light the dial, which means that it does not need a wall-wart transformer. Also unlike my other rotary trimline phone, this one is modular, and the plastic piece in the middle of the dial has the words "Western Electric" instead of the pre-1969 Bell System logo of the turquoise one. Interestingly, instead of a date stamp on the bottom, this phone has the number "80179" stamped below the model number. Any info on what this code may mean would be appreciated.
MODEL: AD-3/?
DATED: unknown (see above)
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
(CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO)
This is my fifteenth vintage phone, an ivory/gold Western Electric "Celebrity" phone which I purchased at a flea market for $20. Probably the most-prolific model of the "Design Line" phone series, the Celebrity was produced from 1973 to 1984. I think mine is a later one, because it has a sticker on the bottom which bears the name American Bell, a name which AT&T used for a very short time after the breakup of the Bell System. Apart from some discoloration in the brass plating, this set is in good condition, and works perfectly.
MODEL: 940
DATED: unknown (1983? five-digit date stamp says 83179)
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
PICTURE COMING SOON (I HOPE)
This is my sixteenth vintage phone, a moss green 1500 desk phone which I bought at a flea market for $5. This is my second touch-tone phone. The 1500D was one of the first touch-tone phones made available to the general public. Unlike the later (and far-more-common) 25xx series, the 15xx series has only ten buttons on it's dial, omitting the 'star' and 'pound' buttons normally found on a touch-tone phone. The 15xx series was only produced for three years (1964-1967), so these phones are fairly-rare. Unlike most later WE touch-tone phones, this one is completely hardwired (no modular components to it whatsoever). This phone works, but seems to be overly-susceptible to hum if the yellow and black wires are connected.
MODEL: 1500D
DATED: 10-66
RING (coming soon)
PICTURE COMING SOON (I HOPE)
This is my seventeenth vintage phone, a harvest gold Princess phone which I bought at a flea market for $1. This is my first Princess phone. This is a later example of the Princess phone, made around the time of the AT&T divesture; consequently, there is no dial illumination method. The top of the handset is faded, but the rest of the case is in pretty good shape, and the set works pretty good for the price paid.
MODEL: CS702BM
DATED: unknown (1983? five-digit date code says 83034)
DIAL (coming soon) | RING (coming soon)
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