Author Topic: Sit & Rotate - The Model M of Rotary Phones (Read 8486 times)

mr_a500 · « **on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 13:43:00 »

What's this? Phones in a keyboard forum?! Just hang on a second. Let me explain....

I didn't set out to become a rotary phone phreak. It just happened. All I wanted was a well made phone that wasn't a friggin' piece of Chinese crap. I had 3 of those phones that were constantly cutting out and dropping calls. So I did what any normal person would do... I hopped in a time machine and went back to 1955 to look for a phone. (...Doc got killed and Marty married his mother, but what did I care - I got my phone.)

I discovered that old rotary phones are surprisingly like good keyboards - tactile, well made, last forever. The Western Electric 500 is like the Model M in many ways: (...uh ...except it's a phone, not a keyboard...)

1. Like the Model M, the WE500 has satisfying tactile feel and sound - best among its competitors (...according to me)

2. Like the Model M, earliest models are highest quality and they are all dated so you can strive to get the earliest models

...and that's ...all I can really think of.

My WE500 is dated 7/53 (that's July 1953 for the numerically challenged). It has the Bakelite handset, Bakelite end caps (early 6 hole receiver) and black Bakelite plungers (don't know what Bakelite is? Basically, it's the plastic that the dinosaurs used.). It has leather feet, rather than the later plastic feet. There are dates on the inside of the phone that all match 7/53. The dial has a satisfying mechanical ratchety sound.

Like all things, later phones got cheaper from cost cutting. In the late 50's they stopped using Bakelite and switched to plastic. I've got a 1960 Northern Electric 500, which is plastic - similar, but cheaper (notice how the handset is shinier):

I'd like to get an early 1950 WE500 (one of the first ones), but just can't seem to raise the 1.21 Gigawatts required to go back again.

mr_a500 · « **Reply #1 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 13:46:31 »

I also have some Stromberg Carlson phones. They're higher quality than the WE 500 - especially the handsets - but just aren't as satisfying to dial as the WE500. Their rings are nice and loud, but just aren't the same as the WE500 ring - which has been etched into my brain from all those 50's-70's TV shows.

First is the Stromberg 1443. Notice the gigantic handset. I could mash that into somebody's face, kill them, then continue with my phone call. It's unbelievably solid. This is from the early 50's, when they were still using 40's style handsets.

Next is the Stromberg 1543, which is nearly identical as above, but with minor changes. Notice how the dial ring is clear plastic instead of metal. The biggest difference is the handset (still big enough to mash into somebody's face and kill them, but you'd probably need a few more hits). The handset is still bigger than the WE500 handset (and nicer looking).

(Stromberg stopped making their own phones after the 50's, so these phones are guaranteed to have Bakelite handsets.)

instantkamera · « **Reply #2 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:44:34 »

Best thing about these phones - and the touch tone ones that followed the same design and sorta same build (albeit with moar plastique) - is the fact that you can hold onto them while you talk. No, Im not talking about the handset, I mean the body(receiver?).
Like they used to In the movies/tv. And you gotta make sure the wire doesnt get caught on anything so you do that whippy-flicky thing with that hand while you hold the handset with the other, as you pace around the room.

I wish I was as good as rip with the photos, but think along the lines of John Cusak in High Fidelity...

mr_a500 · « **Reply #3 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:59:19 »

Well, I don't know about the "whippy-flicky thing"... as you so eloquently put it (sounds a bit pornographic to me...), but I like how the base stays put, no matter how much you stretch the cord. They're very heavy. I hate those light-weight cheapo phones that slide off the table and land on the floor when you answer the phone.

Yes, wireless phones don't have this problem (very strange if they did), but I've had endless problems with wireless phone batteries not holding a charge and cutting out in the middle of conversations.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #4 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 17:39:00 »

In my kitchen I got my trusty old rotary-dial wall-phone from the 1930's. Works great.

ricercar · « **Reply #5 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 19:25:24 »

The pre-dial candlestick trumps all.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #6 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 20:04:45 »

From back in the days of the party lines. I remember my grandmother telling me about them when I was a kid and how her number was something like 435R. You'd just pick up the receiver and the operator would ask for the number you wished to dial. And if you picked up at the wrong time, you could hear your neighbor's phone conversation.

mr_a500 · « **Reply #7 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 20:28:47 »

Quote from: ricercar;223406

The pre-dial candlestick trumps all.

No, no - the candlestick is no good. It gets people too used to talking to candles. Did you ever try talking into a lit candle? Man, it hurts like hell!

You candlestick people should upgrade. Here - I'll show you how to use a rotary telephone:

didjamatic · « **Reply #8 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 22:00:43 »

Rotary telephone - NIB. It's not bakelite but still very cool..

audioave10 · « **Reply #9 on:** Tue, 14 September 2010, 23:23:21 »

Its strange that all of these old things I've used before. We had a "party line" when I was a kid. Usually about 3 to 5 homes on the same phone line.

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Author Topic: Sit & Rotate - The Model M of Rotary Phones (Read 8486 times)