Light Gray Western Electric 500 Rotary Telephone - 1950s for Sale

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Light Gray Western Electric 500 Rotary Telephone - 1950s For Sale

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Light Gray Western Electric 500 Rotary Telephone - 1950s:
$79.95

Light Gray Western Electric 500 telephone originallymanufacturedin May 1955, and believed to have been refurbished by the Bell System in late 1959 with Light Gray plastics. Highly sought-after color in beautiful shape and working great! The shell does have some discoloration from exposure to UV light, but the phone was very lightly used as evidenced by the excellent condition. This phone is one of the cleanest 500s I’ve seen, both inside and out.

Overview

As you may know, Light Gray was one of the new lighter colors introduced by Western Electric in 1957 to replace the dark Oxford Gray. This phone is in beautiful condition with no chips or cracks. It has been very carefully cleaned inside and out, serviced and polished. The dial mechanism has been disassembled, cleaned and lightly lubricated. It spins and returns very smoothly.

Details

This phone appears to have been serviced by the Bell System at some point, as the base is from 5-55 and the dial has the 7C-50 code for Ivory plastics. The phone is also marked “501” on the base, indicating it was originally built as a party-line version with a 426A tube for selective ringing on party lines. The tube was apparently removed when the new Gray plastics were installed. It was common for phones to be refurbished for new users and the Light Gray would have been a newly available color. The refurbishment appears to have occurred in late 1959 as the phone has all 1950s dates. Note that the shell (cover) is made of ABS, not Tenite. The date crossover date from Tenite to ABS is generally believed to be mid 1959 and this shell is a September build date. Date codes are:

Base Network & Ringer: 5-55

Dial: 7C-50 5-55

Shell (cover): 9-18-59 (ABS)

Handset: 4-58

Earpiece &Mouthpiece: 6-9-58

Ear Cap: 6-58

Mouth Cap: 4-58

Handset Cord Strain Relief: 59

Line Cord Strain Relief: 58 The line cord has a nice later-date matching gray 4-Prong plug.

The phone has its as-found original dial card and vintage celluloid, both in very nice shape. I believe the phone came from Texas.

Flaws

This phone is very nice, but I did want to point out imperfections that I have noted: The only significant flaw is the darkening of the ABS shell from UV exposure. The handset cord also has some darkening. The dial bezel and handset show no signs of discoloration- I believe these parts are of the earlier Tenite plastic.The phone does have some very light marks and scratches but shows very few signs of use - it may have spent years tucked away on a nightstand. The leather feet are excellent and there is no corrosion on the metal parts of the phone.

Summary

The phone works great, but it will dial out only if your local phone service supports rotary pulse dialing, and you use a 4-prong adapter or RJ11 jack adapter. I assume the winning buyer will only display the phone safely on a shelf anyway... ;) The phone will be very carefully packed in a USPS medium flat-rate box. This 1950s Light Gray Model 500 would be a great addition to any phone collection, and it is completely restored and ready to display right out of the box.

Thank you!