For your consideration is this Western Electric Model 500 D \"soft plastic\" rotary dial telephone. The color is Mahogany (Brown). As telephone collectors know, Mahogany was only produced for a couple of years and was discontinued in 1957. Because of the short production life, this color is difficult to find. I am offering this phone for sale on behalf of a friend that has been a long-time collector. I am in possession of the telephone and I took the photos that you see here.
In addition to taking photos of the phone I have cleaned and polished the plastic. I used Novus2 to polish the plastic. Nothing artificial has been done to the plastic. It has NOT been sanded or altered from its original condition. I also cleaned the tightly coiled handset cord and \"under the hood\" of the phone. The accompanying photos accurately depict the very nice condition of this telephone. There are some signs of use on the plastic as one would expect from a telephone that is nearly 61 years old. There are no cracks however there are a couple of tiny dings on the left side edge, (on the right as you look at the photos). I have tried to show those marks in my photos. In addition there are a few light scratches but nothing that detracts from this beautiful Mahogany Vintage Rotary Phone.
This phone appears to have been manufactured in June of 1956 with dates from both May and June of that year, which is not uncommon. As you can see from the photo collage that I have posted, the dated parts are obvious. Beginning with the bottom date you can see the date of 6/56. Also on the bottom is a \"service\" date stamp of 1157 (S-1157). Usually one can find which part of the phone was serviced by the date on the replacement part, if a part were replaced. I was unable to find any part date other than May or June of 1956.
The T1 transmitter element is dated 6-25-56, the U-1 receiver element is undated with the exception of the engraved (stamped) date of 6-56. The coiled handset cord strain relief is dated 56. The network and C4A ringer are both dated 6-56. The 7C dial is dated 5-56 and is stamped with the color suffix of -54, which is Mahogany. The handset shell is dated 5-56. One of the handset caps is dated 5-56 and the other 6-56. The housing date is 6-22-56 2. As lore goes, the \"2\" represents the second shift at the plant the day this housing came down the line.
On the open center finger wheel you can see a small \"flea bite\" on one edge. I have used an arrow to point to the ding. Under the original celluloid disc is an original (not a reproduction) dial card. Referring back to the photo of the bottom of the phone you will see that the suede foot pads are in good condition and not torn.
The phone is missing the mounting cord. I connected a modular line cord to the phone and tested it on my POTS (plain old telephone service) telephone line. The phone dialed the desired number correctly and also rang loudly when called. I removed the modular cord but if the winning buyer would like the gray, flat modular cord attached to the phone I will gladly put the cord on the phone before shipping.
This is a very nice example of an early Mahogany Western Electric telephone made for the Bell System. If this is a color that has eluded you for your telephone collection, now is your chance to add a very nice example. I have begun the listing at a modest price with . The sale will run for seven days.
As everyone probably knows, todays VoIP phone systems do not all support pulse dialing. If one has an old-fashioned telephone line the phone will work as it did back in 1956. Some phone lines today do support pulse dialing, some do not. Check with your phone company if this is important to you.
I will ship the phone to the United States and Canada. If someone outside of those two Countries is interested, please contact me before offerding. I use the U.S. Postal Service for shipping. I do not like to stuff one of these phones into a Flat Rate box. I use the larger, 12X12X8 Priority Mail box that ships by weight. I use 6 pounds as a shipping weight for the calculator. That weight is often very close to the actual, packed shipping weight. If the calculator charges more than the actual shipping cost, I will refund the difference. I have shipped many telephones and know how to package properly. You have no worries there.
If you have any questions or need additional photos, please message me through the messaging system.
Thank you for looking at this very nice Mahogany Model 500. Good Luck!
