Long before AOL, long before My Space, long before the internet itself kids discovered chat rooms courtesy of the telephone company. I was a young boy living northern Alabama (Huntsville) in the mid-1960’s. Having four older sisters the telephone was a big part of every day life. My teen-aged sisters spent hours on the telephone. They were on the phone so much in fact that eventually our father gave in and let them get their own telephone. I remember that black metal dial model 500 well. I may have spent a time or two on the phone myself–in one of those early chat rooms the kids called the “Beep-beep Line”. Read the rest of this post »

I have just listed this very nice Western Electric model 554 wall phone. The phone is a beautiful “pastel yellow”. It is ready to hang on the wall for immediate use. Please take a look at the eBay listing!

This telephone has sold. Please watch for another beautiful Western Electric vintage rotary phone to be listed soon!

I just finished restoring this very nice cherry red model 500. This model was made in May of 1956 with all part with that original date, except the dial which is dated February of 1956. Even the cords are original. It has very nice suede feet. I have restored the phone keeping in mind originality. This phone is all “soft plastic” and is truly a collector’s item. I have not listed it for sale on eBay as I ponder its fate. What usually happens after I have refurbished a nice, original telephone such as this is that I end up keeping them. Read the rest of this post »

So you have been to yard sales, garage sales, an antique shop or in Grandma’s attic and brought yourself home a vintage rotary phone. In this case I’m talking about the Western Electric model 554 the wall phone version of the classic model 500. You’ve decided that you want to clean it up and put it to use. Well one of the first steps is to remove the cover so one can put the cover in a warm sudsy bath or just to take a look “under the hood”. Just like the plastic finger wheels (see my posting on removing the finger wheels just below this article) a cover or case can be damaged by improper removal. Read the rest of this post »