Western Electric Model 302 - E1 Handset

A woman in Massachusetts sent me her Western Electric Model 302 to be refurbished. Her father had given her the phone years ago to use as a toy. She had told me how as a young girl she played “operator” using this classic old telephone. She would emulate Lilly Tomlin’s character from the 1960’s television show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In by dialing a number and pretending to be the operator. Now many years later with a family of her own, she wants the phone to look nice again as well as being a usable working telephone. There was one unusual aspect of the telephone however, that was mentioned as a “by the way” type of thing. Read the rest of this post »

I am often asked what I do to make my Vintage Rotary Phones shine the way they do. It’s really not magic—just some good ole elbow grease and lots of Novus polish. Novus is sold in three grades, simply called Novus 1, Novus 2 and Novus 3.

I use Novus on both plastic and Bakelite. Once I have cleaned the plastic in warm soapy water I allow the plastic to dry. Then multiple coats of Novus 2 will not only polish the plastic but will also remove light scratches. Novus 2 is the work-horse of the three. If I could only have one of the three, I would buy Novus 2. It just does such a great job as is evidenced by this red model 500 I restored a few months ago. Read the rest of this post »