July 5, 2008
The Best of Antiques
and Collecting
What are you looking for?
The model 500 was the Bell System's mainstay phone for decades (1950s through 1980s), first as a rotary dial and then push-button. Like its predecessor, the WE 302, it was designed by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. Similar sets were also produced by other manufacturers.
People started collecting phones shortly after Alexander Graham Bell patented them in 1876. Key varieties include early wood wall phones, candlesticks, and rotary dial ‘desk sets’ made of bakelite, metal, and plastic (e.g. 202, 302, 500, Trimline and Princess). Key U.S. manufacturers include Western Electric, Automatic Electric, Kellogg, and Stromberg Carlson. Payphones and signs are also popular.
Mike Neale's fantastic collection of scanned PDFs showcasing the history and products of the Kellogg Switchboard an… [more]
Richard Rose's tribute to the Ericofon, a colorful, stylish concept phone introduced in Europe in the 1950's and th… [more]
If you're into old phones, check out this 600-page repository of images and historical information. Includes an ext… [more]
Got a site to suggest? Let us know.
1970 Classic Black Northern Electric 500 Rotary Phone$39.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid
Vintage Powder Pink Bell 500 Rotary Telephone 1957 Nice$31.00 Ends in 3 hours 5 bids
Western Electric 500 Vintage Desk Telephone 2 / 56$20.50 Ends Saturday 3 bids
Vintage Western Electric 500 Green Rotary Phone -nice$14.99 Ends in 23 hours 1 bid
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