Antique Brass Stand Phone | ||
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Posted 11 years ago
Baller_on_…
(8 items)
These phones were found primarily in high end resorts / hotels and were generally in the smoking lounge. If anyone knows any further information on these phones I would GREATLY like to know any more history on these. This one is in my Entry Hall and is a GREAT coversation piece.
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Neat post!!
Have never seen one before !!
Yeah, my lil dog totally photo bombed... Haha
The Paul Greenhill Collection identified as a Majesty Telephone, circa 1970.
T A
Thank you Tubeamp, wasn't real sure on the age of this cool piece. I stole this for fifty bucks...
That is really nice! I had a customer who brought one kinda like this into our shop for repairs. Fell in love with em then! Were you gonne use yours? (The shy little photo bomb pup is WAY cute, lol,)
OtiaMaria, I did verify at the shop where I purchased the phone that it does work, however I have no plans of using the phone.
Thank you, the little photo bomber is my 10 year old Chihuahua
Good morning,
I just bought one of these phones. Did your phone come with that phone cord? Mine has old cloth wire. Someone told me the phones were used in the 20s. I'm having trouble cleaning mine. Very dark at the detailed areas. Did you have to do a lot of polishing?
Hi, PepperlHove. :-)
Dunno if you noticed, but not only is this post eleven years old, the OP hasn't posted anything else or indeed commented on others' posts in that long, so I doubt that they'll respond.
So yours has a cloth-covered cord, huh? Are you talking about the cord that goes to the power outlet, or the one between the handset and the main body of the phone?
Here's one that has non-coiled cords for both the power outlet and the handset:
https://offerup.com/item/detail/34fe040c-8640-357f-bc1f-251ababcc015
FYI, coiled telephone cords apparently first made an appearance in the 1930s, however, they didn't look quite like the ones from, say, the 1960s/1970s, etc.:
(I'm using a tiny url link for https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SPARK_Museum_of_Electrical_Invention_-_interior_58_-_first_coiled_telephone_cord_c._1935.jpg, because Collectors Weekly Show & Tell software tends not to play well with wikimedia links that have a lot of special characters):
https://tinyurl.com/53rywb8h
The closest to the 1920s description I could find was this one:
*snip*
This vintage telephone was manufactured during the pre-1940 time period
*snip*
https://www.ebay.com/itm/365833924122
Many if not most of the "twin" phones Google Lens finds seem to be Japanese-made and much newer than pre-1940. This forum had some interesting information about them:
*snip*
I haven't looked twice at these in the past, assuming they were cheap Asian products, but recalled seeing them in several catalogs from the 1960s and 70s, identified as a "Roman Candle" or "Majesty."
The most interesting reference is in an undated catalog titled "The Paul Greenhill Collection" of "decorator extension telephones." It's on page 4, identified as a Majesty. The back of the catalog shows photos of plants in Japan with the following text:
The "Paul Greenhill Collection" of Decorator Telephones is manufactured by the Japan Telephone Industry. The Japanese pioneers in the telephone industry commenced manufacturing in 1881, shortly after Bell invented the telephone.
Over the years, the Japanese Telephone Industry has developed into one of the world's leading integrated makers of tele-communications, its products ranging over a wide field: telephone sets, exchange equipment, transmission apparatus, wireless communicaiton equipment of all types, electronic computers, business machines, military electtron tubes, and tape-recorders.
And now, 80 years after its inception, the Japanese Telephone Industry, with the finest of production facilities and severe control standards, furnishes the distant corners of the earth with products of superior quality.
EXCLUSIVE PRODUCT OF INTERCONTINENTAL TELEPHONE COMPANY
An aside on the catalog: It came to me from a former Bell System employee and has a sticker on the front stating:
Cases Nos. 7839 & 7933
Exhibit No. 54
Witness: Joseph Segal
Date: 9-23-65
*snip*
https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5728.0
As to cleaning brass, here's some detailed advice:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Antiques/comments/19a2zs9/cleaning_brass_i_wrote_this_as_a_reply/
As to replacement cloth-covered cords, they're widely available nowadays, e.g.:
https://vintageelectricsupply.com/collections/fabric-wire