Posted 11 years ago
otiamaria
(35 items)
Yesterday I had a customer come in with this pedestal-style phone. Aside from wanting it restored to working condition, he knows little about this phone, and asked for more info. I'm somewhat stumped, and hoping someone might be able to shed some light.
I've seen similar phones online, and the price range on them is all over the board with very little background info. Here's what I have:
The phone above is about 30" tall, with a marble top that is about 15" in circumference, and it's heavy (for me). The handset of the phone appears to be brass and Bakelite, and the phone has a rotary dial. The phone jack is four prong. The brass pen holder is intact, but missing whatever pen it used to hold.
When I laid the whole thing on its side to look under it, I saw the only marking I could find. I couldn't get a good photo, so I took a pencil rubbing of it, and that photo didn't turn out so great, either, lol. The mark is on a box that's underneath the marble base. It looks like there are two human heads, facing each other in silhouette, and they have opposite ends of the same handset to their ears. Under them, to the best of my recollection, it says, "HWA-HONG". The same mark can be seen on the brass side of the marble top. (HWASHONG?"
I read somewhere that there were reproductions of this made sometime around the sixties or seventies.
Any light you can shine on this is greatly appreciated. I hope to hear it ring soon! :)
These desk phone were manufactured in Singapore in the late 1960's and 1970's.
The problem I find is there are no parts available to repair them, you almost have to buy another junker to fix the one you have.