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late 1970's (?) WESTERN ELECTRIC 'executive telephone'

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Western Electric Telephones8 of 1201910 Western Electric PhonesWESTERN ELECTRIC (BELL SYSTEM) lightning arrestor box
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    Posted 5 years ago

    AnythingOb…
    (1778 items)

    Here's another thing recently recovered from long-stored boxfuls of crap I collected years ago... <wink><giggle>

    The nifty 'modern style' (ca. 1970's-80's that is?) solid wood (walnut, I think?) box with aluminum trim at the edges of its hinged lid opens to reveal a touch-tone single line telephone inside. Its handset features a self-retractable cord. JUST the thing that'd fit perfectly into the busy business executive's home office for instance, back in those days when what had always been "THE telephone company" was being 'de-monopolized' into a mess, then cellphones appeared to further confuse everything telephonic... <groan>

    I think the date stamps on its underside indicate this one was made ca. 1977 (?) which would put it right in the middle of all that 'de-regulation' when landline telcos found themselves suddenly needing to offer something (anything?!) beyond the basic black 500-series set to their customers who were newly abled to actually *own* their telephones instead of paying perpetual monthly "rent" for each one they wanted to plug in someplace. Many unique designs (including this one) then resulted from the telcos (most, like this one, essentially made up of otherwise standard parts re-packaged) and a whole host of cheaper (in every respect) alternatives made who knows where by who knows who... <GROAN>

    It remains in 'as found' condition, perfectly operational as best as I remember. (from when I got it yrs ago...I no longer have a landline to try to test/use it with...?) It could use a good cleaning (to remove old sticker residue mostly) and a dose or two of furniture oil to its wood case I suppose, but that'll probably havta wait until one of these days when I find a proper place to actually *display* the thing somewhere, instead of it just hiding in a box/closet...? <headdesk>

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    Comments

    1. AnythingObscure AnythingObscure, 5 years ago
      Thanks SO much to Roycroftbooksfromme1, Watchsearcher, blunderbuss2, jscott0363, iggy, & fortapache for stopping by and appreciating this fun old 'modern version' of a wooden boxed telephone!

      Gotta also point out, most people these days don't seem to have any idea whatsoever what it really IS, at least until I open the lid and reveal what's inside...one or two not even then...? <LOL>

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