atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Four philosophical e-bay phone questions

Hi again.

Why is every phone listed on e-bay always "rare" and "vintage"?

Why is every Touch Tone phone listed on e-bay always a "push-button phone"? Do these E-bay phone pholks not know what Touch Tone is?

Why are phones on e-bay that look like they have been played with in a six year old's sand box after being rained on and chewed on by a Rotwiler dog always listed as having "minor use wear"?

Why would someone list a wall phone as being "fifties" vintage when it has a modular cord?

Just wondering...

And yes, I have gotten some acceptable phones on e-bay, but I have also been hoodwinked. Like the time that one seller listed a pink rotary keyset that was photographed as pink, (and thinking back on it, suspiciously photoshoped looking) that was actually a dirty beige.

Sorry about the rant.

Joe

Sales techniques & ignorance mixed in with shadiness comes to mind.

I always check out what their "negs" are before even considering watching the item.

Ignorance, mostly.

There is no course of study available, other than research and membership in clubs, that provides the info. And you have seen, personally, how long it takes to get the right answer to basic questions.

There is a color chart available of all Bell System colors. In that list, I can assure you, there is no

sand

flesh

beigy pink

pinky beige

off beige

peachy beige

kind of pink

"AND YET!!!" (he shouted) every time I see a beige phone called pink, I get excited, then disappointed.

There's a phone on Ebay right now that the seller calls a 302. I asked him to tell me the model number stamped right on the bottom. He replied that it is a 460CM. You'd think that after this exchange, he'd add that info to the auction, BUT NOOOO, it's still being sold as a 302.

The other whole concept that eludes sellers is the fact that the Bell System recycled phones starting back in the 1920's, at least. So, a "vintage" phone with a date stamp of 1967 might also have been re-shopped in 1977, 1987, etc, and have the stickers to prove it. But sellers just do not care, or think it's important to state the exact info, simply because they do not realize that there are collectors like us out there who need to know those exact specs.

By the way, you will NOT find a pink 2565HK in a million years. I know where they all are.

You MIGHT find a pink 565HK, but it's unlikely, because I know where MOST of them are.

Arthur, I believe the pink 2565HK is made from super-unobtanium?

Joe -

Touch Tone is a trademark of AT&T. ITT called it Tel-Touch. I forget what Stromberg-Carlson and AE called it. The official name is DTMF (Dual Tone Multiple Frequency) dialing.

So if they call it "push button" it's not terrible. Also be aware, that Push Button dialing might also be Rotary and not Tone. A lot of the rural and suburban COs in the '60s and '70s were not set up for DTMF and when subscribers wanted "push button" service the phone companies would provide tone-to-pulse converter phones (I saw this in Westchester in the late '70s).

Sam

GTE (and I suppose AE)called it Touch Call.

Marketing

Actually, it's made of UN-256, the highly unstable isotope of Unobtainium with a molecular weight of 256.0388. It is an artificially made element, not found in nature, except in minute trace amounts. You are correct, that scientists refer to the pink rotary versions as "Super-Unobtainium," and the DTMF versions as "Super-Duper-Unobtainium."

How about faded (yellowed) blue telephones on eBay being sold as sea green, or turquoise? This happened to me not too long ago and seller's excuse was that he was color blind. What a joke!!

Telephone addicts...er...collectors know from experience to ask the seller to unscrew the caps, or take the housing off, and inspect the hidden color. If the seller claims color-blindness, sometime another person in the house can help figure out wazzup.

I have a 565HK-62 that looks turquoise, and a 565HK-64 that looks blue. Go figure.