atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Antique Telephones Nasty pink phone

That number card is about one click from the proper position to land it in proper alignment. You need to reverse-twist that handset cord to make it 'prettier'. I admire your diligence in refurbishing.

I've always thought that BT's phones from the 60's were pretty ugly, but a pink 500 might take the prize!

I think it's pretty cool! Maybe I should find one on ebay for my Mom...lol

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300547564700&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP%3Awatchlink%3Atop%3Aen
Anyone wanna go halves on it? JK

$1,100??? I must be on the wrong side of the dial!

free "economy " shipping though .....

Great! another idiot who will throw a valuable antique into a shoddy old box with minimal padding (Hey, what do you want for FREE) and ship it Parcel post, and all I'll get is a box of shards.

That's a 500 P/U, called the "mushroom" phone. It should not be confused with a run-of-the-mill 500 C/D, which is worth around $50.

That particular phone has been around for a while. I saw it in Enfield, CT, a few years ago at a collectors' show. It was sold by one ATCA member to another, and the buyer then put it up for sale at the current price. It is worth around $250 to $300 at today's market prices for a pink mushroom in that condition. That's why it will stay on Ebay for a long time.

While pink is one of the rarest colors for WE equipment, there are more pink mushrooms out there than any other color, because they were used in bedrooms, and lots of bedrooms were decorated in a pink motif. I have three pink ones, but only one black and one green one.

Note that the dial face is faded more than the rest of the housing. That is typical of all early soft plastic pink 500 phones. The fat faded cord also indicates a very early set. This one is from 1959. If you see a pink P/U phone that does not have faded parts, it has been sanded and buffed, or later parts have been substituted, lowering its value to a purist.

Yes, there are some "special" folk on e-pay. One dear soul had an old pink mushroom phone sans the mushroom light (though the hole was in the phone shell where the mushroom light went). It also had a crack in the shell, and was listed for a small amount. I had it on my watch list, then an hour later, it was ended, though no one bought it.

Next day, the same phone was listed for some grossly inflated price (I think around 800 or so) and the same "seller" (I use the term nicely) did not bother to change one word of the description or use a different photo.

I don't think it ever sold.

Joe

Yeah, and then argue with you about a refund. Been there, done that.

Joe

There are reproduction mushroom caps available, (only in black, though) for $35.00. I have a pink 500 P/U missing a cap. I intend to convert it to black, and put a repro cap on it.

There is a company that will spray paint telephone parts any color you want, but their minimum charge is quite high. Most collectors will join forces, and get a group of parts together, then have them painted all at once.

Here is another from the same seller. It's worth about $300.00