Antique Wall Phone with Possible Historical Significance

[SDIceMan]

I picked up a great looking antique Western Electric wall phone on the weekend. There is a remote chance that it may even be a better score than it first appears, but I'll get to that in a minute. First, a quick backstory on how I was able to score the phone...

As many of you know, different cities and towns have different "estate sale" etiquette, so to speak. Some operate on the first in line, first in the door method, and others hand out numbers a couple of hours before opening, or allow buyers to start a sign-up sheet, sometimes as early as the night prior to opening. This sale was in a neighboring city that I moved from a couple of years ago, so I know they honor a sign-up sheet. I wrote the company an email the night before asking what time the "official" sign-up sheet would be out (too often I've signed on a sheet at 5am that a buyer has started only to have the company scrap it at 6am in favor of their "official" sign-up sheet). I never got a response, so I decided to show up two hours early to put my name on whatever sign-up sheet happened to be there. Much to my surprise, when I arrived and went to sign the list, I found someone had already penciled me in at #2! Just to be safe, I wrote an alias name at #7, on the off chance that someone had my same name and it wasn't actually me in the #2 slot. Long story short, I was second in the door and managed to grab this antique telephone. Turns out the company owner was understandably busy with last minute sale prep when I emailed, but recognized my name from previous sales and added me to the list!

When the doors opened and the line was flowing into the house, I grabbed the phone off a living room table and put it in the banker's box I was toting around. Immediately the guy one or two behind me in line said "#@% that's what I was here for". I didn't really look at the phone because the sale was very busy and getting a little cutthroat, but I sold a similar one about a month ago for $155, and this was priced inexpensively enough that I could turn a nice profit, so to me it was a no brainer. If I hadn't been added to the list by the sale operator, I would have missed out on a great find.

When looking at the phone more closely after returning home, I saw that it has a center dial with an image of The White House. I just thought it was kind of a cool touch until I did some internet research and saw that this same center dial actually does appear on authentic White House telephones.






Here is a White House telephone that The Gettysburg Museum of History recently sold for an undisclosed sum:



This one belonged to JFK and was his personal 'travel' telephone. It's difficult to see, but notice the same center dial:



I reached out to the museum to inquire how I go about authenticating such a phone, but no response as of yet. I imagine it will be difficult with not being able to trace the provenance. The center dial looks right and definitely has an aged appearance. But I suppose nowadays with color copiers and reproducing software/Photoshop etc., I'd have a heck of a time proving that it is the real deal and I didn't doctor it. At any rate, I think it is a very cool find and I'm thrilled to have it.

Thank you all for reading, and happy hunting!

 

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[dejapooh]

VERY cool. Keep us updated.

 

[bigcaddy64]

I know there are fakes of just about everything out there in this world but that seems to be such an obscure item to fake. If it took that much research just to figure out it was a possible white house phone, i doubt others have taken the time to do the same. Fakes also tend to grow legs once people learn that they can make money from interested collectors. How many white house phones have you seen for sale lately?

I don't doubt the authenticity of that phone for a second. The white house has all sorts of stationary/playing cards/dishes marked but who would thing that a phone would be White House "issue?"

 

[Oddjob]

Man, we where still using these in the Army back in 2004.

 

[GibH]

Very cool, but it's a desk phone, not a wall phone

 

[SDIceMan]

Very cool, but it's a desk phone, not a wall phone

My fault for the confusion Gib. I start a post about a wall phone, include no photos of my own, and proceed to post photos of desk phones. But the one I have is, in fact, a wall phone. I just couldn't find any examples online that had the White House center dial. I jumped the gun by posting without having my photos ready, but I should be home within the hour and I will add photos.

 

[SDIceMan]

I know there are fakes of just about everything out there in this world but that seems to be such an obscure item to fake.

I agree with you bigcaddy, but the only part of the phone that seems to tie it to the White House is the center dial. It consists of a circular piece of cardstock with the White House image behind some kind of removable bezel with a glass or plastic lens. I think the fact that the center dial can be removed and is likely interchangeable with other center dials might cause doubters to question the authenticity of the phone.

I really hope to hear from the Gettysburg Museum that sold the black desk phone shown in my first post. Their item description said "Gettysburg Museum certified, museum COA provided." I'd love to know what it takes to get that Certificate of Authenticity.

 

[KirkS]

I would think there would be something like an inventory sticker somewhere on it. Doesn't the government inventory everything? I would think that would be especially true for White House stuff, but I dunno. Maybe open it up and look for something inside?

 

[Lost&Found]

Western Electric phones have manufacture dates on their components. If you remove the cover on the handset (microphone would be the easiest) you will find a date. This should help in dating the phone.

 

[Beans]

If it is a government phone it may have a GSA marking somewhere. If it is a phone company phone then it would be just marked the way phone companies mark thier phone. You may also be able to find out what company had the contract for the White House once you find out the age of the phone. Phone is made by Western Electric but some one else may had the contact and used WE phones.

After seeing the phone that you bought forget everything I wrote. Phone is older than expected.

 

[cb73]

What am I missing? Why are you sure that the phone was from the White House?

The center piece comes out easily--that's where you'd put your phone number and when you got your number changed, you needed to change it on the phone. So couldn't anyone have taken out the phone number and replaced it with the picture of the White House?

Those phones were also "hard-wired"--not like the plug ins we have now. What kind of wire was on it?

(Both my parents were retired phone company and I'm old enough to remember that exact phone in our house.)

 

[SDIceMan]

What am I missing? Why are you sure that the phone was from the White House?

The center piece comes out easily--that's where you'd put your phone number and when you got your number changed, you needed to change it on the phone. So couldn't anyone have taken out the phone number and replaced it with the picture of the White House?

I'm not sure. I really thought I made that clear in my posts. In fact, a few posts above I even mention that the center piece is removable so it would be difficult to prove the image hadn't been doctored. I just thought it might be worth having it evaluated. I do agree with you that anyone could take out the phone number and replace it with the picture of the White House, but like bigcaddy said in his post, a White House phone is a rather obscure thing for someone to replicate.

 

[silverdollarbill]

Cool find. I hope it is from the WH. What Im most surprised by is you sold a rotary desk phone for $155. Really? On eBay it looks like they are about $30.

 

[SDIceMan]

Cool find. I hope it is from the WH. What Im most surprised by is you sold a rotary desk phone for $155. Really? On eBay it looks like they are about $30.

Thanks! Regarding the phone I sold previously, it was an antique wall phone, and I was off by $10 - it sold for $145.

 

[AlienLifeForm]

Cool score. I have a few of the larger wooden crank wall phones. I just think they are neat.

 

[wassermj]

On Ebay, someone just sold a handful of the White House slot cards, albeit newer than yours.
White House Dial Telephone Center Inserts (circa 1970)

Tying the actual phone is going to be a challenge but it does look like those cards, or something similar, were used in the White House for some time.

 

[SDIceMan]

Tying the actual phone is going to be a challenge but it does look like those cards, or something similar, were used in the White House for some time.

Thanks for the link! That was exactly what I was afraid of, that the cards were readily available separate from the phone. Oh well, still a wonderful old phone. My pictures don't do it justice. It has a layer of grime on it, almost like it hung in a greasy kitchen for years, but I think it is going to clean up well.

 

[silverdollarbill]

Thanks! Regarding the phone I sold previously, it was an antique wall phone, and I was off by $10 - it sold for $145.
View attachment 1445030

Ok....this makes so much more sense now. For some reason, when I looked at the post the wall phone did not show. Really cool phone.....I would bet it is legit.

 

[Paleo_joe]

Shouldn't there be some functional differences for a white house phone, or not? If so, the KS numbers on telephone parts are links to specs for those parts.

 

[cb73]

I found an article about a visit from President Ford to a farm in 1976, and he left them a black rotary phone with the White House seal as a memento.

(From the article:
After about an hour, Betty Grace gave the president some of her homemade strawberry preserves, and the motorcade drove away.
The presidential party left behind a black rotary dial telephone with the White House seal on it.
A few days later the Grace family received a note of thanks from the White House, an ash tray with the White House seal and some official photos of the Graces with the president.

Article is: Urbana man remembers Ford's 1976 visit | News-Gazette.com

I wonder if it was a standard memento at the time.