Chrome hearts

I am not the the jewelry guy but sometimes things change. Since I am in the business of luxury and lifestyle, i tell myself that it is good that I experience the joy of wearing these and hopefully understand more..

Automatic Electric Stairstep Candlestick Telephone Compl. Original Subset Phone

I found this phone by accident as my original plan is to have one candlestick phone. However, this phone is unique as it has a Mercedes dial.

Special

Found these with insects enclosed many years ago....

Western electric 51AL candlestick phone

51AL Western Electric Dial Candlestick with 634A metal ringer box

I have always wanted to look for a real vintages candle stick phone for display and use.

This is a classic Western Electric model 51AL dial candlestick with a 634A ringer subset which i have found recently. This wonderful Western Electric Dial Candlestick Telephone has been restored and to assure top quality this unique Art Deco style candlestick has been disassembled, thoroughly tested, cleaned and reassembled and coated to a rich black gloss.

It was made in the 1920s for the Bell System.  An F1 capsule has been added to the transmitter for better transmission clarity, it has the early 144 type receiver which is correct for this phone.   I have been very carful to try to search for an original phone.

The dial is a rare notchless number 2 EA and has been cleaned and oiled so it turns smoothly.  The dial has that great clickity-clack sound you can only get form these old dials.  The numbers on the notchless dial face plate so some wear but are very clear.  These dial face plates were used in rural area where calls between exchanges went through an operator.   These notchless faceplates are correct for the early #2 dials and are very hard to find.

This Western Electric dial candlestick is marked on base, below the dial, with the following patent dates: 

PAT IN U.S.A. JAN 26 15   JAN 1 18 MAY 7 18  SEPT 21 20..

The receiver is in good shape, it is the 144 style receiver which came with dial candlesticks and provides good sound quality.

The transmitter face plate reads:                    

WESTERN ELECTRIC

COMPANY

229W

The number card holder on the dial reads:

Wait

FOR DIAL

TONE

This is my 3rd vintage phones namely GPO pyramid, Queen Mary phone and this candlestick phone...

Ivory Bakalite GECo telephone (Queen Mary phone)

Very rare Ivory Bakelite GECoPhone from 1930's

 

Over the weekend in Singapore, I have manged to find a very rare ivory Bakelite phone used in Queen Mary vessel during the 1930s. May of this phone is without the dialer but I am lucky to find one with a dialer and is also in working condition.

Details from the net:

The Gecophone was used in many prestige installations such as the Queen Mary and the Royal Train. When the Queen Mary ended her service, quite a few of these phones reached private collections. Most were collected in the US because that was where she was decommissioned and converted to a floating hotel.

They are easily recognised by the unique dial lable offering ship to shore telephone calls from the passenger’s own stateroom and by the different shaped handset cradle.  

Commissioned to be one of the greatest Atlantic Ocean Liners, Queen Mary's interiors were designed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Smooth Art-Deco lines were the style of the day and that influenced the ships design and selection of fittings.  

The Ivory Gecophone shown in the attached pictures was an ideal choice at that time – obviously GEC would have been delighted to have their phone selected for the QM staterooms. Quite advanced, at that time a passenger could also place a call from ship to shore. 

The picture below shows a First Class Stateroom complete with Ivory Gecophone in the right hand corner.

 

Many of the phones are without the dialer ( please see example below)

Gifts from my friend

Vintage 1935 telephone BLACK BAKELITE TR GECOPHONE STYLE TELEPHONE

I was walking around WanChai before my lesson last night and came across an old vintage shop selling old toys and some old phones. Out of those toys, one phone catches my eye. This is a 1935 phone used in HKG and there are Chinese characters at the dialing ring... 

The amazing thing is that the phone is still in working condition. Unlike those modern cordless phone that can hardly last more then 1 years, this amazing phone can actually continue to work from the 1935 till now! Is our technology moving forward or backward? 

The availability of good quality antique telephone is rather low in Singapore compared to other countries such as US or Europe. In fact, the variety of antique telephones is also very limited. The propagation of telephone begins only in the late 70s to the1980s where Singapore becomes a manufacturing hub. By the 1990s, almost every household has a line and a touch tone telephone, supplied by the Singapore Telecom.

The reason is probably due to the high cost of owning one and the need for one. Most people in Singapore back in the 1900s did not really need a phone as Many of our ancestors were the ground workers, coffee shop operators, cook, gardener or servant of the British. Only the non-native executives such as the British has a use of the rotary telephone. The governments and companies driving the use of telephones.

From the Internet, it was mentioned that the cost of a telephone is equivalent to that of a S$2000 laptop. Unless you are someone important and had a reason to own one, the telephone is off limit to the man on the ground. The average man probably earn an equivalent of a $200 salary per month.

My next target shall be a Classic British Bakelite Telephone, aka King Pyramid 200. These antique telephones were the first Bakelite Telephones to be used in the UK and Hong Kong being the colony of UK, will naturally be using the same phone as well.  These vintage telephones were made of Bakelite and had a separate “Bell Set” that contained the bell. However this “Bell Set” could be mounted underneath the telephone as shown below and the telephone was then called a “combined set”. These Bakelite telephones are now regarded as iconic art deco phones in the UK.

History of 200 Series Telephones

In 1929 the revolutionary and elegantly curved pyramid shaped Tele 162 table telephones were first introduced in the UK. Originally made by Siemens these telephones superseded the era of the 'candlestick' telephone. Although the GPO version still required a separate bell set.

In the early 1930’s having a bell separate from the telephone was normal practice. It was usual for the “bell set” to be located in the hall, while the telephone itself might be anywhere convenient to the customer. It was also possible to mount the bakelite bell set underneath the telephone and this was then known as a “Combined Set” or by some as a “King Pyramid”.

The Tele 232 was a development on from the Tele 162 and was introduced in 1934. It looked exactly the same but contained an improved ASTIC circuit that improved the sound quality of the telephone.

Later versions had a drawer in the base (for dialling numbers etc) and used a less damage prone cradle fork made of cellulose acetate rather than Bakelite. The later cradle style also overhangs the telephone body to provide a lip that made the telephone slightly easier to carry around.

These telephones were produced in black (standard), ivory (rare), red (very rare) and green (extremely rare).

Vintage coin banks

Vintage coin banks ; castle,Masefield, buddha, frog, dinosaur and gold nugget

Vintage coin bank

This is a coin bank made by Hang Seng bank many years ago and I must say the workmanship is really superb!

茅台

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Vintage coin banks - collections