1920 – 1934 Gray Western Electric For Sale

Please besure to read the description as the payphone is sold as shown anddescribed; and if you have any questions please call us at Phoneco[phone removed by ]. No returns. We are not responsible for your mistakefor not reading our description. Sold as shown in the photographs,please see photos for best description of cosmetic condition andstyle.

Shipping applies to the lower 48 States, please send an email if you have questions or to request shipping charges for International shipping, and shipping to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico which will cost extra as determined by weight and size.

This item will ship on the following Wednesday or Thursday after offer close and payment is received.

1920– 1934 Gray Western Electric

Oftencalled a 50G or 150G. The name lends to popularity. The bottom couldhave been made anywhere during or/and after 1918 since cast iron withname-plates were used before. The top is of 1927 to 1927 – 1934. The back was likely made prior to 1928 and maybe middle teens. Ithas the proper dial unit, old Western Electric receiver (possiblyNorthern Electric but in tune with old Western Electric receiver) andtransmitter unit. The switchhook is partly from an old oak wallphone. The key in the top lock and the dial center card are repro aswell as a few screws and solder joints; otherwise the phone withpossibly 97 – 98 % old parts. There are a few parts which are notin tune with the 1920\'s: one is the direction card, card holder andchannels, even though they are not reproduction. It is expected thatthis phone will work to dial out and talk-listen. It was chromedpossibly in the 1960\'s or early 1970\'s along with numerous other oldpayphones. There was a note attached saying the phone worked okayexcept that “the dial was off by 1 number”. The “tray” haspatent numbers, which is not real common or usual. This lendsverification to it\'s age.

Non-handsetphones are called “2-pc” (2 piece) because the receiver isseparate from the transmitter and not combined into one piece. Theonly difference between each 2-pc phone is 1: whether it\'s chrome ornot, 2: whether it\'s dial or non-dial, and 3: what it says on thefront (Gray Pay, Gray Mfg or Gray-Western Electric). Allthe older phones are working. They do not require coin, they neverput ringers in them.

“Two Piece” telephones phased out largely after WWII. It is said that Bell ended their manufacture in 1940 but Gray continued to offer them (see pages 176-185 in Phoneco’s “Payphone History”). I’m offering all my old phones for sale as I want to cease dealing with them.Due to the absence of a chart, an attempt here will be to show new manufactures and conversions. The 180 series was new manufacture in 1940. 181s were converted to and given new numbers such as 191 in 1949, 193 and 198 in 1950. 196 in 1953. The 1949 191 (which was converted from a 181) were converted to a 200 in 1957. The 197 (which were converted from 191 plus a new mfg), was converted to a 223 and 233 in 1957. The 200 was converted to a 203 which was converted to a 210 in 1957 and 1960.

I wantno-longer to be a wheeler-dealer in old telephones; now preferring tosell l out and to enter the realm of retirees even though I amyoung, having been born in 1935. In the 1980\'s Ihandled thousands of old payphones, most of which were 1950s-1972s.Comparably, very few were from the teens to the late 1940s. Recently, I wasasked: What would be the best investment in handset phone? I\'llanswer this charitably in a sharing manner (not as a capitalist orentrepreneur). Answer: 1940. This was not the first payphone with ahandset, but like Bell is considered the inventor, the 1940 W.E. #180series is labeled the first (probably high production) handsetpayphone. Whether you buythis one or one like it from anyone, here are some \"tips\".If both the top-front and the backboard are both marked with a #181,182 or 183, and the bottom housing has an open slot with a name-plateabove the door saying: \"coin return\" it then is a true180-series. Regardless of any stampings what so ever or, if thereis/are no number/s anywhere such as 181,182,or 183, 191, 193 or 195.Look for the following clues: the backboard is quite heavy cast iron.The top housing should have a \"daisy-dial\" shroud that isof thin steel (not the thick cast (\"pot metal\" as on the200-series) with nuts shown visually on studs which hold the dialface-plate in place. A 191 may havethe same credentials. I\'ve never refused to discuss these things withsomeone who is confronted with a decisionwhile standing in anantique shop looking at a payphone.