Since the perfectly fine pic that was originally posted here disappeared for some unknown reason, this one seems appropriate:
We really like travelling a lot since retirement so this made me laugh!
Any weasel scraping the bottom of the bucket, for something to complain about, can try this one:
Maybe those that got nuthin' better to do than complain, should try this:
Hmm, what’s next?
There are also 192 Wall Starlites (See the pattern, 80 desk, 90 wall, 182 Startlite Desk, 192 Starlite Wall) though less of them were set up with illuminating dials, they were just a similar design compact Wall Phone. Not a great picture and hiding behind a couple of Desk Stylelines (I need more room!)
Most of them would work or could be easily made to work. Dials can get sluggish when not used for years so they may need cleaning and lubricating to turn at the correct speed. I don’t bother making certain that most in my display cabinets work, some don't have cords etc. The Black Bakelite AE50 I posted is on my kitchen wall and working and I have a matching Black Bakelite AE40 in my living room connected to my phone line as well. I think they are the only antiques hooked up here at the moment.
Here are some AE 182 “Starlite” phones with illuminated dials for the bedroom. AE version of the Western Electric (Bell System) Princess phone. There was Very briefly a regular looking AE80 desk phone with an illuminated dial which they called the AE 82. Then they Went ahead and redesigned the whole thing And renamed it the 182.
AE_Collector
Here you go...side by side under LED light makes it show up a bit better. Black ones are Bakelite while coloured ones are some type of early thermoplastic. The Walnut is a different version of Bakelite still.
@AE_Collector wrote:These AE 40’s are all “real” original coloured phones. These models from the 40’s and 50’s are extremely rare to find in colours, they rent painted, they are molded in early types of plastics. Bottom row is black in the middle but the right one is walnut coloured Bakelite. Very hard to detect in pictures.
Yes, VERY hard to detect..... even without zooming in, you can see it's not the same as the black one in the middle, but you can't really see that it's some shade of brown. Funny, even when I zoom WAY in, it STILL appears to be black, but just not QUITE as black as its' neighbour...... that's some seriously dark "walnut" colour.
These AE 40’s are all “real” original coloured phones. These models from the 40’s and 50’s are extremely rare to find in colours, they aren't painted, they are molded in Very early types of plastics. Bottom row is black Bakelite in the middle but the right one is walnut coloured Bakelite. Very hard to detect in pictures. The left beige wall phone is from a ship as it has wire clips to help keep the handset on hook.
And the AE 90 wall phones:
@CFPartDeux wrote:Yup, saw that red one before too - THAT is pretty much the phone our family had for YEARS, except in black, and then later on we had what I suspect is probably the wall mounted version of the same phone(or very similar), but in white. ISTR you also posted a green, and maybe a yellow version of that..... did those things come in a bunch of different colours, or is that about it?
Yes in the 60’s and into the 70’s these AE 80 desk and AE 90 wall phones came in about a dozen colours. Here are more examples than you asked for! (Should know better than to get me started)!
The AE 80’s and 80E’s (newer ones with a faceplate):
@CFPartDeux wrote:Self explanatory:
That’s an oldie and a goodie! I think I was distributing this one before the 2016 election. Our worst fears came true.....
This ought to scare away a few people 🤣:
One for Queen/Freddy Mercury fans:
