atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Member Forums Buy/Sell - List your inventory and sell it or buy Wanted: WE 2851

Ed -

You are absolutely right. It looks nothing like a 2851 set.

But......

It's brand new, fully 1a2 compatible, built solid, works real well AND ....

it's only $5.00. (plus shipping).

Can't beat that.


Sam

Matt:

When you get around to calling me (see my offer to help on another part of the Forum) I will let you pick out what phones you need from my collection. I have several new in box 2851's and 2565HK's.

When you go to remove the housing on the 2851 ("Cuckoo Clock Phone") you need to do it thusly:

Insert the dial remover (paper clip) into the hole at the bottom of the faceplate. Then unscrew the captive screws holding the housing onto the base.

To put the housing back on, use one hand to hold the two plungers up, one hand to seat the housing, one hand to get the two screws into their respective holes, and one hand to tighten the screws.

Lol....

I'm assuming it comes with some extra sets of hands?

Ain't that the truth. I like to back the cover screws out to the point where the threads start to catch a little bit. That way, at least they won't wobble around and miss the target. I can use my other three hands to deal with the switch hook plunger buttons. Problematic to install, yes, but the 2851 is a great phone and solid as a rock. I want one.

C'mon guys! Electronic Techs and Phone Guys, both are identifiable by the extra arms sticking out of their shirt fronts. Comes in 'handy' with the ladies, too! John C. (Not Garand)

Ed, I have a few used and NIB ones. Let me know how bad you want one.

Wait, Ed, you have 3 hands?

Matt -

A 2851 in Blue is for sale on ebay.

Sam

Thanks Sam.... it's on my scope, but "faceplate not original color" and "the rest of the phone professionally painted".... pretty much ruled it out for me. I'm also a bit scared by the ebay store this person has.... "nothing guaranteed, sold as is".... while at the same time making a start bid a bit too high, IMO) I want a real, W.E., original color (if I have to take beige, then I will).... 2851. Also, is it just me, or does that shade of blue (Even if it's fully stock) make anyone want to puke? I mean... the avocado green of the 70's we managed to survive somehow... but jeezy weezy......

But anyway, thanks for the tip Sam!

(PS: Why do people do what they do to these poor phones?)

Matt -

You didn't like Avocado? I made my mother-in-law's day (maybe year!) when I gave her an avocado phone to match her kitchen. She showed it to everybody that walked in the house.

As to your question of why people do that to those poor phones -

I was the foreman when we rewired the Park Lane Hotel in NYC (around 1980). They had a WE 701 Strowger switch with cordboards for consoles. We put in a Neax 22SA (the 1st Hotel/Motel package - a Beta - I worked with the engineers throughout the install). It had Caller ID panels for Hotel Services (room service etc). It was the first time I ever saw that feature when it wasn't on a console! We put in 1A2 sets for the administration and 2500 sets for the guests.

The late Leona Helmsley owned the hotel and lived there. Wiring her apartment and dealing with her will take up a full chapter (maybe two) in my memoirs.

However....She wanted a GOLD (not yellow) KV set on the reception desk in the lobby. We investigated custom jobs and she (or rather her secretary) told us that she didn't care how we got it, she wasn't going to pay for it. (you wonder how the rich got rich?)

In the end we took a Brown set and spray painted it gold using Krylon paint. We also spray painted a dozen cords, so repair could change them when the paint cracked off. It worked.

Another preview of my memoirs....

In the late '70s I did some work at Yankee Stadium and it so impressed George Steinbrenner that I got called back to handle a tough one for him.

He had an ITT Cocoa Brown 10 button (7 Line) Speakerphone on his desk. It came with the original Light Ash faceplate. He wanted (or so his secretary said [see a pattern here?]) a wood grained phone.

The company had investigated the possibility of custom work and were told that yes, George didn't care how we did it - he just wouldn't pay for it. (Again, that pattern.)

I ordered a wood grain face plate that was a minor item in the ITT catalog and installed it - would Mr. Steinbrenner accept that?

The secretary said Mr. Steinbrenner would accept a faceplate, and that I was close - but the faceplate's grain did not match the desk - could I do better?

In desperation I went down to the local Bodega and bought all the different types of wood grain contact paper they had and asked the secretary if one of them was close enough.

One was. A razor blade (another trip to the bodega) cut out the little holes for the touch tone pad, the key strip and the speaker and after several tries at getting all the bubbles out, the job was deemed a success.

Those are two "custom" jobs I have personal knowledge of. I'm sure there are thousands!

I also worked at International Arms Dealer Adanan Kashogi's Midtown Manhattan apartment with its' GTD-120 switch. And at the Saudi Arabian Ambassador's (UN) Duplex Penthouse and at....But those are stories for another time.


Sam