Brass Stromberg Carlson 1243

[Doug Rose]

Collectors....you usually see more of these chromed than you do in their original black paint, but here is a really nice Brass plated SC1243. My guess is this was done by the Old Chicago Telephone that Dave Marsh ran. My reason is the Brass rings on the handset. I found this on eBay a few years ago, the brass was so tarnished is looked black and it slid under the radar. Needless to say, brass cleans up wonderfully. I really don't understand how a SC1243 is looked at like a poor mans 302. These are really sharp looking phones, but sell for pennies on the dollar compared to the Metal 302s....Doug

[HobieSport]

Really nice, Doug.  I have "a thing" for brass. I like the SC143s in general also.  Just like a 302 but with the nice cut corners.

[Doug Rose]

Hobie...I wish I saved the auction picture, it looked blackwith rust.  I agree, I love brass and most times will clean up like new. I feel the same about copper. Harder to find, but cleans up wonderfully. I have been fortunate enough to find a copper WE 684 ringer box and a copper WE wall phone in various conditions with factory black.  All cleaned up like new...Doug

[Jim Stettler]

Hobie...I wish I saved the auction picture, it looked blackwith rust.  I agree, I love brass and most times will clean up like new. I feel the same about copper. Harder to find, but cleans up wonderfully. I have been fortunate enough to find a copper WE 684 ringer box and a copper WE wall phone in various conditions with factory black.  All cleaned up like new...Doug

This is a retirement phone. It has an "installer" symbol in the dial center. The cord has no conductors, and it was missing the handset elements. I think that it was done like that for a joke on the retiree.

It has always been one of my favorite phones, I did end up trading it last year.

JimS

[HobieSport]

Jim S., that retirement phone is indeed a thing of great beauty!

I guess that the only brass bits on any of my phones is the dial on one of my AE 40s, and I'm not even sure if it is brass. But yes, I do love brass and copper in general.

I've always wanted one of the copper phones pictured below. I don't know anything about them, but they've always impressed the heck out of me, and I imagine one in a Jules Verne submarine, or something like that...

[Doug Rose]

Jim...that is one beautiful phone. Was it copper plated? It sure had a marvelous shine.....Doug

[Jim Stettler]

Jim...that is one beautiful phone. Was it copper plated? It sure had a marvelous shine.....Doug

It was copper plated, At the same time this was on ebay BBQbob had a copper 2-line princess phone. The princess sold for a little more than this set.

I had this phone for a few years, (always on display). I eventually traded it for a clear SC 1212 "fatboy" .I hated getting rid of the phone, and I do miss it. However I don't have any "trader's remorse"
JimS

[Jim Stettler]

Jims, that retirement phone is indeed a thing of great beauty!

I guess that the only brass bits on any of my phones is the dial on one of my AE 40s, and I'm not even sure if it is brass. But yes, I do love brass and copper in general.

I've always wanted one of the copper phones pictured below. I don't know anything about them, but they've always impressed the heck out of me, and I imagine one in a Jules Verne submarine, or something like that...

I ran into 2 versions of these at an antique store,. The price was about $350 each so I didn't buy them. Years(&years) ago a local furniture store had 150+ European phones . They probably had 6-8 different models of various phones including Copper w/handle single line phones.  They preferred to sell them as high priced accessories vs giving me a deal on 1 or all.  He was apologetic to me buying some, however he bought them as a marketing gimmick. I haven't ever found them at yard sales (yet) but eventually some will turn up. This was probably early 1990's.
JimS

[teka-bb]

I've always wanted one of the copper phones pictured below. I don't know anything about them, but they've always impressed the heck out of me, and I imagine one in a Jules Verne submarine, or something like that...

That is a common Dutch PTT series phone type 1949 that was made by a Belgian company named ATEA (http://strowger-net.telefoonmuseum.com/tel_hist_antwerp.html).

Copper is not it's original color, it's supposed to be black:


Here are two links with the schematic of this telephone from the TCI library:
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/dptt/1949.pdf
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/dptt/1948-9-0.pdf

[Jim Stettler]

I've always wanted one of the copper phones pictured below. I don't know anything about them, but they've always impressed the heck out of me, and I imagine one in a Jules Verne submarine, or something like that...

This is a Dutch PTT phone type 1949 that was made by a Belgian company named ATEA (http://strowger-net.telefoonmuseum.com/tel_hist_antwerp.html).

Copper is not it's original color, it's supposed to be black:


Here are two links with the schematic of this telephone from the TCI library:
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/dptt/1949.pdf
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/dptt/1948-9-0.pdf

Remco,

They probably coppered them out for the foreign market. I have never seen a painted one. Did they come in other colors?
JimS.

[teka-bb]

The body of that phone is made from some kind of zinc(?) alloy which is copperplated during manufacturing to make the black finish adhere better to the body.

These phones were stripped of their black finish during the late 1960's / early 1970's because people wanted copper items in those days.  Some of them have been extra copperplated probably because they didn't look good or might have had another factory finish.

Personally I prefer the black one. The famous Danish D30 has also been abused like this (copperplated) many times.

[HobieSport]

Thank you teka-bb for the information on the Dutch PTT 1949. I do remember now that they are Dutch. I actually prefer the original black ones also. I like the copper too, but since the copper wasn't original, and I love black phones anyway, I like the black.

Sorry if this is a "thread jack", Doug. I realize that the thread is about the brass SC1243. Just that brass and copper gets me all exited...

[bingster]

Beautiful Stromberg, Doug.  I've never considered them to be "also-rans," and they really are great looking, rugged phones.   I've never seen a brass one before, but it's quite striking.  I've seen chromed ones on ebay, and they're rather stunning, too.

Have you ever thought about putting a Stromberg handset on it though?  The brass bands should fit a Stromberg handset just as well as they fit the North handset that's on it now.

[teka-bb]

Did they come in other colors?
JimS.

In the Netherlands this model was only used in black. A similar model was used in Belgium that came in another color than black but I don't know/remember which color.

[teka-bb]

Here is a folder of the ATEA series phone:

http://tinyurl.com/ATEA-600 it's in French but I really like the 1950's style.