My name is Jim McBride and have been collecting old rotary phones for years now. I specialize in Western Electric from the fifties, sixties and seventies. I also collect early touch tone Western Electric phones as well. I also have them wired in my house. It is funny to watch a young person use them, who never did before. I have to tell them to stick their finger in and turn. I get a few laughs out of that.
I always had a few phones here and there, but when ebay became popular I went a little crazy. I have a whole room full of phones, and keep adding to it all the time. Luckily, the ones that I am interested in are not that expensive, or I surely would be bankrupt. The funny thing is that I buy all of the time and have never once sold anything on ebay. There is always a steady stream of phones to buy on there.
Someday, when I retire I will clean them all up and then create a small museum in my house to show all of my friends who probably won't care the least about them. Maybe then, I'll sell them on e-bay if it is still around. Who knows what twenty-five years will bring?
I hope to be using my old phones for a long time in my house. I hope that the phone companies don't ever stop supporting rotary service, but somehow I doubt it. So for now I will enjoy them as long as I can.
| Inventory | Rotary | Touch Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Western Electric | 82 | 68 |
| ITT | 67 | 42 |