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12 september 2006
Rotary Phone Joy
YPSIDIXIT is still offline, but must pause in the middle of her tuna fish sandwich to inform kind readers that to my collection of rotary telephones has come a black mid-60s model with a bizarre, cubic-inch four-prong phone jack (similar to picture). Y. was instantly intrigued by this mysterious jack, and finds that it is called an "RJ Connector" and that it appeared in the mid-60s and was replaced by modern jacks in the 1970s.
Then I found an electronics guy in Kalamazoo who sells adaptors! THEN I found out that there are fellow telephone freaks out there who go so far as to post querulous quibbles about historically inaccurate phones in movies! Sheesh. At any rate, this is my oldest rotary yet and Y. is geeked. I am making it my primary phone, soon's as I figger out how to adapt the jack.
Y. pays cold, hard cash for that old rotary in your attic, so dust it off, shoot me an email, and take advantage of my rotary mania!
Posted by ypsidixit at 12 september 2006 12:17
Comments
Plugging one of those ugly modern personality-free pieces of plastic junk into the wall would be easy. That has no appeal to me whatsoever. In fact those make me shudder since they're so style-free and cheap-looking.
Nosir. Give me instead, please, some ancient phone that'll force me to scour Creation for the obscurest of weirdo adaptors used for obsolete technology. Yes. That's a mission I can sink my teeth into. So off I go!
Posted by: Laura at 12 september 2006 12:50
You'll find the adapter; I had one of those square jacks in my former house and was able to use an 80s (rotary) phone with it. Good hunting!
Posted by: addiann at 12 september 2006 13:35
Yes ma'am, I've already ordered an adaptor from that Ken guy linked above! Yay!
Meanwhile, the AF reports the sighting of a wall-mount phone, which made my hair stand on end. He's gonna check it out for me tomorrow.
In addition, the Listener has sent word that he'll be able to round up two more rotaries by the end of the week! Maybe three!
Y.'s minions are doing a good job. Bless you, kind minions!
Posted by: Laura at 12 september 2006 13:44
Thank you Tom.
I'm back, but in a trickle. My home comp. is still non-working but is being looked at tonight. Then I have to rehook up the isp, bla, bla. At any rate, shouldn't be long now.
You wouldn't believe how many books I read during no-blog-time. My coffee table looks like Chichen Itza's Kulkulcan Pyramid, yes sir, it sure does.
Posted by: Laura at 12 september 2006 15:03
Have you tried Purchase Radio near the intersection of Hoover and Greene in Ann Arbor? They might have adapters. If not, it is still a fun store to go in to if you like electronics and talking to people who have interesting hobbies.
Posted by: Juliew at 13 september 2006 14:29
Juliew: That is a fine recommendeation about a store I hadn't heard of; thank you!
Posted by: Laura at 13 september 2006 14:32
Wow, Purchase Radio actually has a web site. I didn't expect it. It is a great store with lots of personality (and personalities).
Posted by: Juliew at 13 september 2006 16:20
Ypsi
I've owned any number of strange old phones and so long as they have a dial, they will work with the PSTN. Back in high school I'd find phones whose cords had been cut, and fetching one of those four pronged adaptors was all that was need to make it serviceable. Opening an adapotor there would be the first letter of the color of the write that was supposed to be clamped down by a screw. Once that was complete, I could either plug it into the one four prong jack in the basement, and then fetch an adoptor for it to the modern phone jacks at Radio Shack.
If it has a dail, it will work. I'd used phones from the 40's.
Posted by: Alan Gutierrez at 15 september 2006 19:47
Alan: Wow, how cool to find that others share this interest. Thank you for the good advice. I have seen some of the dialless phones, which I imagine date from the days when you could just pick up the phone and ask for the operator.
Posted by: Laura at 15 september 2006 19:57