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lalithar

Kitchen telephones

lalithar
11 years ago

Looking for cool pictures of kitchen telephones...especially anything with a vintagey vibe.. Any pics to share?

Comments (29)

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    Nothing cool myself. I hide a corded phone in the pantry for emergencies like power outages. I love Shanghaimom's. Second pic on link.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Black wall phone

  • mom2sethc
    11 years ago

    Hello,

    If you look in the background on the range wall, you can see my SS retro phone. I love it and get many compliments on it.

  • suzanne_sl
    11 years ago

    We went with a phone nook.

  • Buehl
    11 years ago

    Message Center Niche...but not vintage.

    It's recessed into the wall of our pantry.

  • kfhl
    11 years ago

    My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I had a wall phone jack put into our new kitchen. My kids never put the phones back and I constantly miss calls because I can't find the ringing phone! I plan to order the Crosley wall phone. I wish it had the longer cord like shanghaimom's, but it will look nice and at least I will be able to catch the call. I can always ask the caller to hold while I find a cordless if needed.

  • localeater
    11 years ago

    Wouldn't the cord be replaceable? I am probably dating myself, but on real 'retro phones' like the one in my kitchen growing up, the phone unclipped from the base and the handset and you could put in a different length. We had a super long one on our phone and I could leave the kitchen and go all the way upstairs. When it got too stretched out,my mom would get another one. Oh and our phone was bright yellow!

  • francoise47
    11 years ago

    kfhl -- I don't think you are crazy.

    We have the same problem with lost wireless phones,
    dropped willy nilly all over the house,
    never to be found when we need them.
    (Hmm... usually my own fault.)

    I love for a good ol' retro kitchen land line wall phone.
    I wish, though, there were more options besides the Crosley.
    Anyone have thoughts on the quality of Crosley phones?
    The reviews online seem to run towards the negative.

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    We have an ivory rotary dial wall phone where the handset hangs on a hook on the left of the phone proper. I love it and will be finding a place for it in the remodel kitchen. It's funny when DD's friends asked to use the phone and I'd point to that, they'd look at it kinda blank faced and say "how do I dial it?"

  • dilly_ny
    11 years ago

    I saw a vintage one in an antique shop I am pondering. It would work to answer calls but could not dial. I had a phone jack installed in kitchen during renov, but somehow the line was cut. ERRRRR.....

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    Well, keep in mind that analog phones (the kind that still work in power outages) don't work on fiber (Verizon).

    I still have my Princess phone that had a -- ready? -- 40' phone cord on it. I dragged that thing all over the country, let alone my homes. Sadly, the land lines I let go are FIOS now. I just have my cell now, anyway, which isn't as much fun.

    Have you really done a search on vintage phones? I know I've seen sites that offer even the crank phones!

  • kfhl
    11 years ago

    I am still looking for something fun other than the Crosley, because I have also seen some not-so-great reviews - nothing better yet.

    localeater - if you are dating yourself than I am right there with you! Unfortunately, this phone seems to have a cord that is not detachable. I read about it in the reviews as many were complaining that amazon offers a longer cord as a "you might want this" option and you can't even use it with the phone.

    We are moving into an equestrian neighborhood with minimum 5 acre parcels - no fios. I don't think it is worth it for verizon to put in the new lines. Cell service is a bit spotty so we will definitely keep a landline.

    If anyone sees a fun "vintage style" wall phone, let me know. I'm thinking more 30's to 50's than crank style :) I worry that real vintage phones won't work as well, but maybe I'm off base with that.

    The Crosley is available everywhere - Amazon, Target, Walmart etc. - so at least that is a fallback option.

  • Oakley
    11 years ago

    I have two Crosley retro phones. A red retro desk phone similar to mom2seth's, and a pink princess phone in the bedroom.

    I love the princess phone because it's easy to hold on my shoulder while I talk. The desk phone is HEAVY, and it's impossible to write something down while talking on it. It matches my kitchen but I had to put it up.

    Since I don't often talk in the kitchen, I'm using a walmart cheapie phone.

    We have landline phones in all the rooms, so I'm really picky about them!

    BTW, the Crosleys do work great though.

  • lalithar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Crosley look OK. The reviews do seem iffy. I love the long corded look that Breezy posted.. I have a kitchen niche next to my banquette that is ideal for a phone. I would love one of those older bakelite phones.. they felt much more solider somehow :) And red phones.. My niche is in kind of a dark corner.. so a bright color like red would be cool.. Oh.. and that shiny stainless phone! would love to see a closeup..

  • lalithar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here are some. The first black one looks kind of cool..

    Here is a link that might be useful: retro phones

  • deeageaux
    11 years ago

    my Crosley phone

  • localeater
    11 years ago

    I would check out flea markets and garage sales, or post a Wanted ad on craigslist.
    I actually have an old black office phone with push buttons. It is from my dad's office in the 70's, It is in our basement but when the power goes out(which it does, some times for a days) it comes upstairs. It weighs a ton, so it is definitely solid. I think it is extra heavy because my dad worked for a aeronautics company where they built and developed things for D.O.D. and NASA and everything had to be made to some special government standards to resist chemical, and impact testing. This baby will never die.

  • kfhl
    11 years ago

    There are tons on ebay in lots of colors - orange, blue, red.
    Localeater - they have yellow!
    I also saw some that say they are bakelite if that is what you are after.
    I'm sure that you can find plenty at flea markets, but I have a hard time getting to them. Four kids definitely cuts down on the shopping time - unless it's online at naptime.

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    Wow! I have some boxed in the basement- rotary style. I think one is red.
    I kept a jack in the kitchen for emergencies but don't plan on using regularly.
    I did love the SS retro phone.
    The really old phones didn't have clips to change cord lengths. That was a recent "invention"

  • melissastar
    11 years ago

    Christine/CEFreeman: Are you sure about vintage phones not working with fios? I have a vintage black desk phone...a real one, that weighs a ton and has a really loud bell (and old enough by the way that you CAN'T unclip the cord and replace it, localeater!). When I lived in Arlington VA, I switched to FIOS service and it worked just fine, including during an electrical outage, when all the other cordless ones requiring electricity died. I can't say for sure whether it would have died after the FIOS backup battery died...not sure if I ever had an outage long enough for that to happen. Maybe that's what you were saying?

    And for anyone interested in a vintage phone, there are some small online companies that refurbish and sell them. I've had mine for about 8 years now...no problems and can't imagine there would be. There's not much to go wrong on these babies.

  • onedogedie
    11 years ago

    I have a Crossley. I would not recommend it. The sound quality has always been echo-y. Mine is going to Goodwill.

  • deeageaux
    11 years ago

    My Crosley is just fine in terms of sound quality and overall quality. I have had for about a year.

  • pricklypearcactus
    11 years ago

    I don't have a phone line now, though I do have a jack. I have an old rotary phone somewhere in my house I think: packed away from years ago. If we ever get a phone line again (such as if we do DSL and I think a phone line is required), maybe I'll plug it in. But I think I'd rather have it in our family room than in our kitchen. But the retro phones and phone nooks pictures are very cute! Thanks for sharing.

  • shanghaimom
    11 years ago

    Our black Crosley isn't the best. Very lightweight and flimsy feeling compared to an actual vintage phone.

    I had planned to use it as a "place holder" until I found a real one. (The ebay sellers are always sold out of black.) the problem is, to operate the voicemail or use the inevitable menu of choices if you call a business, you need a push-button phone. So I still have the Crosley. )-8

  • holden.sk
    11 years ago

    This is a company I have been eyeing for when my renovations are done and I actually get to decorate. We prefer land lines as cell signal strength in our neighbourhood is spotty at best. They even list the phones by year produced. Love the red Western Electric 202 with brass trim (early 1930's)- doesn't actually ring but then every other phone in our house does so it shouldn't be a problem (I hope). More expensive than reproductions but definitely vintage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage Phones

  • melissastar
    11 years ago

    Holden: I'm pretty sure old phoneworks was the company I bought mine from years ago. You may be glad NOT to have an operating bell on yours. Mine is so loud it startles visitors and even me sometimes.

  • mjsee
    11 years ago

    My kitchen has been torn up since mid-August...and I am REALLY missing my locked-in-place land-line.Four portable phones in this house...but can I EVER find one of them in four rings? NO.

    I found a vintage "executive phone" from the early 70's that lives in it's own teak box...that's going to be my kitchen phone as soon as the jack get re-installed. I'll try and get a picture of it tomorrow. It's seriously awesome and retro-cool...in a bow-chicka-bow-wow kind of way. ;^)

  • misntroya
    11 years ago

    I just found this thread, and I find it so interesting because my hobby is collecting/restoring antique and vintage telephones. It is actually how I met my DH, first when I won a phone on Ebay from him, then at a collector's show we both attended.

    The vintage phone link you posted, holden.sk, has me puzzled because Western Electric phones did NOT have chrome or brass bands on the handset. So I'm not sure what they did to achieve that look. Automatic Electric DID have bands on the handsets and are special favorites of mine. I have many of the colors they made, but they never made that yellow phone that is in the ad. I'm thinking these aren't actual old phones but reproductions that some people are making.

    I would either check out garage sales and ask if the phone works, see if you can check it out in their home first, or buy on Ebay. Make sure the ad says it is working; many times there is the original hardwired cord and the seller doesn't know if the phone works because they have no way to test it.

    In our DIY kitchen reno we will have several of our old goodies on display AND working. We have a niche made for a unique dial wood wall phone; the others will be on the wall at the entryways, and a desk phone in the eat-in part of the kitchen.

  • lalithar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    What an educational thread!

    Misintroya - I did not realize you can actually buy a vintage phone that works. Another thing for me to poke around eBay for.

    Lalitha