How to Remove a Western Electric Wall Phone
Western Electric manufactured and distributed phones from 1881 to 1995. The majority of telephones installed in the USA during this period were provided by the company through Bell Telephone and then AT&T. One of Western Electric's most innovative designs was the space-saving wall telephone. By mounting a telephone on a wall, people no longer needed to have a desk or stand on which to place the phone. The invention of cordless phones did away with the need for dedicated wall space for a phone, so you may want to remove your old Western Electric wall phone.
Instructions
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Grab the body of the telephone (where the receiver hangs) by the bottom and push it up. The body of the phone hangs on two studs that are attached to the wall-mounted phone jack behind the phone. When you lift the phone, you are sliding the studs into the wider part of the mounting slots in the back of the phone. Once the studs are in this part of the slot, you can pull the phone off the studs and away from the wall.
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Press the tab down on the top of the plug that is attached to the phone wire coming from the back of the phone and plugging into the wall jack. Pull the plug out of the wall jack. You can now set down the phone.
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3
Remove the two screws from the face of the wall jack plate with a flat head screw driver, and pull the plate off the wall. Your Western Electric wall phone is now removed.
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Tips & Warnings
Check with a local antiques dealer to see if your Western Electric wall phone is worth any money. Some of them are considered collector's items.
Do not pull the phone wire out of the wall jack by the wire itself, always press the tab on the plug down and then remove it, or you could damage the wire. A damaged wire means you will not be able to reuse the phone if you want to (without repair), and that it will no longer be considered in good condition by potential collectors.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit retro telephone image by Lars Christensen from Fotolia.com
