Dial Into Old Phones for Decor With Character
Give a nostalgic nod to the past with vintage telephones, working or not. Booths and sawdust optional.
Mary Jo Bowling
June 21, 2014
Houzz Contributor; writer, reader, serial remodeler.
For Paul Wiltfong, dealing with vintage telephones has been a nearly lifelong affair, so he easily understands why people want to add them to their homes. “Pay phones were once an everyday part of life,” says Wiltfong, a vintage phone collector, dealer and restorer. “Some of my customers purchase an old pay phone just to buy back a bit of their childhood.”
The character of wall-mounted pay phones brings something to an interior that no other phone, no matter how smart, could ever replicate. “They really add a personal touch,” Wiltfong says. “Homes are more than boxes where we eat and sleep — they are where we live. For me being able to actually put my hands on something from the past makes life interesting, and I think my customers feel the same way.”
The character of wall-mounted pay phones brings something to an interior that no other phone, no matter how smart, could ever replicate. “They really add a personal touch,” Wiltfong says. “Homes are more than boxes where we eat and sleep — they are where we live. For me being able to actually put my hands on something from the past makes life interesting, and I think my customers feel the same way.”
Wiltfong found his calling early. “My grandparents operated a telephone exchange out of their home in Fontana, Kansas,” he says. “Grandpa was an ironworker, and Grandma ran the switchboard. When the grandkids came over, he would give us a screwdriver and a hammer and put us to work disassembling old phones for scrap. As a young boy, I loved it and was intrigued by them.” Then older phones started to become more valuable, and his grandfather started collecting them. When his grandparents grew older and moved off their farm, they gave Wiltfong several old phones, and the seeds of his business, OldPhoneMan.com, were sown.
Today he sells vintage telephones to homeowners, builders and architects who hope to add personality and charm to their homes. In this modern Philadelphia kitchen with elements of the past, Knight Architects added a period-perfect touch with a cherry-red pay phone. It’s an example of what Wiltfong says is most popular among vintage-pay-phone enthusiasts today. “People love the models from the 1950s and early 1960s,” he says. “This kind of phone would have three slots at the top and the receiver off to the side. Most of them were black or beige, but when the newer phones started coming in, some business owners had the old models repainted in bright colors in an effort to compete.”
Today he sells vintage telephones to homeowners, builders and architects who hope to add personality and charm to their homes. In this modern Philadelphia kitchen with elements of the past, Knight Architects added a period-perfect touch with a cherry-red pay phone. It’s an example of what Wiltfong says is most popular among vintage-pay-phone enthusiasts today. “People love the models from the 1950s and early 1960s,” he says. “This kind of phone would have three slots at the top and the receiver off to the side. Most of them were black or beige, but when the newer phones started coming in, some business owners had the old models repainted in bright colors in an effort to compete.”
Wiltfong says most people prefer to have a working phone that they can actually use. But this model, which appears to be a coveted Western Electric daisy-wheel model, is used as a sculptural element in Jamie and Erin Osborne’s Portland, Oregon, apartment.
Kids love to play with this nonfunctioning phone in an incredible tree house in the backyard of Steve and Jeri Wakefield’s Dallas home.
But in Wiltfong’s experience, vintage phones are serious collector’s pieces. “This kind of phone can run between $150 to $750,” he says. “But I’ve also picked them up at yard sales for $20.” He cautions that because of their enduring popularity, the market is awash with reproductions passed off as the real thing. “Sometimes it’s very hard to tell the difference,” he warns. “The real thing should never be lightweight or plastic. The real thing is made of steel or cast iron and is very heavy.”
Because it’s stationed near a desk, you can only imagine that the vintage phone installed in this space, by Image Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is actually used (although the whimsical saddle chair suggests that the homeowner has a playful side).
Because it’s stationed near a desk, you can only imagine that the vintage phone installed in this space, by Image Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is actually used (although the whimsical saddle chair suggests that the homeowner has a playful side).
Wiltfong says it’s not uncommon to find homes where pay phones have their own specially designed booths and vintage signs, such as this one by CHC Creative Remodeling in Kansas City, Kansas. “These kinds of setups remind me of an old-fashioned bar,” he says. “Few bars in America would have been without one.”
According to Wiltfong, the sound quality of the phones is affected by the quality of the parts. “With your iPhone, it’s all about the connection,” he says. “With a vintage pay phone, it’s all about whether it has good parts inside. With quality parts, the sound should be just great.”
With these pieces, it’s the strong connection to the past that really matters — although there’s a hidden benefit to owning one. “If you can get your kids to use them, they don’t stay on the phone as long,” says Wiltfong. “They don’t have the patience to stand in one place and talk to someone.”
According to Wiltfong, the sound quality of the phones is affected by the quality of the parts. “With your iPhone, it’s all about the connection,” he says. “With a vintage pay phone, it’s all about whether it has good parts inside. With quality parts, the sound should be just great.”
With these pieces, it’s the strong connection to the past that really matters — although there’s a hidden benefit to owning one. “If you can get your kids to use them, they don’t stay on the phone as long,” says Wiltfong. “They don’t have the patience to stand in one place and talk to someone.”
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There are an assortment of reproduction novelty phones of old phone models. See https://www.houzz.com/collections/paramountelectronics for some options.