{"title":"Phones","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"contessa-french-style-rotary-telephone-in-white-and-brass-united-states-telephone-company-dated-november-1968","title":"Contessa French-Style Rotary Telephone in White and Brass, United States Telephone Company, Dated November 1968","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA wonderfully theatrical rotary telephone in the French Victorian manner — the kind of object that photographs as furniture rather than as equipment. The base is a shaped white housing with softly scalloped corners, rising to a domed brass bell cap and a pair of sweeping brass cradle arms that hold the handset aloft on turned brass supports. The handset itself is a slender white baton with brass caps and a flared brass earpiece, resting in the cradle like a dumbbell on a stand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAt the center of the base sits the dial — a brushed gold face with white number windows, red numerals, and black letter groupings, still carrying \u003cstrong\u003eOPERATOR\u003c\/strong\u003e at the ten position from the era when that was a call you actually made. The finger stop is brass, and the whole assembly has aged into a warm, honest patina against the cream-white housing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe underside carries its original factory label in full: \u003cstrong\u003eCONTESSA — US-5\u003c\/strong\u003e, conforming to New York Telephone Company drawing 205-ZL2-58, \u003cstrong\u003eMFG. DATE 11-68\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eSER. NO. 23342\u003c\/strong\u003e, United States Telephone Company, patent pending, made in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eFor most of the twentieth century, Americans did not own their telephones — they leased them from the Bell System, in the colors and shapes Bell chose. That began to loosen after the \u003cstrong\u003e1968 Carterfone decision\u003c\/strong\u003e, which established that customers could attach their own equipment to the network, and a market opened almost overnight for telephones that looked like something other than a Bell instrument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eContessa\u003c\/strong\u003e was one of the earliest and most successful answers. Manufactured in Japan for the United States Telephone Company and built to New York Telephone's housing specifications, it dressed working rotary hardware in an entirely invented French Victorian costume — brass cradle arms, a turned handset, a bell dome — for buyers who wanted a telephone that suited a decorated room. It became the definitive \"fancy phone\" of the late 1960s and 1970s, and it sat on bedside tables and hall consoles across America for twenty years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis example was made in \u003cstrong\u003eNovember 1968\u003c\/strong\u003e, which places it in the earliest production, in the very year the market opened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"ltr\" class=\"overflow-x-auto w-full pl-[var(--msg-block-inset,0.5rem)] pr-2 mb-6 print:overflow-x-visible\"\u003e\n\u003ctable class=\"min-w-full border-collapse text-sm leading-[1.7] whitespace-normal\"\u003e\n\u003cthead class=\"text-left\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\" class=\"text-text-100 border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.6)] py-2 pr-4 align-top font-bold\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\" class=\"text-text-100 border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.6)] py-2 pr-4 align-top font-bold\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eRotary dial desk telephone\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eMade in Japan for United States Telephone Company; New York Telephone Company housing specification\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eCream-white molded housing with solid brass fittings\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eDecoration\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eUndecorated; brass cradle arms, bell dome, turned handset caps, and gold dial face\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eFrench Victorian style cradle telephone\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eModel\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eContessa, US-5\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eManufactured November 1968\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eFull original factory label to underside: \"CONTESSA — US-5 — 205-ZL2-58 — MFG. DATE 11-68 — SER. NO. 23342 — United States Telephone Company — Patent Pending — Made in Japan\"\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eVery good. Housing solid with no cracks or losses; brass warm and evenly patinated with light tarnish. Dial face shows scattered fine scratching consistent with use. Handset present and seating correctly in the cradle. Original factory label intact and fully legible. Untested — sold as decorative; a rotary telephone will not dial on most modern networks without an adapter. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"border-b-0.5 border-[hsl(var(--border-300)\/0.3)] py-2 pr-4 align-top\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eVery few people buy one of these to make calls, and that is entirely the point — this is a sculpture that happens to be a telephone. It has real presence on a hall console, a nightstand, a desk, or a shelf, and the combination of cream and warm brass is one of the easiest palettes to place: it sits comfortably with mahogany, marble, gilt frames, and anything with a bit of period drama to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIt is also a conversation piece in the literal sense. Everyone under forty picks up the handset. Everyone over sixty tells you about a phone their grandmother had. And if you do want it working, rotary phones can be brought back onto a modern line with a pulse-to-tone converter — a small box, easily sourced, and the dial still turns and clicks exactly as it did in 1968.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47923776028777,"sku":null,"price":218.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_2726.jpg?v=1787222775"}],"url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/collections\/phones.oembed","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}