This is a toy “ranch” wall phone from the 1950’s. It is made of metal and particle board and features wonderful cowboy and cowgirl graphics. It comes complete with a detachable earpiece and a turning crank handle that rings a pair of bells on top. Speaking of bells, it was manufactured by the Gong Bell Co. (a company which originally started out making bells in 1886). At the base, there is a larger crank handle which drives an inner mechanism inside. When you turn the handle, a wobbly sounding voice of an operator says – “Howdy Partner. This is central. What number do you want? Hold the line. I’ll ring it for you.”
Facebook
Twitter
Press
Contact
Allee Willis
This is fantastic!! I’ve never seen a toy wall phone before. The graphics are beautiful. And I can’t believe that it actually still works. And I love that it’s called Ranch Phone and the telephone number only has four numbers. This is really a wonderful piece!
windupkitty
yeah, this really is cool….can’t belive it works!
k2dtw
Wow, so much amazing thought and detail for this great toy…
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum Auction starts this week at Christie’s… They are set up for online bidding???…smile
Allee Willis
I can’t even look as I imagine there won’t be many bargains. It also breaks my heart to break up their collection but hopefully some true Roy and Dale fans will get this stuff.
Michael Ely
I think it is sad that the collection is being broken up too. Guess it goes to show that nothing lasts forever. I often look at my own treasures (colectibles and kitsch) and realize that most of it once belonged to someone else and someday it will belong to someone else once again. These things have been given to me to enjoy for a period of time, and then one day they will belong to another person to enjoy, In the meantime, it is up to me to take care of and preserve them.
Nessa
I also think it’s really sad that the collection is being broken up. They should be kept together, I’m so sad that the museum closed before I got to visit.
I feel the same way about some of my stuff, that hopefully sometime someone else can enjoy it too! I have crazy fantasies of donating everything to museums, though.
windupkitty
i totally agree that all of their artifacts should be kept together…it’s just not right….i think the closing of the museum was a terrible loss….Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were so talented, did so much good (especially for children), and were kind to their animals….can’t ask for more than that….it breaks my heart to think they won’t get their proper memorialization….i mean, the ucla medical center is named after ronald reagan!…come on! WTf!?! Dale Evans wrote Happy Trails!!!!!!!
k2dtw
I saw this article today on the auction, and didn’t know where to post it…I added it to the original Trigger post…
Wanted to make sure you got to see it…it has a few of the auction results.. It sounds like there were a lot of people at the auction who all felt the same way…
I was so moved by the quotes…
http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/entertainstory/07-16-2010-Roy-Rogers-Auction
“Elkies, the auctioneer, said it was the ‚Äúmost colorful, emotional and sentimental‚Äù sale she had experienced in her 20 years at Christie‚Äôs.”
“At the end of the auction, the audience broke out spontaneously in a rendition of the Roy Rogers theme song ‚ÄúHappy Trails.‚Äù
Nessa
AHhhh! This is so cute!
Carrie
This reminds me of a toy I used to play with at my grandparent’s house – it was a telephone operator switchboard.
Looked just like this one:
http://www.oliverstimelesstoys.com/Tin_Other/736/index-350344674258.htm
The Ranch Phone is much cooler, though!
Allee Willis
That toy phone in the link looks VERY familiar to me. I’m thinking I used to have that and was obsessed with it. I think both phones are really cool.
k2dtw
OMG…This switchboard phone is fabulous…This is the first one I have ever seen…
Did you guys play for hours??…Great toy..
Wonder if Lily Tomlin has one???…smile..
One Ringy-Dingy…I LOVED her Ernestine, so smart, so funny..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9e3dTOJi0o
Allee Willis
You know that I’ve been friends with and worked with Lily Tomlin forever, right? I also built her website in 1999: http://lilytomlin.com/home.htm And, yes, I remember playing with that phone forever. Lily comes over from time to time and plays with all the toys here at Willis Wonderland.
k2dtw
My brother was at Wayne State, the same time Lily was there..
He said she had already…(I think I’m remembering this right) developed her “Edith Ann” character????…I think it was Edith Ann..
I hope I’ve got this right???.. Anyway, she was getting ready for what was coming, already hard at work creating…and one of the girls was already in the works…smile