Never Again Seen Unusual #196-55 1940's Western Electric 3-Slot Payphone

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Never Again Seen Unusual #196-55 1940's Western Electric 3-Slot Payphone  -  Very unlikely originating after 1953!  All the earmarks of a 1940 181, 182, 183, a 1949 191 etc. (1940, 41, 46 conversion) since it has a 1940 cast back, an early dial shroud, 1940's traditional open slot coin return.   Even though this came from Chicago, the previous owner (I didn't think to ask him) must've got it from someone who had got it from some suburb which was not Bell.   I'm aware that Automatic Electric (A.E.) did stuff like that; since these appeared.   This has an old bakelite handset like as used on the 1940 A.E. #40.  The code plate has #196-55.  Most attributes are Western Electric (W.E.) but must've been offered by A.E.  in independent telco (non Bell) territory and was in their catalog, as were a few other W.E. Phones but with A.E.  numbers on code plates. Strange to me, is a “bent magnet” affect between the two large coils and as part of the coin relay. This magnet is not bent in the traditional W.E. magnet way, but has a curve going inward.  Hard to describe.  This phone has the coin relay coil very similar to early coils but with the typical A.E. type triangular switch bracket front left.   It used the older very common chute and “ancient” looking tray.   It has the unusual W.E. 101A coil.  It has the ordinary 1949-ish stainless steel channels with a date on one of the parts being 1953.  Don't let that date fool you. This phone has the importance of a majority of 1940 – 1948 indisputable making.  Oddly, sliders are in the roof of the vault leading to suspect that it may have been used in a more urban environment.
Call me, I'll enjoy sharing what I know about ( 1912, 1920s – 1972) 3-Slot payphones. Parts interchange between 1912 and 1972 (over 60 years of extreme interchangeability). A.E. (Automatic Electric) and N.E. (Northern Electric 1954-1972) both ceased manufacturing of the 3-slotter in 1972. There isn't anything particularly remarkable about this payphone, it is rather ordinary, in use in booths in non-urban (not large metro) areas such as Peoria, Lacrosse and the likes and rural cities and villages. Most of A.E.'s manufacturing was Chicago but they ventured into suburbia such as Northlake, ILL shortly after 1955 labeling some of the payphones as made in Northlake. There's more to the history I'd gladly share. This payphone has not had a line cord hooked up so that you can plug it in (even with a cell phone) to operate. We can do this if you want.  The name brands stamped into payphone through the years were Gray, Western Electric, Automatic Electric and Northern Electric. Automatic Electric bought Gray out in 1948. There after until the end (1972) A.E.'s name appeared on the front of their payphones. A large population lived in large cities where Bell used Western Electric telephones. These folks therefore think that payphones were Western Electric or Bell. But if you could count all the payphones that came out of booths when the Single Slot replaced them, you would probably find that over half were A.E. and the other half W.E. This phone does not have a plug-in cord so it is not capable of immediately working to dial out, talk-listen. I can have this accomplished for an additional and with a adapter will work on a cell phone line or telco line.
I will continue to list payphones on eBay until I die or until they are all gone. If someone buys them all before either of those things happens, so be it. If payphones are left after I'm gone, there may be someone come along to see them pass off somewhere. As I visit this subject, it is though they sit around in a warehouse situation, but this is not real. They are apart. I am referring to two main situations: one where by these are the remains of hundreds that were taken apart 30 or so years ago, refinished and not yet ever re-assembled.
A well known payphone collector and wheeler dealer Paul died earlier last decade. Paul would have been 86 in January 22, 2021 a month younger then myself. The manager of his estate sold to me 200 tops, 200 bottoms and 200 backboards. About 70 are left (7-2021). Each piece went through an ordeal. The beige or black pieces were repainted. The chrome pieces were polished. Almost all of the old painted bottoms have been sold; gone. We are now left with chrome bottoms both Western Electric style and Automatic Electric. Both 1948 style A.E.'s and 1955 – 1972 A.E.'s. There are still about 15 1948 style bottoms (chrome) and 15 1930s – 1954 tops remaining. There are enough pre 1956 backboards to accommodate these phones, a few 1956 – 1972 chrome bottom housings (7-2021).  All this stuff lately gets put together. We used to wire them all up to work. Since several years ago, we've now simply assembled them with what we have and not made them work except by request. In around 1997 or 1998, I engaged a manufacturer to make replica tops (replica of 1920 – 1926 tops and 1932 – 1939 Western Electric bottoms). I demanded fairly exact replication to imitate the era they were to represent. If any of these parts are used, I will label. You will be informed of their use. Assembling these old payphone units is not a simple quick task. There is much involved which I'd gladly share if you would call me afternoons – evenings. It is a time involved time consuming project; and making them work correctly is another involved project. In the early 2000s, while we had Levi with us (from 1991 until 2018) we did up some genuine Western Electrics that well represented 1940 – 1956. These had original numbers 181, 183, 191, 193, 197, 200, 203 and 223. A few yet remain. That's it! I will not pursue the acquisition or investment into old payphones again in my life. Assembling all the parts is slow and tedious. We may run out of old coin gauges and that may end our offering, unless I find more old ones or get someone to make them. I have a small work force for 20 – 22 hours a week, so not many (maybe 2 or 3) can be offered per week.