Model 302 telephone
The Model 302 telephone is a desk set telephone that was manufactured in the United States by Western Electric from 1937 until production of entirely new units ceased about 1954, after the introduction of the modern model 500 telephone in 1949. However, units were routinely refurbished into the 1960s. After manufacturing ended, a modified version, the 5302 was issued until the mid-1960s through the Bell System refurbishing shops with a new modern housing that resembled the model 500. Northern Electric, serving the Canadian telecommunications market, produced the 302-type telephone for several years longer than Western Electric.
The 302 is a member of the 300-series telephones and was sculpted by the industrial design firm of Henry Dreyfuss. It was one of the first widely used American combined telephone sets to include the ringer and network circuitry in the same telephone housing.
Design and production
Designed by the firm of Henry Dreyfuss, the Model 302 included design elements influenced by Ericsson model DBH 1001 of 1931, designed in 1929 by the Norwegian artist and designer Jean Heiberg. After field trials in early 1936, large-scale deployment commenced and the model was never completely retired from service in the Bell System.
The model 302 was the first Western Electric telephone to include the ringer and network circuitry in the same desktop unit. Earlier Western Electric models (102, 202) required the use of an external subscriber set (subset) or ringer box, typically mounted on a wall.
The model 302 is built upon a rectangular steel base plate on which were mounted the ringer unit, the inductor coil, a metal can containing two capacitors, and a connector terminal plate. The base was supported by four felt- or leather-covered triangular feet attached under each corner. The housing sat on top of the base, secured with screws, and contained the rotary dial and the switchhook, which was activated by two plungers in the handset cradle.
The model 302's housing was originally cast from a zinc alloy which was produced until ca. 1942 until telephone manufacturing was suspended during WW-II. However, starting in 1941 production sets were increasingly made from a thermoplastic material, Tenite.
Most of the model 302 sets were issued in black, however painted color version were available to subscribers paying surcharges, shortly after introduction. Briefly before the war, and again starting in 1949, plastic sets were also available in five colors (ivory, peking red, gray green, dark blue, old rose), while painted metal sets in several metallic hues (dark gold, statuary bronze, old brass, oxidized silver) were available by special order into the 1950s.
The early telephone sets had metal finger wheels, while the colored Tenite units featured clear plastic finger wheels. Dial number plates were made from steel with white vitreous enamel coating on North-American 302 models, while European versions tended to use black Bakelite with white numbers.
Due to a manufacturing delay in handsets, the earliest production units used the E1 handset. Other early characteristics were sound holes under the cradle, and riveted feet, rather than screwed to their bases. By end of 1937, the cradle ears and plungers were enlarged. The straight handset cord and line cord used brown textile covers until the early 1950s, when these were replaced with rubber and Neoprene cords, Finally, coiled, retractile spring handset cords could be supplied.
The 302 was a rugged and easily repaired desk telephone. Most U.S. telephones were owned by the Bell System, and were provided to the subscriber as part of the monthly service fee. Some were sold, and can be identified by the handset numbering F1W, where the W signified a unit without Bell System markings. Beginning in August 1955 and extending into the 1960s, the Bell System remanufactured the 302 as the model 5302, with a newly designed housing, and sometimes with a handset of new design, which gave the set a similar appearance as the Model 500, and achieved better transmission characteristics.
In addition to the model 302, the Western Electric 300-series included many variations and special purpose models with additional features. Conversion kits using a 302 housing and F1 handset to replace older manual candlestick telephones with an external subset were known as the AA1 and AB1 mounting.
After phase-out in the US, the Model 302's exterior design was retained by European Bell branch companies for such models as the 1954 Bell Standard, widely used in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Similar phones by other manufacturers
Other manufacturers produced sets of very similar appearance. Among these were the Stromberg-Carlson Model 1243 telephone, distinguished by beveled corners and flanging on the handset, and the Federal Telephone & Radio model 803 (pictured) which featured components made by Automatic Electric.
In Popular Culture
The WE 302 appeared in many films from the time of its introduction through the 1960s, and was ubiquitous in television shows of its time, such as the popular 1950s situation comedy I Love Lucy. Thus, it is sometimes called the Lucy phone by collectors as a memorable way to refer to the model. [1]
See also
References
- ↑ "On the trail of the "Lucy Phone"". Dennis Markham's Classic Rotary Phones. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
External links
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