Model 302 telephone
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The model 302 telephone is a desk set telephone that was manufactured in the United States by Western Electric from 1937 until 1955, and by Northern Electric in Canada until the late 1950s, until well after the introduction of the 500-type telephone in 1949. The sets were routinely refurbished into the 1960s. It was one of the most widely used American combined telephone sets to include the ringer and network circuitry in the same telephone housing.
Design and production
The design of a new desk telephone for the
Designed by
The design evolved during the early part of the 1930s when the Great Depression delayed introduction of all new telephones. After field trials in 1936, large-scale deployment commenced in 1937. The model was never completely retired from service in the Bell System, which ceased to exist in 1984.
The model 302, and a series of similar models for special service types, is built upon a rectangular steel base-plate on which are mounted the ringer unit, the
The majority of 302-series telephones were produced in black. Painted color sets were available by 1939; subscribers paid a surcharge for the option. The housing was originally cast from a
All early telephone sets had dials with metal finger wheels, either black or in brushed stainless steel for the color telephones. Starting in 1941, the colored thermoplastic units featured clear plastic finger wheels. Dial number plates were made with a steel substrate for the white vitreous enamel face. Black telephone sets were equipped from the factory with straight brown textile-covered cords until 1952, when synthetic rubber (Neoprene) jacketed cords became standard equipment. Optional retractile coiled cords were available both in textile and rubber jackets since the early 1940s.
The 302 was a rugged and easily repaired desk telephone. Most US telephones were leased to subscribers from the Bell System as part of the monthly service fees. Western Electric also built 302 telephones for sale to independent telephone companies.
Beginning in August 1955 and extending into the 1960s, the Bell System remanufactured the 302 as the type 5302 in its distribution center work shops, with a newly designed housing and eventually with the G-type handset of the 500-type telephone, which gave the set a similar appearance to the 500.
In addition to the model 302, the Western Electric 300-series included many variations and special purpose types with additional features. Conversion kits using a 302-style housing and F1 handset to replace older manual candlestick telephones with an external subset were available.
Similar phones by other manufacturers
Other manufacturers produced sets of similar appearance. Among these were the
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.
See also
References
- ^ Lum G.R., Desk Stand for a Hand Telephone, U.S. Design Patent No. 95,765 (May 28, 1935)
- ^ "Twenty-Five-Year Service Anniversaries" (PDF). Bell Laboratories Record. 21 (5): 326. January 1943. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
- ^ Flinchum R.A, Meyer R.O., Henry Dreyfuss and Bell Telephones, Winterthur Portfolio - A Journal of American Material Culture, Volume 51(4), Winter 2017
- ^ "The Bakelite telephone 1931". Ericsson. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ a b "Colored Telephone Sets" (PDF). Bell Laboratories Record. 27 (1): 43. January 1949. Retrieved October 13, 2022.