1941 Western Electric 302 Demo

The oldest phone in my collection, a 1941-manufacture Western Electric 302.

One thing I forgot to mention in vid is that this phone has a VERY HEAVY metal body!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Bell
• System
• Western
• Electric
• Rotary
• Phone

[hakemon]

Hey Patriot, if you remember me, I was one with a 500. I had ordered it cloth cords to retro fit on it, and the "Rotatone" so I can use it on automated menus.

Well now I have ordered a 302 and can't wait for it to arrive..

[Patriot1776]

@hakemon Excellent! Did you have any issues installing the Rotatone in the 500? I've not put any more Rotatones in any of my other phones since my house is still being served by a traditional POTS landline. Is a Rotatone going in the 302 as well, and is it a late thermoplastic one or an early heavyweight metal one? :)

[Adrelle177]

I am so happy to see someone as passionate about vintage phones as I am. Question Patriot: What do you think about reproductions--not the ones that are being done today but the ones from a few decades ago. For example, in the 70's candlestick phones were reproduced and I just purchased a french rotary dial from 1975-they originated much earlier. The model I just purchased is an "AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION". DELCO-TEL. MODEL #D-B1330B. Let me know your thoughts.

[Patriot1776]

I don't have any problem with them. I like them quite a bit as well. I have a couple of these older repro-candlesticks. I think I do need to do a couple videos on them. One of them is a Deco-Tel just like yours, but the other one is a more faithful one that is all metal except for the mouthpiece and the hung receiver and I believe has a Automatic Electric-style dial on it.

[moneyman1934]

Hello again! I had another question about my 302 phone. When I did a few ringing tests on it, I noticed something strange. I called my house with the phone opened up so I could see the ringer, and the sound was just BEAUTIFUL, but when I put the casing back on and called it again, the ring was completely different and kind of ugly sounding. What do you think may cause that?

[Patriot1776]

Check to make sure first, when you close the casing back up, that nothing is binding on the clapper between the ringer bells. I doubt that's happening however, as that would also cause the ringer to not even ring at all. If the ringing just sounds muffled when the phone is closed up, then there's nothing you can really do. Remember the age these things were designed in and the limited technical capability.

[TheBlitz1]

is this the voice actor for hank hill?

[robbimac18]

I am a telephone repair man for bell canada, and just got a 1950's Northern Electric 500 phone (black) from a elderly customer who now wanted caller ID.. worked fine when i was there, now I took it home, hardwired it into the phone jack and nothing.. seems like it cant call out or receive .. does have dial tone though

[MrBerniedippolito]

@Adrelle177 there is a 1941  302 on sale right now on Ebay. Go to seller ID - SELLQUEST007 and place your bid

[MrBerniedippolito]

@hakemon , there is a 1941 WE 302 on sale right now on Ebay. Go to seller ID - SELLQUEST007 and place your bid.

[BritishAutophone]

I have one of those from 1938

[RetroCaptain]

Good Day,

Well sir,..I have the cousin of your phone; A Northern Electric (forgot their mod #-- it's in storage). It looks the same. Heavyweight thing. Bell Canada..1946. Can dial out, & take calls, but won't ring. It could last 100 more years, if Bell had not put in tone dialing... Not useful for calling government services, or businesses..."Press 1 for service in English...press 2 for service in French" etc......I like it. I used to live in a farming area. Had a party line, used it then.

[cfamcny939]

How do you perform the ring test? What numbers do you dial? Does this work on other Western Electric rotaries?

[hakemon]

@Patriot1776 I had a little issue installing it in my 500, as one of the spade connectors didn't work on it causing intermittent use, so I clamped on a new spade connector, and it works fine, minus a "small buzz" after dialing that goes away in 2 seconds. I will be installing the rotatone in the 302, out of the one in my 500 since I only have 1 room here so no need for more than one on the line. Also, it's a metal version..