Western Electric #302 Desk Set

Dimensions: Base; 5 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches long. Height; 4 1/2 inches without receiver. Typical dial; 5-H.

The Western Electric Number 302 series desk telephone was introduced in 1937. The first versions had a die-cast zinc housing and were changed during the War to a thermo-plastic housing. The F-1 series handsets were first made of bakelite and also later changed to the much lighter thermo-plastic. The 302 series was the first Bell System subscriber desk telephone to contain the ringer and induction coil within the phone. Previous desk models required a separate subscriber set or bell box which was attached by the line cord.

While the 302 series telephone is predominately found in black, it was also produced in nine colors. The Western Electric number 10 catalog lists the following colors: black; ivory; old brass; statuary bronze; oxidized silver, dark gold; old rose; dark blue; gray-green; pekin red. On the colored sets, a 5-J dial was used rather than a 5-H. The 5-J had a stainless steel finger stop and number card holder and the cases were finished in white rather than black. Most of the colored sets came with cloth covered cords which corresponded to the color of the phone.

When the thermo-plastic housings became the standard, the colors were molded in the plastic of that color rather than painted on as was the case of the die-cast phones.

ATCA 6/85

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