This Western Electric phone is straight from my grandmothers estate. It was given to me several years ago… I was told it works, but cannot confirm that personally, as I do not have the outlet in my home to test it out. I’ve done some research on this WWII era phone, and I think this one is super rare. I’ve yet to see one with a metallic silver body like this. I think this is the early dye cast zinc body from when the phone first went into production in the late 1930s. When the war started, the demand for zinc to build war machinery skyrocketed, so manufacturers switched from zinc to a plastic housing. I’m thinking this model is from between 1937- 1939.
Here is some info I found on a website about all this:
“The Western Electric 302 vintage rotary phone is a classic rotary phone model that is the predecessor to the Western Electric Model 500. Historically speaking, the first introduced in 1937, the Western
Electric 302 originally had a full metal housing made of zinc using a
die cast process. During World War II, when zinc was in demand for use
in building war products, a thermo plastic housing was introduced for
the Western Electric 302 rotary dial phone.”
The handset is an F1 style, I do not know if it’s bakelite or some other material. The inscription reads “Bell System made by Western Electric F1”.
Label on metal dial reads “Telephone travel – Fast – Econonomical – Call Long Distance”
This phone is very heavy and in great condition.
I think this beauty is a real find! Please email me with questions and I’ll try my best to answer them!
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