302 Cord Question

[HarrySmith]

I am putting together a 302 that came out of my pile of phones. It was really dirty and I am almost done cleaning it up. Nothing special just a plastic 302 with dates from the mid 40's to the mid 50's. My question is about the cords. It had none, handset cord was cut & no line cord. Since it is not even dates matching I want to save my repro cloth cords for good phones so I was going to put a black coiled cord on it. I have seen many 302's with them but I am not sure if it is correct. I would imagine some that were still in use into the 50's may have had a cord replaced by a repairman so possibly could be correct. What do you think?

[KaiserFrazer67]

Hi Harry;

I'm by no means an expert on 302s, but I do have a couple examples of heavy, round coiled cords on my grandma's old 302, as well as a walnut Northern Electric Type 1 Uniphone I recently purchased from a collection, which I am told came with the phone when they got it.  The 302 my maternal grandmother had (dates 1947 to '48), which I now have, always had a thick coiled handset cord on it as long as I can remember.  Unfortunately, the metal clasps on either end do not have a year stamped into them like the later 500/554 cords did.  If you can find an older coiled cord, make sure the cross-section is fat and round.  The old-style ones were pretty heavy; not like the flatter, later ones used on WE 500s/554s or AE 80s/90s.  IIRC, I ran across a statement in a thread someplace on the forum here that the heavy rubber coiled cords were introduced sometime in the late 1940's.  PhoneCo out in Galesville, Wisconsin would be a good source.  I've been there several times; they have an unbelievable amount of stock just laying around in their warehouse/workshop (which used to be an old factory), not to mention another 20-odd semi-loads full out on the owners' farm.  Here's a link to their website:  http://phonecoinc.com  The owner, Marie Mary, is usually there in the afternoons, and she is pretty knowledgable about what's in stock.  I'm quite sure they'd have one for you, although they'd probably have to dig around a bit to find one. 

[Edited to correct owner's name]

-Tom M.-

[HarrySmith]

Thanks Tom. I am pretty sure I have one or more of the older style "fat" cords. I may use one of those. I am aware of Phoneco, her name is Mary, not Marie, and her husband is Ron. I met them at a phone show, I have purchased from them before but I have never been to thier place.

[KaiserFrazer67]

Thanks Tom. I am pretty sure I have one or more of the older style "fat" cords. I may use one of those. I am aware of Phoneco, her name is Mary, not Marie, and her husband is Ron. I met them at a phone show, I have purchased from them before but I have never been to thier place.

"Mary."  Yep, I remember now; thanks for the correction. 

[rdelius]

That is a Northern Electric base. The real fat non coiled cords are common on mid-late 40s sets .Most coiled cords seem to be  later.

[HarrySmith]

Yes, I thought that base stamp was familiar. Thanks for reminding me. I guess it is a "frankenphone" after all. WE shell & handset. Red stripe ringer. So I don't think it will really hurt it if I add a coiled cord.

[KaiserFrazer67]

Yes, I thought that base stamp was familiar. Thanks for reminding me. I guess it is a "frankenphone" after all. WE shell & handset. Red stripe ringer. So I don't think it will really hurt it if I add a coiled cord.

Especially if you're going to use it on a regular basis.  I have a Kellogg Redbar (from OPW) with a straight cloth repro cord on my desk, and frankly I find it a bit of a nuisance compared to a coiled cord as I have to always curl it up out of the way of everything else on the desk.  Not to mention "no stretch" means "limited travel."  I would imagine that a straight rubber cord would be even worse to deal with, especially in a relatively confined space.

[Babybearjs]

I personally go with the cloth cords... the vinyl cords are hard to find for these... and when I switch out the cords, I save the old ones if they are still in usable condition. I just sent my brother one of my 302's from my collection. His girlfriend has never seen one and they'd like to add it to the home... man, are they going to love that phone!