Western Electric Model 332C - April of 1954

[Dennis Markham]

I saw this 302 type phone on eBay last week.  What caught my attention was the dial card.  The exchange card reads OLive2-6911.  In the community where I went to high school and spent 30 years working with the police department, OLive1 and OLive2 were the two exchange names.  Looking at the listing closer they also showed one of those plastic advertising rings that went around the dial.  I have seen them more on the 500 series phones.  But the advertisement was for a local drug store called Morley's Drugs.  While I was in high school Mr & Mrs. Morley were killed in a small airplane crash.  The business was sold to a local pharmacist who still owns the business.  Anyway, with this home-town connection I bought this phone.  I didn't pay much attention to the 332C model designation.  I just wanted what appeared to be an original phone from Rochester (MI).

I got more than I bargained for by getting this 332C.  I opened up the phone to find a lot of stuff packed inside.  I didn't even realize until after consulting with Paul's site that this is a modulated phone.

Seen here: http://www.paul-f.com/we300typ.htm and here: http://www.paul-f.com/we332.html


The phone is extremely dirty and is now on my list of things to do.  The mounting cord is a four conductor cord.  It appears as though a 4.5 VDC transformer will be needed to adjust the volume.  The volume adjustment is on the right plunger, marked L(ow), M(edium) and H(igh).  I didn't even notice that until after I read it on Paul's site and then looked at my photos.  The cords are actually in pretty good shape.  I'm hoping they will be usable.  

I will report back sometime in the future with a cleaner version.

By the way, based on the condition of the box I was lucky it did not get broken.  That coupled with the fact that the body was not wrapped and only some shredded paper to protect the phone, it was amazing it was not broken.

[Kenny C]

Nice phone. I bet it is going to look great.

[Doug Rose]

Dennis....this is a toughie to find at a rather inexpensive price. Post some pictures of the restoration. I have my fingers crossed the the volume control works. This is really nice!!!!.....Doug

[paul-f]

Congratulations, Dennis!

I'd say "rather inexpensive" is quite the understatement!

Not only did you get an outstanding price, but you beat the odds avoiding shipping damage.

[Dennis Markham]

Doug, it was just dumb luck that I got that phone.  I wanted it for the local history.  I think I bid over $100 so I guess I was lucky to get it for $28.

Congratulations on the Mahogany 500 by the way.  I thought those prices had started to drop, but that was a nice price from the seller's view point.

[Dennis Markham]

That's good to hear Paul, (that it was a good deal).  I was noticing on your site that the C designation indicates Letters/Numbers.  On your example it also shows a 332C but the dial plate is a Rural plate.  I'm guessing it was just a replacement?

[Wallphone]

A real nice find Dennis. According to Paul's great site, 1954 was the last year that 300's were made.
If that phone was two months older, I would have to arm wrestle you for it as then it would be the elusive birthday phone that I've been looking for.
Dougpav

[paul-f]

<snip> I was noticing on your site that the C designation indicates Letters/Numbers.  On your example it also shows a 332C but the dial plate is a Rural plate.  I'm guessing it was just a replacement?

The suffix info isn't necessarily common across all 300-series sets, so you need to check the 332's BSP for details.  (The list at the top of the page applies to the 302The first one I found only listed A-manual, and C-dial.  There may be other BSPs with other codes or it's possible that they didn't bother with coding the dial plate type in a relatively low volume set and had another mechanism to handle it on an order.

[JorgeAmely]

Very nice find Dennis. Now there are three known hearing impaired phones among forum members that need to go for a conference call. Let's see who can use the least amount of volume. 

[Craig T]

Great find on a special local phone! You sure get some dandy boxes from the postman. I bet he was tip toeing away again    Glad it arrived in one piece!

[Doug Rose]

Congratulations on the Mahogany 500 by the way.  I thought those prices had started to drop, but that was a nice price from the seller's view point.

Thanks Dennis.....We were pleasantly surprised at the selling price. Considering I didn't do a thing to it but take pictures, this was a sellers dream. Janet found it at a flea market and I was tempted to keep it, but space it an issue.....good luck on the 332....Doug

[Dennis Markham]

Thanks Paul for the updated information.

I was mistaken, the mounting cord is a five conductor cord.  One of the leads had been taped back.  The leads are in very good condition.

Jorge, right now the set I have has the lowest volume. 

Craig, you're right.  As I walked toward the front porch to get the box (I could see the tear from the street as I pulled in---trained eye) the mail truck was peeling rubber headed to the next house.

[Phonesrfun]

Dennis, you dog!  That is an exquisite find!  Hope to see more of it when it's had a bath and gets all dressed up.

[JorgeAmely]

Dennis:

Are you going to try to find out how and why the phone left Rochester and ended up in TN? That should be an interesting story all by itself. You should be able to locate the previous owner by the phone number.

[Dennis Markham]

Jorge,  I have had no luck in tracking down the phone number.  The current number is unpublished but still in existence.  According to the seller he bought an Estate "near Pontiac" (MI).  Pontiac is only about ten miles from Rochester.  I thought I would visit the Rochester area library and see if they may have a telephone directory from 1954.  The area was very rural in 1954 so there should not be too many numbers to weed through.