Strange handset for a WE302

[sammytheboyboy]

Hello All,

My name is Rich and I am a newbie to the forum. I recently picked up a WE 302 with a metal case in a local antique shop for a steal. It has a handset on it that I never saw before on a 302. Can anyone identify this? It has no markings on it anywhere. It is bakelight. I have included pictures. Thanks in advance!

[poplar1]

North Electric

[persido]

Nice looking 302, the dial card is great.

Scot

[sammytheboyboy]

Thanks! Picked it up for $55.00 working. Just needed a good cleaning!

[TelePlay]

Did you open it up? It could be a Northern Electric phone with a WE dial and a North handset. I have a Northern Electric metal shell 1941 "302" with an WE F1W handset but and AE dial. The capacitor and other internal parts are also not WE. Just saying you may actually have a Northern Electric phone, not a WE phone.

Regardless, nice looking phone. I love, and have quite a few, any black "302" phone, metal or plastic.

[poplar1]

North Electric (Galion, Ohio) phone is wider. Northern Electric (Québec) and Western Electric made 302s.

You have a North Electric handset on a Western Electric or Northern Electric 302. If you look inside, you can tell if the phone is Western or Northern; Northern has patent dates inside.

[paul-f]

Welcome to the forum.

One of the fun aspects of collecting is finding sets like this that have mismatched components.  It's especially common in areas served by independent (non Bell System) phone companies.  Most of the parts were reasonably compatible, so they could repair phones with whatever parts they had on hand.

Some of us collect them as examples of creative recycling, while others look at them as parts sources and try to get enough to restore them to their original state.

If you get the desire to look for a base to match your North handset, check this page out first:
   http://www.paul-f.com/north.htm

[dsk]

Welcome to the forum Sammy.

Nice phone!

dsk

[sammytheboyboy]

I did open it and it is all We inside. They match my other 302s to a tee. I guess they just put the Northern Handset on it. Does this make it a Frankenphone. Should I get the proper F1 handset?
Thanks,
Rich

[Adam]

There is a wide debate here as to what constitutes a frankenphone.

IMHO, in this case, if by looking inside, the phone doesn't look recently modified, I'd personally say it WAS a frankenphone, BUT, it was frankenphoned a long time ago (maybe 5 decades ago), making it an interesting piece of history, and I've leave it that way.  My personal feeling.  It looks nice!

[Mr. Bones]

...I guess they just put the Northern Handset on it. Does this make it a Frankenphone. Should I get the proper F1 handset?
Thanks,
Rich

There is a wide debate here as to what constitutes a frankenphone.

IMHO, in this case, if by looking inside, the phone doesn't look recently modified, I'd personally say it WAS a frankenphone, BUT, it was frankenphoned a long time ago (maybe 5 decades ago), making it an interesting piece of history, and I've leave it that way.  My personal feeling.  It looks nice!

Rich,
     I agree with Adam, wholeheartedly! I have a 302 with a Stromberg Carlson handset, and a WE500 with an AE handset, among others. They were done this way, most likely by an independent Telco. In my eyes, it just makes them stand out from the crowd, and are, as Adam so eloquently stated before, an interesting piece of history! Enjoy your toys!

Best regards!

[Sargeguy]

Is the mounting code H-1?  Or is it AB-1?  Lots of 251s, which are stamped with the AB-1 mounting code, were sold outside of the Bell System and have handsets from other manufacturers.  If it was an H-1 I would be a little more suspicious, but plenty of 302s were used outside the Bell System as well.  That phone number looks good for a 251.

[sammytheboyboy]

It is H1.

[Sargeguy]

I wouldn't worry.  As a whole it looks like a 302 used by an Independent.  A lot of times they ordered 251s so they could configure the ringer however they wanted, but sometimes they wanted straight line ringers and just ordered 302s from Western Electric.  Once the 302 became damaged, they switched it out with whatever they had on hand that worked.

[sammytheboyboy]

Thanks everyone. You have been very helpful! I appreciate the responses.