Here's a bland one that's not too common...

[Jester]

This one was a topic on the auction page a few months ago that I finally got around to.  This is a light beige I won on ebay.  The seller was John Huckeby.  You may recall this one had a 13 foot straight dark beige handset cord on it as a mounting cord & there was a split in the handset cord after the first coil.  It now has a std. length light beige mounting cord that came, ironically, from a S-C dark beige 1553 wall phone.  The handset cord is the original, after the offending coil was removed & the handset grommet was placed behind the split.  The following shots are:

1) auction pic

2) front view

3) inside of handset

4) back view

[Dennis Markham]

Very, very nice Stephen!  You did a great job on that phone.  What a great addition to your collection.

[Jester]

These last shots are:

1) Inside of base.  This is one of those instances where a really early base was used--2/39!  Notice the early style condenser clamp.  The ringer had been replaced, but I had a spare from 3/40, which looks a little closer to the original.

2) Inside of cover.  Notice the way the dial wiring has been twisted together.  This is the earliest example of this I have seen, but this was common practice on later phones.  Dial is a 6H-60

3) Base shot.  Again, alot of noticable differences on this early base and that used on most 302's.

[Craig T]

Great job on the phone, thanks for the shot of the nice early interior.

[McHeath]

Sweet!  A 5302 in any color but black is a rare beast, and this one cleaned up so well.  It's also pretty fun that you have such an early base, you've got several decades of phone technology represented in it. 

[jsowers]

Stephen, you certainly put that one back to looking good. The cords are outstanding, especially the handset cord. Did you do anything to the caps on the handset? The original picture makes them appear a different color than the rest of the phone. But in all the "after" shots, they match perfectly. Yes, light beige may be a bland color. But what it lacks in color, it makes up in rarity.

I have a light beige 554 from 8-58 that came with a matching mounting cord and matching 283B plug. I've never quite understood why, but I suppose it was mounted on the wall near a pre-wired phone jack and they just plugged it in.

[Jester]

Jonathan,

I treated the handset caps with peroxide gel.  It took a couple tries, but you can really see the result in the pics.

I haven't personally run into a 554 with the mounting cord, but always assumed it could be done, especially on the earlier models.  There is even an extra mouse hole for it.

[Dennis Markham]

I have run into the occasional 554 with a mounting cord attached, along with the 4 prong plug.  As far as I recall, they have been black sets.

Stephen, can you elaborate on the peroxide gel?  Is that part of the Retrobrite formula?

[Jester]

Yes, Dennis, it is basically the Retrobrite formula.  I am using the recipe Dan posted to the forum last year--Salon Care 40 diluted to 20% & mixed with a thickening agent.  I've been using corn starch for the paste as it's easy to find & it works great.  I have found, though, that it's better to you mix the starch in you diluting solution(measured amount of water) first and heat it until it starts to thicken.  After this has occurred, you can introduce the desired amount of peroxide & finish mixing.  By doing this, the starch is more completely dissolved & your finished mixture has fewer lumps, resulting in a more even distribution of the peroxide.