Northern Electric 302 dated 1960

[Jon Kolger]

Today a picker friend of mine sent me photos of a Northern Electric 302 with a 1960 date on the bottom.  Was Northern still making 302s in 1960? Or is that a refurb date... or what?

[Doug Rose]

Jon ...is it a refurb date? Do the dates inside match? Seems awfully old for a 302 in December of 1960, but I am no expert...take care....Doug

[poplar1]

Base is stamped 5302GR3GF. This means the base was a 302G that  had been converted to a 5302G with a retractile handset cord (the R), black (3) with a GF handset (G1 handle +  F1 trans + HA1 rec.) The person who installed the repro cords probably thought it would look better with a 302 housing. Are you sure it is NE and not just the dial and/or handset? Original date of the phone will be inside; I'm betting it is a WE base, because the NE bases are usually gloss black.

[paul-f]

Also for Northern, look for a patent reference inside.  (See photos.)

Edit:  Added a bottom photo for David -- glossy NE base refurbed in Springfield, MA, WE F1W added.

  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=4177.0

[Jon Kolger]

I haven't seen the phone, so I haven't looked inside.  It's not the sort of phone that would be of interest to me, so I passed on it.  I imagine it will show up on ebay soon.  I saw the 5302 designation, and thought that it didn't make sense.But since I don't have a lot of exposure to Northern sets, I wasn't sure what it all meant.  Thanks to everyone for the info.