Decoding metal 302 housings

[Jack Ryan]

It appears to me that the 302 production facilities were dismantled at Hawthorne to make room for other war gear, because in 1944 Western Electric bought a factory in St. Paul to restart telephone manufacturing by early 1945.  It appears it took some time for Hawthorne to get online again.

The WE 302s supplied to NZ in 1944, both reverse dial and normal dial, were apparently manufactured and shipped in 1943 (all dates match). These were not Signal Corps telephones.

Telephones were supplied to other countries during WW2 as well including Russia.

Jack

[pieboy977]

I have a 302 telephone and I'm trying to figure out what the orange numbers on the inside of the plastic housing mean? Does anyone have any advice about those or any of the other numbers inside the phone?

[Greg G.]

Yes, that C252 is a date, meaning March 25, in the year of manufacture which has to be inferred from other markings. We don't know what the last digit is, but it is always found to be 1, 2, or 3, just like on later housings. Some collectors believe it to be a shift, but we don't seem to have any confirmation. I believe not, because I don't think they worked in multiple shifts around the clock to make telephones. I found one reference which appeared to state that something like shifts were introduced much later for a special occasion, and I have to find that reference again.

Based on the observations of these marks, your housing was most likely made in 1938, because by late 1938, the housing type was ink-stamped inside.  See here for discussion: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11389.0

Metal housing I just bought.  No other parts to give clues.

Ok, I'm confused about the date.  If the inside stamp means 1925, that seems to be a little early for 302s, metal or otherwise?

I think I just explained the date.  Not 1925, but  March (C) 25, 1938.

Got it, thanks.

[Doug Rose]

Those 41 302s are really nice. This was when WE going to thermoplastic from the metal phones. The early black thermoplastic shells would shrink and crack like the color shells could.  They are tough to find without a crack or to small to fit on the base. ...Doug

[unbeldi]

I have a 302 telephone and I'm trying to figure out what the orange numbers on the inside of the plastic housing mean? Does anyone have any advice about those or any of the other numbers inside the phone?

We have a long-standing discussion thread about this topic:  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8332.0

Some time ago, I posted a find there of a phone that was made on Sept 2, 1941, exactly a week before yours.  That had the number 34530, yours has 34503.  So, as we speculated previously this cannot be a simple serial number.
I am going to record your find in that thread, as this one is about the metal cases.

[Doug Rose]

I have a 302 telephone and I'm trying to figure out what the orange numbers on the inside of the plastic housing mean? Does anyone have any advice about those or any of the other numbers inside the phone?

Gregg...does it fit on the base of your phone? These usually warp and crack. Really nice. Show us some pics of the phone...Doug