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Western Electric.com

Started by Babybearjs, November 06, 2011, 01:38:57 AM

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Babybearjs

I was looking at the schematic for the 309 and decided to look up the specs on the 426A tube. I was shocked to see a tie between the W.E. site and TCI/ATCA! are some of the club members working for the Still in business Western Electric?? I'm really Glad to see an old company still in business! even though they are only making radio tubes, at least they ARE still around! I also saw a link that was blank for old W.E. phone repair..... now would'nt that be cool! to be able to send my phone back to the ORIGINAL manufacturer for repairs... or even be able to order parts from them.... Ooooh, I'm excited.... so, where is this leading.... Have we learned our lesson and returning to the basics, or is this just a passing fad.... what do you have to say about this subject????
John

paul-f

I believe the web site belongs to the group that bought the WE tube manufacturing business - and has the right to use the WE name in their marketing.  The production equipment has been moved at least twice.  The last I heard, it was being set up in Tennessee.

The site contains links to info on the TCI site and on the Bell System Memorial site, which are not affiliated with westernelectric.com.

For example, the repair link on this page:
  http://www.westernelectric.com/contact.html

is a dead link as follows:
  http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/bell.htm/yellowpages.html

The Bell System Memorial site has been restructured, and I believe the current link is:
  http://www.porticus.org/bell/yellowpages.html

This info was originally compiled by David Massey when the Bell System Memorial site was created years ago, and was presented to help site visitors find phone repair resources.  It has been updated by the current Bell System Memorial site owner, which is part of Beatrice (http://www.beatriceco.com/).
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

Babybearjs

thanks for the info. its interesting to know that the W.E. name still exists. its just too bad all thats left is the audio department. in their day they made some very good sound systems and audio tubes. I have heard from freinds that theaudio tube based amplifier is the best around. Fender guitar and others from what I'm told, still make tube based amps... hows that for good engineering! I remember when you used to be able to go to radio shack and other places and get tubes for your TV and Stereo.... toward the end, they got kind of pricey! now we are into flat screens.... wonder if the company will ever get rebuilt to what it used to be....
John

rtp129495

This is awesome for two reasons,

1. Vaccum Tubes still being used and produced for the music industry. That is awesome!

2. A website with "www.westernelectric.com" as the name, only fitting for a company that layed the initial groundwork for the first BBS connections as well as early internet usage. Yes i'm talking about computer modems of the 70s and 80 and even 90s. I remeber using a modem on a PULSE ONLY phone line, i feel old now.  >:(

<rant>
I think society and the phone industry owe western electric and bell labs a lot they are responsible for alot of "conviences" we have now aside from the 500s, 5302s, 302s, candlesticks etc... its so sad that it was "monopolistic" and rated as bad, as far as i'm concerned it was the only successful monopoly in that everyone won, the consumer(for the most part), At&t, western electric itself. They were the first recyclers and we could learn a lot from that in our now disposable society. just in that one thing we could learn so much. Since we now have a floating plastic island of refuse(plastic) in the pacific ocean.

</rant>

Babybearjs

and to think that the music industry is part of the movie industry! and to see the old films that show the western electric audio system logo... I'm glad the WE is still around, it just needs to get back to basics, start making telephones again! the phones that we all grew up with were US MADE and kept our economy going... what ever happend to that! now is when we need to work at home, not abroad... the rest of the world already knows how to make there own goods... why are'nt we?? modae by americans, for americans! thats what W.E. was known for!
John

paul-f

Quote from: Babybearjs on November 14, 2011, 08:07:02 PM
I'm glad the WE is still around, ...

The company that has the Western Electric site has almost nothing to do with the pre-1984 Western Electric telephone business.

It is basically an independent organization that bought the tube manufacturing business from Lucent and got the right to use the WE name, trademarks and logo.  Their business has none of the telephone-related resources or expertise of the old WE.  A few years ago, they sold many of the telephones that were still on display in the lobby of the Kansas City building they bought, and have relocated first to Huntsville, AL and then to Lookout Mt, TN.

I doubt that they spend much time speculating about getting "back" into the phone business.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

rtp129495

I was aware that it was "bought" from lucent. As was noted in earlier posts. It's just nice to see the name around, even if they aren't making phones. I'm so nostaligic lol. This is an example of in name only.

babybear,

"the phones that we all grew up with were US MADE and kept our economy going... what ever happend to that!"

Greed and cheapness happened. This too makes me sad as I don't think in my lifetime we will be #1 again, we gave that to china when we sold all our industry also. We don't make it because we want to goto walmart and buy a phone for $4.99 that a child made for $1 a week. i'd rather buy a used WE thats 50 years old for $49.99 becuase I know it will out live me!!!

Babybearjs

How sad.... things we grew up with and now they have lost their essance... (if thats the right word)  Why a person(s) go into a company and distroy it is beyond me.. just like the company I used to work for "OSH", Orchard Supply Hardware, now sears has it .... how sad.... anyway, thanks for all the feedback on this subject... at least Vacuum tubes are still around!
John

GG



I'm with babybear on this one.  (Dude, you're in the Bay Area, right?  Let's hang out one of these days or something.)

Things have "lost their essence."  Exactly.  Many brand names have become meaningless commodities rather than standing for something any more.  The underlying issue is the decline of "intrinsic" value: that which cannot be commodified or bought & sold; and the rise of intrinsics becoming commodities, for example Newt talks about "protecting" marriage even while he's a serial adulterer, for example cheating in sports has gone pandemic ("it doesn't matter how you play the game, as long as you win").   

Yet there are some brands that are still relatively stable and still mean what they meant decades ago.  Big names like Chevy, Ford, McDonalds, less-well-known ones such as Peterson pipes, OshKosh tools... those come right to mind but it's really hard to find examples without getting into really obscure specialties.  Yet from time to time new ones get started that become meaningful: big ones such as Apple and Microsoft, and small ones such as G.L. Pease pipe tobacco and Strauss Farms ice cream.

I think the key point is that a company keeps its soul so long as it stands for something and practices a consistent ethic.  This can happen if it's a family-owned or privately-owned operation, or a large corporation with a strong and visionary founder such as Gates or Jobs whose imprint remains on the place after they have left.  But once a company has been bought, sold, traded, put through the mill a few times, and run by people who don't put their soul into it and don't stand for anything more than shareholder value, or lost its identification with a distinct community of workers with a strong culture, such as Detroit or Silicon Valley: that's when it loses its essence. 

Interesting how your choice of words ("essence") is evocative. 

So has Sears bought out OSH altogether, or only the branch you worked for?  Sears is another oldschool American institution, and I think has stayed closer to its origins and quality standards (e.g. Kenmore appliances still have a solid reputation) than some of what we used to call "department stores" that have morphed into generic retailers.  Yet it's hard to tell without knowing something about how they do business behind the scenes where the world isn't watching. 

This is something that advertising & marketing firms have tried to get a handle on for decades but can't, because people recognize "authentic" vs. "phony" when they see it.  And back to the main topic here, this I think is part of what we see when we look back at old telephone equipment and the old telco ethic of service: that was for-real, authentic, and oriented toward quality and reliability, and we want more of that in our lives.   And I also think this is part of why people hold the military in high regard: as an institution it is dedicated to a strong set of values that are intrinsics rather than commodities:  patriotism, integrity, courage, and duty. 

Babybearjs

I left Orchard supply back in '94 when I was forced out. they had gone public with their stock and pretty much 86'd the sales staff... I used to work in the electrical department at alum rock (ESJ) santa Clara, and at the original downtown location- San Carlos St. I moved to Idaho where to this day I preside. Boise sure has changed. I left the "rat Race" for a slow pace of life, only to have it follow me up here... the Boise area is like what San Jose was back in the 80's. the year I left I broke even on my taxes and that was a sign of what california is now.... Broke!  its sad, how the bell breakup and whats left of an american icon really changed things... to think we uysed to be able to afford phone service and long distance was a luxury... now everything is upsidedown... I stopped doing business with what is now centurylink because my roommaye uses cable tv for the phone... (AT&T: Cableone!) to know that what was a LD carrier who was part of the bell system is now one of the worst cable providers around.... scam, scam and more scam.... they say unlimited, and then change their tune at a drop of a hat.... if you excede the bandwidth, they charge you! AT&T???? what the *&***??  like I said, businesses that are historic have lost their essance.... just like my old employer, when the founder passes away, he takes the spirit of the company with him to ther grave!
John

GG



When I hear about stuff like that, I can't help but think: there was this bunch of radicals about 2000 years ago, led by a communist rabbi who said "love thy neighbor as thyself," and one of them, a guy named Paul something-or-another, said "love of money is the root of all evil."  Somehow that messages seems to have gotten lost lately.  Hmm...

rtp129495

"http://www.westernelectric-motors.com/homev3.htm" LOL apparently it's not just the Tube Business (maybe) but it was funny to see when I was searching for phone stuff. This site is about electric motors.

the funniest was:

Western Electric Motors in Las Vegas, NV | 2113 Western Ave, Las Vegas, NV. (obviously not the original WE).
this place is car repair among other things. on western ave none the less!

while these have had nothing to do with AT&T and the phone industry. I find it interesting how many people have used this name. i would never have known without this thread lol.

Babybearjs

western electric motors?? how interesting... quick lets sell them some old WE 500 "CAR PHONES" LOL  and make some money! but, I think to 300 series would be better, that way we could "ding" the salesman over the head with the reciever once we found out the real cost of the car. anyway, that story was interesting.  but I am glad that the W.E. is still around even if its just the tube division.... nostalgia... oh how we wish thing were different... 
John

rtp129495

Unrelated to westernelectric.com, but Verizon Wireless has a "home phone" alternative that's bascially a cellphone (similar to VOIP but wireless that has an RJ11 Plug). You could plug in a WE 500 or maybe a princess phone to it. The unit runs on 12 VDC so all you have to do is get a cigarette lighter adapter to the verizon wireless box and plug the 500 or princess into the RJ11 and it will function wirelessly and power the 500. pick up reciever and dial as if it were a land line and the box converts it to a cell call. pretty awesome! my parents got it to eliminate one of the two land lines they have. A no dial 500 is connected to it and functions perfectly.

Just a thought in my head, it is possible to have WE 500 carphone with the help of verizon home phone connect wireless.... WE never would saw that one coming!!

Babybearjs

if its the bluetooth adapter you are talking about, neat idea... I don't have one personally, but the idea is great for a car show! a vintage phone for a vintage car!
John