Western Electric 5302M

[Adam]

Right now on eBay there is a 5302 with a modular handset, I would guess, probably notched and modified in the field, possibly in the 70's.

Finding a 5302 still in service after so many years, I would have expected that the phone co. would have just replaced the whole phone at that point.

Strange!

[GG]

Interesting.  The "Wait for dial tone" dial number card appears to be a new reprint because it shows no sign of fading with age.  The base cord appears to be one of the type used in 500 sets with a rubber grommet where it goes into the mousehole. 

But yeee-hawwww! that modular handset jack! 

I'm going to guess that the mod handset jack was installed by whoever replaced the dial number card.  Possibly so they could swap out an old G1 for a new G15 (modularized G3), and use the G1 on something else in their own collection. 

In any case it's a wild piece of history or might-have-been history, and someone on this forum should pounce on that one. 

[jsowers]

Maybe the same person who did your 5302 did this to an 11-59  500U I found several years ago? It's been modularized on both cords and all the plastics replaced with hard plastic. The only things re-used were the mushroom cap, the ring that mounts the mushroom cap, and the base. They even replaced the dial. And yes, it works fine, lamp and all.

[GG]

Jsowers, I'd guess that the original housing was either warped or otherwise damaged beyond repair, and the only available replacement housing already had modular keyways cut in it.   So whoever repaired those elements may have just decided to replace the dial to keep the whole thing approximately consistent as far as externally visible parts were concerned.   

In any case it looks good, and it's another piece of wild history, like the modular 5302.  I've always said that one of the truly outstanding things about all of this equipment is that it's all obsolescence-proof and eternally repairable, so these things can be kept in service for a century or longer.  Phones that have dates spanning a half century are inherently cool for that reason.