Everone has gone 302/500 series nuts

[rp2813]

I was all about 302's and older phones until about a year ago.  That's when I created a sort of 50's motif on my desk at home and dug out the 10/50 500 to finally put it to use after 25+ years in a box in the attic.   I never looked back.  The functionality of the 500, especially the handset, won me over.  The coiled handset cord was less of a hassle to use at the desk than a straight one.  The handset itself felt nice and beefy in my hand, its size is compact and with its flat back it's easy to use in a hands-free manor compared to its more delicate looking predecessors.   I still like my 302's and 202 for show and low use situations, but for practicality, the 500 is King.

Regarding dials and the sounds they make, my 10/50 has a matching date 7A dial.  It's quite gravelly sounding, but this seems normal to me for most dials produced up through the mid 60's.  Should it really be more silent?   I'm not going to tackle the dial, that's for sure.  The handset needs a bit of work too.  Does my entire phone need to be shipped off to Dennis?  I don't know if I can part with it, but I guess I can use my 4/53 phone as a stand-in if necessary.

[Dennis Markham]

Because I grew up with mostly the Model 500 and 554's...then later the Trimlines it was the plastic sets that was the "bug" that bit me and caused me to become interested in telephones.  I think it's a generational thing to some degree.  They say the value of the common wood set is fading because people that remember those phones from their youth are themselves dying off and there isn't as much interest by the younger generation.  Of course the rare phone will always bring top dollar.  Maybe the Baby Boomers are the transition generation of those that remember when wooden phones were in use (and sticks, 102's, etc) to the advent of the plastic phones and thus seemingly so popular now.  But I have found with me that my interest started with the phones of the 1950's but has now taken a backward turn.  I now have great interest in the earlier phones, trying to absorb all I can about the pre-Model 500's.  I'm  not quite back to the stick phones yet but look forward to adding them to my collection eventually.  But the starting point for me was in the middle....with the 1950's Model 500/554's. I never thought I'd buy B1's and D1's with subsets and Continentals,  North Electric, Automatic Electric, Stromberg Carlson, and one of those and one of those..............but I have.

The impression I got when I first joined the phone clubs was that the long-time collectors--- the collector "hierarchy" ----turned their noses down at the plastic sets.  I remember attending one of the phone shows and hearing one of those long-time collectors respond to a question about the model 500 by saying......."I don't know, I don't collect PLASTIC!"  Ouch.  But in reality I've come to find that many of them don't know anything about the "plastic" phones and cannot understand them having any value.  I think with phone collecting, maybe like collecting old radios, there is something for everyone.  There are varied interests and it's a good thing that some focus on one area while someone else focus on another.

It seems that this forum has attracted those interested in the telephones of the 1940's thru present.  While the bulk of the postings on one of the club List Serves that I pay attention to tends to discuss telephones prior to the 1940's.  There are exceptions but it seems to be the general rule.

There, have I ranted off topic now??

[rp2813]

Dennis, I agree with you.  One of the reasons I like the 500's is because most of the people I know grew up with them and have no basis for questioning their capabilities.  On the other hand, you have someone look at your 302 or 202, and the first thing they ask is if it works.  There never seems to be a question whether a 500 works because everybody knows how reliable they are just from their own experience.

To take this further, I want a 5302 with G1 handset so I can fool people who would otherwise question a 302 into using one under the presumption it's a 500.  Most non-collectors haven't used a 500 for a while and wouldn't even notice that the dimensions of a 5302 are a little different.

My opinion is that if I installed a straight handset cord on my 10/50 500, it would invite questions about whether the phone works or is connected.  With a coiled cord, it just looks like any black 500 would have looked . . . to the untrained eye.  Those in the know would recognize the difference in the dial face from the later 500 models, but non-collectors wouldn't even notice.  Most non-collectors consider a 500 model something from the 60's, and would be surprised if they asked about mine to hear that it was deployed in 1950.

Ralph

[Dennis Markham]

Another aspect of collecting telephones that I find interesting is the fact that there were so many variations AND anything was possible as far as finding this part on that phone, etc.  I find historical value to be extremely important in the evolution of our technology as a nation too.  The progression of the telephones, like with anything that was evolving from the turn of the 21st Century up through WWII and beyond is evidenced by the advancement of each technology as it was invented.  The quality of those items made at each step of the way was so great that in fact they are still working today.  So collecting telephones (in this instance) is not unlike the World Wide Web in that it branches in so many directions.  One could spend a life-time just going in one direction or the other.  If one wants to collect a certain brand it could take years to accomplish all that is available.  Then you can break down models and variations of those models---it's endless.  I wish I had started 30 years ago! 

Speaking of the internet it has made it so much easier to share information, to find things we are looking for and for historical storage of information.  Just like memories of those that were veterans of WWII for example, their knowledge and memories are important and need to be documented before they exist no longer.  There are many "old time" collectors who are working to preserve their years of knowledge by way of experiences, wiring diagrams, BSP's, etc. so that the rest of us and future generations will benefit.

I knew that if I kept it up I could get COMPLETELY off topic!

[BDM]

I knew that if I kept it up I could get COMPLETELY off topic!

Nah, I wouldn't say that. Kind of why I started it. I'm still a metal phone man at heart. I like the "E" and "G" equally for functionality. I can cradle an E between my shoulders as well as any G handset. The F handsets don't cradle well and tend to "pop out" from my shoulders.

There is no right or wrong in collecting. No moral issues, no nothing. Buy trade collect what ever you like. The same goes on in radio collecting. Many collectors won't touch anything that doesn't have a wood cabinet.

[rp2813]

To me, Ma Bell is like the original recycler.  Nothing was tossed out if it still tested and looked good.  There are so many crazy combos out there between metal, rubber, plastic, felt and suede, and in particular with 302's, you could end up with any combination, with some parts maybe brand new and others redeployed. 

Also re: 302's and the situation I mentioned above about people's presumptions that they may not work, it occurs to me that when a lot of my contemporaries were growing up, they had 302's that either eventually failed and were replaced by 500's, or as in the case at my house, after a storm in 1963 we lost service and even though the phone wasn't the problem, they still replaced it with a brand new 500.  So I think 302's could have a bad rep for reliability with the average (non collector) person my age even though we members here know they are solid phones and in some ways were superior to 500's in transmission and reception quality.

[HobieSport]

To me, Ma Bell is like the original recycler.  Nothing was tossed out if it still tested and looked good.  There are so many crazy combos out there between metal, rubber, plastic, felt and suede, and in particular with 302's, you could end up with any combination, with some parts maybe brand new and others redeployed.

I am personally quite fond of 302 frankenphones.  I look forward to finding a 302 with dates from 1937 to 1956 (or whenever it was they stopped manufacturing/recycling them).  That's quite an historical gamut of course, and one good frankenphone could be a fine conversation piece.

Has anyone noticed that the most common matching date 302s are 1947-1948?  Naturally that makes perfect  sense, without going into all  the obvious reasons.

I think I'll start a 302 frankenthread.

[rp2813]

I know!  Some people dis the Frankenphone but I think they're fun, especially the 302's since they can provide a bonanza of parts spanning as much as 20 years.   I really admire Ma Bell's practice of re-using equipment that was built to a very high standard of quality and durability.  If it ain't broke, keep using it.  It seems values like this have nearly vanished from the American psyche, and that applies to the manufacturer as well as the consumer.

[McHeath]

500s, and their offspring the 1500s and 2500s, are the usability peak of the landline telephone in my opinion, a fully mature technology.  The 302 is darn close, and in many ways more stylish today with it's real deco style.  I like them both, though I've never owned a 302. 

As for the moral issues of what is right and wrong to collect, it seems that all hobbies have this issue of what is "superior" and "inferior" to collect/tinker/own.  Maybe it's an inbred human trait, always drawing lines to divide who is in and out and who is better than who.  As the only phone collectors I know are you folks, life on out little Gilligan's Phone Island is pretty nice.

[Sargeguy]

McHeath,

I got a 302 in the mail yesterday which was from 1939 but had a dial from 1948 and a dial plate from 1955.  Is that good enough?

[BDM]

McHeath,

I got a 302 in the mail yesterday which was from 1939 but had a dial from 1948 and a dial plate from 1955.  Is that good enough?

No, please send it my way so as to avoid any anguish

[BDM]

Looky here boys
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=536.0

[Sargeguy]

Today's haul was pretty good to:

A matching date 1940 metal 302.  I forgot that I had one it in the midst of my 302 buying frenzy.  It has a 5H dial, reversed coil, later condenser, and has (unusable) cloth cordsThe housing has very little paint loss.

A 202 dial-less.  Its missing the reciever cap and element but it has a super paint job and great suede.

A pink 701B with original cord.  The cord is severed but still long enough to be salvaged. 

A red modular 500, and a  hardwired turquoise 500.

Yes I am going into the phone selling business.   

[Mark Stevens]

I must say, in all my years of collecting. I've never seen such fever for 500 series sets.

We can always blame Dennis....he's the 500-Meister!

[HobieSport]

Heath;  What do you mean you don't have a 302?  How do you expect us to inbreed properly?

Mark; Dennis is indeed to blame for the venerable 500. Especially the stinky soft plastic colored ones.

Sarge; It sounds like you have the widest-dates 302. Cool!