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Todays Crappy Rattle Can Paint Job 302.

Started by WesternElectricBen, October 26, 2014, 09:12:31 PM

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WesternElectricBen

http://tinyurl.com/loprq6p

It appears as if they didn't even remove the base when they painted it...

Ben

Slal

OK this might sound kind of dumb, but why did they paint them?

Forget where saw it, but think it was Kenton who found a white 5302 painted black, and now a black 302 one painted white.   :o

Didn't the housings come in different colors?

thx

--Bruce


WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: Slal on October 27, 2014, 05:44:12 PM
OK this might sound kind of dumb, but why did they paint them?

Forget where saw it, but think it was Kenton who found a white 5302 painted black, and now a black 302 one painted white.   :o

Didn't the housings come in different colors?

thx

--Bruce


Yes, but this was probably 60 or 70 years after that phone was made, so if someone wanted a white phone, but had a black phone, the only option was to spray paint it. That white 5302 was probably not done by someone in their basement with a rattlecan, but done by Western Electric, if they had a black handset with a black dial and a white housing.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

WesternElectricBen

Bruce,

I believe that it also costed more money per month to rent a colored phone.

Ben

Kenton K

I think color initially coated more. I believe color became a standard option later in the 60's??? I don't really know though.

KK

poplar1

#5
Bell originally had a one-time charge for color, but no additional monthly charge. And if you moved, even to an area served by a different Bell company, you didn't have to pay again for color. If the one-time charge was $7.50 in 1957, that would be $63.53 in 2014 dollars, just to have a color phone rather than a black one.
( http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ )

There was no additional color charge for color for Princess sets or Trimlines, only for 500s and 554s.

Princess phones in this area in the late '60s carried a one-time charge of $7, and $0.70 per month surcharge. This was in addition to the $1.50 monthly extension charge for a 500. (No $1.50 monthly charge for the first phone, which was included in the monthly lease for the line.)

Trimlines here had a one-time charge of $5, and approx. $1.45 per month surcharge, on top of the extension charge, if applicable.


One of the selling points of Touch-Tone was that there was no extra charge for color sets. That's why there are a lot of black 500s on Ebay but not so many black 2500s. There was a per line monthly surcharge of about $2 per month for Touch-Tone (rather than a per set surcharge),  but the $.70 and $1.50 monthly surcharges for PRN and TML still applied.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Slal

Thanks for replies.  $70 would explain it.

Interesting link btw.  Shame in only goes back to 1913.  Just for grins though, typed in $12.50 for a 1913 silver overlay fountain pen.  Twelve dollars doesn't like much by today's standards but that's $300 in today's money.  Definitely for the well heeled.  ; )

WesternElectricBen

Quote from: Slal on October 28, 2014, 08:11:22 PM
Thanks for replies.  $70 would explain it.

Interesting link btw.  Shame in only goes back to 1913.  Just for grins though, typed in $12.50 for a 1913 silver overlay fountain pen.  Twelve dollars doesn't like much by today's standards but that's $300 in today's money.  Definitely for the well heeled.  ; )
Well, think about it. I know their were typewriters back then, but a nice pen creates really good results. You spend so much on a computer, so it's basically the same concept. Sorta..

Ben

Kenton K

True, very true. This is why its so strange to find a red 302 with a black, home paint job.

Slal

Thanks.  Flexible nibs on antique pens are priceless for cursive italic writing & popular with calligraphers too.  Modern ones have hard nibs with no flex, or if they do... Just don't write as well as the old ones.  Literally a case of, "They don't make them like that anymore."   

And yes, a silver or even *gold* overlay pen probably a "fat cat" thing as he signs checks in the back seat of the Duesenberg...  ; )

In 1913 the idea of a pen that could carry its own ink was still regarded by some as a "new fangled" gadget-- needlessly expensive.  Most still used dip pens except maybe business that could justify one dollar on a pen made of vulcanized rubber with 14k nib.

As for painting a white phone black...  They didn't pay the fee for a color phone? 

Listening to Rolling Stones "Paint It Black" while under the influence?   :o 

Who knows...  Anyway, best wishes on restoring it.

--Bruce


Kenton K

We painted the white phone, they painted phones that had any blemishes on them.


Kk

poplar1

This wasn't painted by Western Electric:

(1) Sloppy paint job, including paint on the feet
(2) Northern Electric handset; Western Electric dial
(3) Black cords
(4) White was never a standard color for 302s
(5) Color 302s, except those in metallic colors, never had matching finger wheels. They were either unpainted stainless steel (up to 1941), or clear plastic.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Kenton K

Yes, the 302 was home painted.
My 5302 was factory painted.
And my red 302 was home painted also.

Sorry, my response was ambiguous. :-[ :-

Kk

Partyline4

#13
Oh my......

Western-Electric-202-Rotary-Telephone-Dark-Red

EDIT: image below taken Nov 2018, eBay auction was Nov 2014 - why supporting screen images should be posted with link when active

TelePlay

The above link is to an expired auction. The item was re-listed 2 days ago in a 7 day auction at $20 plus $10.20 shipping. Looks like a 7-47 ringer with '48 handset elements. Can't read the dial or the base date. Photos attached for clarity and posterity, and to view the over-spray.

Current eBay auction link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151460491619