Help with acronym

[cloyd]

A WE 302 is listed on ebay as "Vintage 1940s Heavy Black Bakelite Rotary Phone NFP 4-52 Complete Cords Used."  What does NFP 4-52 mean?  Thanks for the help.
Still learning,
Tina Loyd

[poplar1]

Perhaps it's MFP= Moisture and Fungus Proofed, often found on phones sold to the U.S. Military

[TelePlay]

eBay link:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/231605800257

Could be a military phone that had the MFP treatment. It's not a WE dial and it's not a F1 or F1W handset. Is that a Toaster handset?

[Dennis Markham]

It looks like a North handset to me.  Like what one would see on the 7H6 "Galion" phone.

~Dennis

[G-Man]

U.S. Army Signal Corps TP-6 telephone set a.k.a. WECo 302AW-3 with either an Automatic Electric or Telephonics dial; both dials were stock.

[andre_janew]

April 1952 could be when it was treated.  The North handset and the AE dial make me think that some military phones may have been made from parts of different manufacturers.  I'd heard about some military vehicles using parts from different manufacturers, but I never realized military phones could be that way as well until now.

[G-Man]

April 1952 could be when it was treated.  The North handset and the AE dial make me think that some military phones may have been made from parts of different manufacturers.  I'd heard about some military vehicles using parts from different manufacturers, but I never realized military phones could be that way as well until now.

Other than the Signal Corps specifications calling for dials manufactured by Automatic Electric, Telephonics, or Federal Telephone and Radio to be used on WECo's TP-6 (302) instruments, parts from other manufacturers were not "mixed and matched" so your theory is not correct.
Of course during WWII in some cases they may have subbed out parts made to their own exact specifications. However, once out in the field, during an emergency, a Signal Corpsman may find the need to use the handset from another manufacturer but once the set was returned to the repair depot it would have been restored to its original state.

Since Connecticut Telephone also manufactured an identical clone of a Western Electric's 302, some of their handsets may have slipped through the process. Occasionally a Connecticut 302 will show up on eBay.

[19and41]

Could a manufacturer with a military procurement contract have purchased another manufacturers off the shelf component parts to fulfill a contract beyond their immediate ability to fulfill?  I have worked for suppliers that sold directly to other manufacturers that had the contract for producing the end item.  I have heard that it was a scramble for most industries to meet the needs of the DoD for the Korean war.

[cloyd]

AE dial and no one has mentioned the 4-52 yet...the manufacture date, April 1952....right?

Terry

Terry,
Please describe the clues that you used to identify the dial as an AE.  I missed that observation.
Thank you,
Tina

[TelePlay]

Please describe the clues that you used to identify the dial as an AE.  I missed that observation.

Terry might have relied on the photo.

[HarrySmith]

The dial card retainer with the large screw in the center is only AE. Easy identifier.

[G-Man]

The dial card retainer with the large screw in the center is only AE. Easy identifier.

Instead it could very well be a Telephonics clone of an A.E. dial as specified by the Signal Corps.

[cloyd]

The dial card retainer with the large screw in the center is only AE. Easy identifier.

Instead it could very well be a Telephonics clone of an A.E. dial as specified by the Signal Corps.

This phone is sounding more and more like a military phone.  Very interesting.  I suppose the military owned these phones but how did they come to be in private hands?  Military surplus sales or, perhaps, WE bought them back?
Tina