Ray Kotke's Yellow 302 Creation

[Doug Rose]

I always wondered why WE didn't make a Yellow 302? This is really something......Doug

[deedubya3800]

So sunny and bright!

I agree; they should've done a lot more with color back in the day. Why that took so long to figure out baffles me, but I didn't live in those days, so I don't really know what it was like. They may have had bigger things to worry about.

[Tom B]

What a beauty - Doug, is it yours?

[Kenny C]

I respect Ray but I really don't like this color on a 302. Don't get me wrong he does great work but this by far isn't my favorite. But that's just my opinion.

[Doug Rose]

What a beauty - Doug, is it yours?

not mine Tom, made by Ray Kotke. If it was mine, I would have a 5J or a 6D dial, otherwise it is perfect. My guess is its rather expensive!...Doug

[bingster]

It is a rather intense 1970s yellow, and I think a pastel 1940s yellow would work much better.  And of course, the dial case needs to be white, as Doug mentioned.  That said, I think it's a beautiful phone, and I certainly wouldn't mind having it in my house.

[deedubya3800]

Now that I think about it, I'm more of a lime green kind of man.

[LM Ericsson]

Maybe a harvest gold would look nice.

[Willytx]

Wow Wow Wow!

I want one, but imagine the price tag would make my eyes explode.

The color would have started the 60s a decade early. Imagine Mamie Eisenhower in white vinyl Go-Go boots. Or don't.

[Babybearjs]

looks like he's giving oldphoneworks a run for the money! now, the hard part... can this be mass produced??  John

[unbeldi]

I always wondered why WE didn't make a Yellow 302? This is really something......Doug

The color of 302s, in fact not only 302s, but any contemporary telephone, was decided long before they were ready for introduction.
Western Electric was advised by a group of interior decorators and artists in ca. 1930 about the potentially successful colors.
They recommended ivory (4), old rose (16), dark blue (18), gray-green (19), and Pekin red (20).  They also selected a series of metallic hues, namely old brass (6), statuary bronze (7), oxidized silver (8 ), and dark gold (12).  The numbers are the codes of WECo colors.

The criteria for selecting colors at the time were quite different than today. Today, we can create virtually any color, with reliable production and persistence, so there are no restrictions today in fulfilling any marketing considerations.   Until probably the 1950s this was not the case. The case record of old telephones shows that some colors just were not stable, see for example some of the badly discolored telephone colors by A.E.  In addition, after WW-II, color was not an economic priority, as the Bell System was struggling with the demand for any kind of telephone service and instruments.

It was only after the 500-type sets went into production in black, that marketing demand for colors were reexamined, and by the time that was finished, the 300-line of sets was terminated, replaced by the 500s.  Yellow was added at that time.

Ref: G.A. Wahl, Telephone Sets in Color, Bell Laboratories Record 56-07 p.252

[Dan/Panther]

One very simple reason they did not use bright colors, everything was black and white back then.

D/P

[AL_as_needed]

One very simple reason they did not use bright colors, everything was black and white back then.

D/P

Like in my profile picture, that 500 just looks black, but it is actually a bright vibrant color.....black. 

[Babybearjs]

this is an old post.... but I'll reply again... The "Stanley" yellow is quite eye catching, one of a kind. there is a lime green that Oldphoneworks has out... quite different... and orange... a color that wasn't around till the 80's... they even did a hammered version of the 302, Cliff in Arizona has one for sale... (celnout)  Seeing these phones in modern colors really makes them sellable, the problem is..... cell phones... landlines are getting scarce as more and more people want portability... so these phones wind up as art objects... very few people see them actually working. which makes them all the more harder to sell... but makes them definitely a conversation piece....