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Western Electric 302s in Color--Recent Auctions

Started by poplar1, July 03, 2014, 11:17:03 AM

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poplar1

#15
Gold 302 sold for opening bid of $69.99 on July 13, 2014. Painted metal housing and painted brown Bakelite handset.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221489139607
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

Green 302 dated 1952. Sold for $414.36 on June 8, 2014:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261485873036
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

Green 302
Sold for $331.99 July 22, 2014
Mixed dates: 8-31-49 housing,  5-52 5JB dial, IV 49 IND, 10-50-I ringer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281386227121
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

Manual dark blue 302
Seller ended auction early on July 30, 2014 because of "an error in the listing."

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261548132406
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

unbeldi

#21
Quote from: poplar1 on July 31, 2014, 03:18:22 PM
Manual dark blue 302
Seller ended auction early on July 30, 2014 because of "an error in the listing."

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261548132406

This set struck me as odd.
It is by Northern Electric, at least the base is and the housing has NECo date stamp, ditto for  the H1 marking (two colors).
However, the first thing that "bothered" me, was that the hookswitch plungers are solid, not hollow. I thought even NECo had hollow plungers, and most likely got them with the housings from WECo.

This discoloration of the handset is noticeably different than the housing, strange. And the apparatus blank is different too.  Seems like the pieces didn't spend a lot of time together, or perhaps some just polished the housing alone.

But what a rare piece, a manual blue.

poplar1

Additional photos of the blue NE/WE 302.

This is the second recently listed NE 302 with WE color plastics.

"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

#23
1954 Ivory NE 302 with WE plastics:

Sold for $279.99 buy it now June 29, 2014 (Ontario)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231268973375

Discussed on the forum here:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11868.msg128783#msg128783
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

NE 302 with blue WE housing--cracked on front right corner. Has painted WE F1W black Bakelite handset--
Gift from the city of Brantford, Ontario, to Thomas Costain.
Sold for $179.03 on June 15, 2014. 7 bids (VA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251553803557

Paul has a dark gold 304 set with a similar plaque:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9937.msg105723#msg105723
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

#25
Blue handset sold May 26, 2014 for $275--4 bids (CA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121345598439
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

unbeldi

Quote from: poplar1 on August 02, 2014, 08:56:13 PM
NE 302 with blue WE housing--cracked on front right corner. Has painted WE F1W black Bakelite handset--
Gift from the city of Brantford, Ontario, to Thomas Costain.
Sold for $179.03 on June 15, 2014. 7 bids (VA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251553803557

Paul has a dark gold 304 set with a similar plaque:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9937.msg105723#msg105723

This actually seemed to have been an entirely WECo set, not Northern.  The handset was also a Western, F1W, but not Bell System.

Strange that the Telephone City couldn't come up with a complete plastic specimen.

poplar1

#27
It's true that the lack of a slot for the induction coil looks like a WE base. However, H1 is stamped in white, not vermilion, which probably means it's a WE housing with H1 and date stamped by Northern. Also, if the dial is Western Electric, then it was made before 3-46, because of the curved finger stop. Northern continued to use the long finger stops on 5-type dials until the end of production in 1954 or later. (NE 302s were made until at least Sept., 1956.)
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

unbeldi

#28
Quote from: poplar1 on August 02, 2014, 09:35:23 PM
It's true that the lack of a slot for the induction coil looks like a WE base. However, H1 is stamped in white, not vermilion, which probably means it's a WE housing with H1 and date stamped by Northern. Also, if the dial is Western Electric, then it was made before 3-46, because of the curved finger stop. Northern continued to use the long finger stops on 5-type dials until the end of production in 1955 or later.

The lettering on the date side seems to be reddish though.
I too noticed the finger stop, yes, too bad we can't see the inside.
But we see that the plungers are hollow, I believe, to contrast this with that other manual blue set.

Of course, there is also the question whether these parts actually belonged together on March 12, 1951. Someone could have completed the phone later.
The phone number is from lower Manhattan, NYC.  Thomas Costain lived in Manhattan and died there, so it's possible he actually used the phone in NYC.  However, it was found in Virginia.


poplar1

I still believe the parts--other than the housing and handset--are Northern Electric. The black paint on the baseplate is too glossy to be WE, and the base mounting screws are different. Not all NE 302s have the slot in the baseplate for the induction coil:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10011.msg106435#msg106435
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.