Crosley 302 replica

[McHeath]

Here is one of these current make Crosley replicas:

http://tinyurl.com/dnxkl8

I think it's interesting to see the inner works of one, note the little ringer.  I have a Trimline clone from the late 80's with that same ringer, so I guess it's still in production.  The handset cord is just too small, but otherwise it's not a bad looking copy.  I'm sure it would satisfy many folks who just want the look and bell ring. 

[HobieSport]

The Crosleys look good, plus have the pound and star button.  Maybe I should get one just for when I need touch tone, for the best of both worlds. But I miss the rotary dial.

[bingster]

Very interesting.  I've always wondered what was inside one of those.  Sometimes the wondering is better than the finding out.

[McHeath]

Yeah there does not need to be much in a modern phone eh?  A real 302 is stuffed to the gills, while this little copy is mostly empty. Wonder what Dreyfuss would think?

[JimH]

Just wish they paid a bit more attention to a more authentic looking handset cord!

[Dennis Markham]

I'll bet it is as light as a feather too.

[HobieSport]

Yep, they must be awfully light in weight.  Maybe they would feel better with a chunk of lead tucked inside.  

Seriously though, does anyone have a Crosley phone that has had had a lot of use?  I'm just wondering if they are reliable.

They are often called "retro" and "Henry Dreyfuss Tribute" phones.  You can just imagine how that makes me feel.

Still, though un-authentic, and have an (ugh) circuit board, if they are reliable, I might be interested in one just to have the touch tone capacity when needed.

[Dan/Panther]

Matt;
D/P

[JimH]

I have one in Ivory, it's very light.  Being made in Asia, the button for the ringer volume has broken loose on the bottom, but otherwise it works ok.

[bingster]

Seriously though, does anyone have a Crosley phone that has had had a lot of use?  I'm just wondering if they are reliable.

My mother has a Crosley Princess that she's used for about six months with no problems.  Of course, six months is nothing in Bell System terms.  I do know that the transmitter is much better than the one on her expensive GE cordless.  The GE makes her sound like she's under water.

[HobieSport]

I just read a bunch of buyer's reviews of the Crosley "302" on Amazon, who bought from many different sellers, and there were lots of reports of them arriving in non-working order or breaking down pretty fast. One person bought directly from Crosley and some of the buttons stopped working after six months.  So...I'll pass.

Thank you though, Heath, for bringing up the Crosleys in the first place.  I always wondered about them but never bothered to look into it.

A "Henry Dreyfuss Tribute" they certainly are not.  Now when I look up Henry Dreyfuss on Ebay I shall nix the search terms "Richard" and "Crosley".  Saves a lot of time.

[AET]

Matt;
D/P

Good call, or you can buy one like mine!

[McHeath]

I do know that the transmitter is much better than the one on her expensive GE cordless.  The GE makes her sound like she's under water.

Hilarious!  This could be marketed as a "feature" of newer phones, "Yep, and you'll sound like you are scuba diving the Andrea Doria when you talk to your Homie Krewe on this latest phone from GE, we bring garbled underwater sounds to life!"

[BDM]

I do know that the transmitter is much better than the one on her expensive GE cordless.  The GE makes her sound like she's under water.

Hilarious!  This could be marketed as a "feature" of newer phones, "Yep, and you'll sound like you are scuba diving the Andrea Doria when you talk to your Homie Krewe on this latest phone from GE, we bring garbled underwater sounds to life!"

Yes, a well known issue with digital narrow band. It's generally caused by packet loss of the transmission.

[GG]

I'll stick my neck out and say I think the Crosley replicas are pretty good.  The hookswitch plungers don't depress all the way, and the ringer is single-gong, etc. etc., but nonetheless they are decent.  And the replica 354 wall set is darn good. 

All of these replicas serve a useful purpose of getting people to use hardwired landline phones, in an era when the "convenience" and "ooh shiny!" factor of "smart"phones has led to the acceptance of truly execrable sound quality ("G.729 compression").   Anything that reminds people of what a real phone is, and how a real phone sounds, is a major improvement. 

So I'd suggest giving these to all of your friends and relatives ASAP before they get persuaded to disconnect their landlines.  I gave one to someone in my family... originally it ended up stashed in the closet... until their cordless phone batteries started wearing out... and now, lo & behold, it's installed in their living room and it's the phone they talk on the most often. 

Now if I wanted to be really subversive, I'd start producing modified Cortelco 2500 sets with residential Hold buttons (latching relay in each phone), and giving those out to everyone I know.  The Hold button is essential for taking a call elsewhere in the house, it's the most basic feature needed to wean people off cordless phones.  Hmm.  Anyone around here up for doing a manufacturing project, limited mass-production?  (The Crosley 302s could also be modded with Hold buttons easily enough, same result.)