Black Metal WE 302 With Original Paint

[Craig T]

Hold on now before you jump all over me  ... look under the TECHNOLOGY heading, I was just as amazed as you are...

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1946.html


Anyhow on to my one of my new additions... a metal 302 from June 1946 with cloth cords. The handset cord has some fraying near the top and as long as I can bring that in the rest will clean up fine.

The cloth line cord is in excellent condition! The feet were either recovered or they are the nicest feet I have seen yet on a 302.

The phone also has an original local dial card in it with a great number too CAnal 6-6144. The bottom and inside of the phone are like new too.

The only damage to speak of is some paint that has rubbed off on the inside area of the cradle and a tiny bit on each of the front corners.

I managed to get the seller down to $25.00 from $90   I am astonished and pleased that they came down that much... the crazy thing is I walked off on this phone for $25 the first time! I came back over a month later after I had called and been told it was sold and found it in the same spot.

I honestly bought it to fix up and sell, but after getting into it for about 5 minutes, no way... this is going on the shelf  

[Craig T]

One of the bottom of the base.

I also snagged an original WE wall jack from this old building. I seen it on the wall and I asked it I could disconnect it and have it for $2.00 and he said sure.

Then I bought this Beige modular wall phone. It was $12, but it said "No Good" on the bells, so I got it for $5. When I opened it I thought the phone was telling me I was no good for a minute there  

It had a 3-57 base on it and a nice back plate so I grabbed it too. I added a pic of the inside, you can keep your shoes on it is still dirty in here  

[Dennis Markham]

Pretty nice phone for $25!  Those feet cold be wool covered.  They look like wool in the photos.  Are they leather?  The handset cord should be able to be moved inside, just like you said.  Great phone!

[Craig T]

The feet are actually covered in wool. Was that a factory thing at one time?

I was assuming I could move the cord inside by looking at it, but was not sure. Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know I will be asking you plenty of questions about it

The photo makes those feet look dirty on the bottom. They are almost like new when you see them in person.

[McHeath]

Wow what a find for 25 clams!  And that's some good talking the price down you did, impressive to get someone to knock so much off their asking price. 

The bell with no good on it is amusing, wonder what that was about? 

[Dennis Markham]

Craig, when you get a minute here is a posting about the leather and wool pads.....


http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=425.msg4203#msg4203

[Craig T]

You know Heath I could not say for sure, but it saved me $7 bucks  

Trust me the $25 for the 302 was a bitter pill for him to swallow, but it had been there 2 years that I know of.

Dennis, thank you for the thread, I am going to dive into that right away.

[JorgeAmely]

Craig:
You need a replacement gong. The one on the left says "no good".  

[Craig T]

OK I see now... sorta. The wool feet are scarce. It seems there is not a definitive answer. The metal cases were on the early 302s and I think the wool feet were too. I would think it would be like anything else at WE. They were just using up wool they had from bases on 202s.

That is the story I am putting on top of the hill 'till someone knocks it off 

[Craig T]

Well here she is so far. Hate to let you see her with no shoes on. I am just dying to take this car detailing tip and touch these spots up, but it is only original paint once, so I will leave it.

The paint on these metal bodies must be Japanned paint. The gloss of japanned paint is unmistakable. I have this 1936 Signal Fan that I restored the Japanned paint on. I know the paint on the fan is Japanned and these two look identical.

These two will be hanging out more often now. I spent most of the later day and evening on this yesterday. I still have to clean the inside, finish the cradle area, and fix up the cords.

[Doug Rose]

Craig...the #6 dial plate with a Z on it is not the easiest dial plate to find in nice condition. Great paint on your phone.....Doug

[Craig T]

Dial plate and dial were both dated 1953. This is the first dial plate I have had off. I did not take the one off the last 302. I want an earlier dial on this one so I have a friend trying to get a #5 for me, I probably should go with a #4. There are some pits in the paint here and there. There were two scratches I could not rub out.

I just hope the rest goes as well.

These 302s are great... I had no idea what I was missing out on.

Thanks for the compliment and intel on the dial plate Doug, -Craig

[dencins]

Great price for the phone.

I would use a #5H dial.  A #4 predates everything else on the phone.  Save the #4 for when you get your D1 (202).

As far as the cloth footpads, they would most like be from a refurbish along with the #6 dial.  I have only seen cloth footpads with felt cushions and the felt cushion were not introduced until after WWII.

The cloth used on 302 footpads is not the same as the 202 woven felt cloth since 202 cloth is darker and stiffer.  You can find a lot of information on the D1 desk stand (202) in 1939 "From the Far Corners of the Earth".  You can download a pdf copy from the TCI Library.

Do you have the dates - ringer, condenser, coil, receiver, transmitter, handset?

Dennis  

[dencins]

Meant to mention CAnal 6 was a New York City exchange.

Dennis

[Craig T]

Sorry about the delay Dennis, I appreciate your info.

We used CAnal 6 in a small town called Negaunee Michigan as well. I was out in the woods a few days collecting sap and learning to make syrup with grandpa.
I took a phone with me to shine while cooking the syrup, but I gotta admit I missed this website   

One of his friends (looked to be in his 70s) was a great source of info. He remembered all of the exchanges from our area and the 4 small towns around it. CAnal 6 was the first one he named.

I did however google CAnal 6 and seen it was listed as a NY exchange, why the difference? Why would Negaunee use NY as an exchange? I don't understand the whole exchange setup very well.