Banner week for 302s

[Mark Stevens]

I've found in my experience on eBay that people want to bid stuff up---they want to start low and then hope they'll get it cheap but bid it up.  When the phones that start out with a high starting bid or with a high Buy It Now, they almost always don't do as good as the confident seller that knows that he has and lists it for a buck and lets it ride up.  The safe way is to put a reserve with no Buy It Now.

You are so right. A high starting bid turns everyone off, even if the item is worth much more. If there's a reserve, people will toss in a bid just to "test the waters", and it tends to get the ball rolling.
Got yer bid!

Ivory W.E. 302:
bingster - $175.00
Dennis - $225.00
Mark - $325.00

[McHeath]

The Pekin red one would be mine right now if I didn't care about surviving the winter.

Guessing the BIN option will be pulled on that one. 

Green:  $400

Rose:  $500

Ivory:  $150

Noticed that Old Phone Works has all those colors, they want pretty much $999 for most of them. 

Anyone ever seen inside one of the Crosley reproductions that are on the market right now?  Wonder what's in there?

[Mark Stevens]

I think Pekin Red phones keep you warm in the winter!
I'll add your bid on the ivory phone to our list on the new Auction Talk board.
- Never mind...the bingmeister beat me to it! -
I wonder about the Crosley's myself...they're probably empty except for a circuit board the size of your thumbnail!

The Pekin red one would be mine right now if I didn't care about surviving the winter.

Guessing the BIN option will be pulled on that one. 

Green:  $400

Rose:  $500

Ivory:  $150

Noticed that Old Phone Works has all those colors, they want pretty much $999 for most of them. 

Anyone ever seen inside one of the Crosley reproductions that are on the market right now?  Wonder what's in there?

[bingster]

My mother just bought a pink Crosley "Princess," and she keeps pulling it off the table because it's so light.  Don't know what's in it, though.  Probably not much, as Mark says.

[Dennis Markham]

As I promised earlier, I thought I would post some photos of a Continental that I picked up off eBay last winter.  This D1 base is dated II 37, it has a 4H dial dated 3/36.  The F1 handset elements are from August of 1949.  The coiled handset cord has a strain-relief crimp date of IV 54.  I have been told that these sets were created in the early 1950's.  When subscribers became interested in color sets Western Electric chose to paint (refurbish) the D1's.  Since there are painted E1 handsets as well as F1's obviously both were used.  I don't know how accurate my accounting of WHY this was done but I do know these phones were refurbished beginning in the early 1950s, if not 1950.  This one has a hand written date inside of 3-52---written in pencil.  Sometimes a repair person would mark the date inside during a field repair.  Obviously that was done prior to the 1954 handset cord.  

The ivory ringer box you see is actually a Model 302 base with a Ray Kotke made reproduction cover.  I picked up that cover at a Telephone show sponsored by the TCI this April.  Ray makes them by hand in black and ivory.  The cover fits perfectly on the 302 base.  The "desk stand cord", running from the phone to the ringer box and the line cord are both Odis LeVrier (House of Telephones) reproduction cords.  The ringer box is very convenient.  It is slender and with the leather foot pads it works nicely on the desk.  The phone can sit atop the box.  I suppose one could hang the box on the wall if desired.  

Because the phone is wired with a 4 conductor desk stand cord it is wired for anti-side tone.  Even a round based B1 is considered to be a Model 202 if it is wired for anti-side tone.  The designation of 102 and 202 has nothing to do with the shape of the phone.  A misconception is that if it's round (B1) it's a 102, if it's oval (D1) it's a 202---not true.  The B1 with E1 handset that I have is actually considered a 202 because of the way it's wired.

Noting the UBLY exchange, this would have been in a time when there were only 6 digits in the phone number.  The first two alpha characters UB and the remaining numerical digits add up to the phone number:  82-4387.  The town of Ubly, MI is not much larger than it was in 1952.  It is a rural farming community in the "thumb" of Michigan.   The eBay seller I got this from was in Cadillac, MI which is actually on the other side of the State.  

This phone must have been cared for by whomever had it all these years.  There is a small area of paint loss on the ear cap.  I couldn't wait to open the box on this phone.  Based on eBay pictures it really looked nice.  The seller confirmed that it was in great shape.  I practically begged the woman that sold it to package it properly and offered to pay her more if needed to ensure safe packing.  She didn't charge me any more and did an exceptional job of packing.  When I opened the box I was not disappointed.  I expected a 5J dial and when I found it had the 4H it was icing on the cake!

The leather pad on the bottom of the phone is also in excellent shape with all five of the original cork pads.  It is rare indeed to find them with all five cork pads intact.  

I had recently become interested in these "older" phones after having numerous model 500's and 554's.  It's funny how for so long I had no interest at all in a phone like this and now I'd jump on another if it came my way---these B1's and D1's are two of my favorites.  I think the eBay world was asleep when I bought this as I got it at a good price.   Thanks for taking the time to read about my Western Electric 202!

[bingster]

Absolutely beautiful, Dennis.  The paint on it is in amazingly good condition, and the 302-as-a-subset is a great idea!  I didn't know covers were available for them for that purpose.  I'll have to look into  that, because I could use one of those, myself.  Thanks for the photos!

[McHeath]

What a great little phone!  So it seems there was a retro style thing going on in the phone world in the 50's, that's interesting and curious.  I love how this phone looks with the clear fingerwheel and bright shiny dial with red letters.  Might have to start looking.

[Mark Stevens]

Thanks for sharing, Dennis!  It sure is striking, seeing a clear plastic finger wheel on a 202.  And that ringer box...wow!  Kotke does amazing work.  I can't recall, did you find out if he's still making them? 
I'm surprised to see those cork "feet".  I'm showing my ignorance again, but I didn't realize those were a factory item!  I had seen 302-looking feet on other 202's, but because most don't have even a trace of them, I figured they were added at a later date. Well, you learn something every day...

[Dennis Markham]

Thank you for the comments, I'm glad you enjoyed looking at this ivory 202. 

With regard to the subset covers, I had hoped to pick up some additional covers from Ray when I saw him at the Mason, MI telephone show back in April.  He had only the ivory cover left.  It was a reasonable $20.  I had previously purchased a black cover the year prior.  He indicated that he was out of the resin that is needed to mold new covers.  I was told to check back with him in a few weeks.  I have done that and at my last contact with him he still had not made any more covers.  I see them from time to time on eBay with a phone for sale.  I know he is busy with a lot of projects and these may not be high on his list of things to do.
Here is a link that shows the "302 subset covers".
http://www.telephonecreations.com/prod02.htm ( dead link 03-16-21 )

[McHeath]

The bright shiny red 302 is gone, BIN for $525 it seems.  Seems like a good deal to me.  Now what I want to know is which is my family have one of these in a box in their closet?

[Mark Stevens]

The bright shiny red 302 is gone, BIN for $525 it seems.  Seems like a good deal to me.  Now what I want to know is which is my family have one of these in a box in their closet?

You know Heath, that brings up something that I've been curious about for some time...
Where did the 302's and other phones of that vintage come from?  Yes, I know, Western Electric. What I mean is, if they were leased equipment, how did they ultimately become privately owned?  Certainly a zillion model 500s ended up being purchased by the consumer, directly from Bell...whenever it was that they started that push for subscribers to buy their phones.  But that was long after the 302 days.  It just seems that over time all the 302's would have been pulled in and replaced with 500s, the older phones being destroyed or something.  Maybe Bell had a huge garage sale at some point.  Or I could just be thinking too much...
Y'all have a great weekend!   

[benhutcherson]

Where did the 302's and other phones of that vintage come from?  Yes, I know, Western Electric. What I mean is, if they were leased equipment, how did they ultimately become privately owned?

I have a local antique shop whose owner deals in antique telephones, among other things(Lionel trains, which I also collect).

Anyway, he worked for the Bell system, and then South Central Bell, for several years, and apparently was in a pretty high up management position.

Not too long ago, I was in shooting the breeze, and this subject came up. According to him, when a person moved out of a house or apartment, the occupant would sometimes take the telephone with them. Typically, the phone company would just elect to write the cost of the phone off, rather than pursuing any other course of action.

Of course, the same would be true of any 500 or similar sets that don't have the purchased sticker on them. I haven't ever taken a count, but I know that I don't have but a handful of sets(I think three 500s and two 554s) that have the sticker.

By the way, speaking of colored 302s, did anyone see this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=310081895585  ( dead link 02-16-21 )

I've gotten some great deals before on telephones that didn't designate the model number anywhere in the title or description. It takes some looking to separate the wheat from the chaff, but can be very fruitful.

[Mark Stevens]

Those stickers are comparatively rare, aren't they?  I'm sure there's truth in the story about not prosecuting people that took their phones with them, but it's just hard for me to conceive that it explains all those phones out there.  Dang, now I'm going to be up half the night trying to figure this out! 

[bingster]

Installers, linemen, and other employees are famous for hoarding Bell System tools.  Could it be that somehow the folks at the Western Electric processing centers had the hoarding bug, too?

[Mark Stevens]

Installers, linemen, and other employees are famous for hoarding Bell System tools.  Could it be that somehow the folks at the Western Electric processing centers had the hoarding bug, too?

You know, that thought had occurred to me as well.  That could account for a great deal of them.  I wasn't going to rest until a good conspiracy theory came along... thanks, bingster!