3 Ear WE 302 and My First WE 202

[Craig T]

I had a call yesterday from the antique store with a few phones to consider.  He said he had a D-1 and a D-5, but the D-5 ended up being a 302.

Dennis Markham was kind enough to offer on-demand live advice during my purchases today, thanks for all your help Dennis!

The 302 had a busted cradle ear and a crack in the base, but I got it for $13.25 with tax. It was marked $23.50. It has a #5 dial in it with an excellent plate, finger wheel and card. Despite the damage, the phone is 1949, up until the cord(s). The 302 has a yellow 283B plug on it, we were not sure if they made one in yellow, but I just took it apart and it is yellow inside and out, even nicer inside of course.

The 202 was marked at $35.00, got it for $31.80 out the door. Dennis told me things to check as I was looking it over. It has a #5 dial with a Z plate and very nice suede on the bottom too. Even the cork pads are still intact. It does have some paint loss on the tips of the cradle. The finish and overall condition are excellent to start with. The celluloid has a small piece gone, so I hope the card will come out nicely. This is my first black border card too. The last photo shows it after just a wipe off.

We also talked about a Western Electric 100F Speaker that was there. It was a heavy tube speaker, very nice shape, but priced at $140.00. I asked the gentleman what it was for and he said that set had been used for an older person that had a hard time hearing. The speaker had a like new brown cloth cord and an Ivory 283B plug. It was in excellent overall condition, but not something I know much about.

I searched on the internet and seen one hooked up with a candlestick and a ringer box.

[Kenny C]

my 202 costed 100.00 with a Kellogg dial you did great. my first all black card was on a 302 5 # exchange 5-XXXX

[Doug Rose]

Craig ...excellent deal. a 5H dial and a F1 handset with a great curly cord is worth the $13 everyday. Parts is parts. Check out the dial, if its from a 1949 phone, the 1/49 and 2/49 dials were made of all brass and are very cool to get. The 202 looks to be in very nice shape as well. Under $50 for these two is a steal....Doug

[Craig T]

Thanks Doug! Everything is 6-49, close but no cigar. The guy up there is real good to me and I always share phone knowledge with him. He is a sharp guy, he actually checked ebay before setting the price at $35.00. I was just hoping it would be affordable (not $150 or something) so I could add it to my collection.

Do you know anything about the speaker? Seemed like a cool thing to have, I was gonna offer $60, but I did not want to insult the guy. If you google Western Electric 100F  it is the third one down, same unit.

[Doug Rose]

Craig....if it has a long black horn approx 24" tall that inserts into a small metal base about the size of a can of corn; its a speaker for an Old radio even though it states Western Electric Telephone on it. They are very cool and I have one I can take a picture of later when I get home. This make a great display. I paid $25 for mine, but it was many years ago. I would not pay $160 for it, especially where it is not really a telephone part which I learned after I bought mine. It is still very cool and part of my telephone room. You can see the top of it in the below picture in back of the chair.....Doug

[Doug Rose]

Craig ...I did google Western Electric 100F and it comes up with a totally different speaker than I have, but it is a radio speaker. Mine states telephone, but is a radio speaker as well.  I'd offer $60. All he can say is no....good luck....Doug

[Dennis Markham]

Doug, here is a link to a speaker like the one Craig found.  He sent me this link last night.  He said the cord had a 4 prong plug on the end.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/western_el_100_f100_loud_speaker.html

And yet another....this one is connected to a telephone.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/western-electric-100f-amp-speaker-with-original

[Doug Rose]

Doug, here is a link to a speaker like the one Craig found.  He sent me this link last night.  He said the cord had a 4 prong plug on the end.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/western_el_100_f100_loud_speaker.html

And yet another....this one is connected to a telephone.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/western-electric-100f-amp-speaker-with-original

Dennis...its the one I found, definitely a radio speaker. Mine is really old with the big cone on it.....

[Dennis Markham]

It's great to look at those photos of your phone room (aka Man Cave).....I like the Beatles poster with the Yellow Pages ad.  What's the story on it?  

The only thing that brings the look of the room down that I can see is in the lower left hand corner of the photo....that Red Sox beer bottle!

[Dennis Markham]

I caused this discussion to drift off topic....to The Beatles.  So I made an off topic post about the Fab Four.......

It can be seen here........Let's hear some Beatles stories.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3379.0

[Craig T]

I am going to photoshop a picture of myself into that empty chair! I just need a White Sox bottle to switch in 

Thanks for the info Doug and for the links Dennis. This guy gets some nice phones up there now and again. He actually said he would have two more older phones coming through this week.

Time to take this 202 apart!

[HarrySmith]

Hi Craig,
If you want to do something with that 3 ear 302 I just remembered I have a few 5302 shells & dial rings. You could build yourself a nice 5302 from it

[Doug Rose]

I am going to photoshop a picture of myself into that empty chair! I just need a White Sox bottle to switch in 

Thanks for the info Doug and for the links Dennis. This guy gets some nice phones up there now and again. He actually said he would have two more older phones coming through this week.

Time to take this 202 apart!

Craig...have you opened that 202 yet? A nice 4H dial inside? It sure looks like a beauty. I usually find that chair once a night to peruse my phones before ending another day. Its a great hobby!..Doug

[Craig T]

I did Doug, no 4H, but a nice 5H from 5-47. I actually took that one apart to give it a little shot of oil. For the heck of it, I opened the other spare dial, from the 3 ear 302 (6-49) and it had more brass in it than the other dial.

I still have the handset to go on the 202, but the rest is done.

Harry, that sounds nice too. I don't have a 5302 on the shelf yet, but Dennis had mentioned making a nice ringer box out of it too with a plastic shell. The line cord has a split on the 302 about half way up, but I think some liquid tape would fix that. Have you ever tried that before?

[Craig T]

Same with the receivers.