WE 302 commemorative phone won on eBay

[cello973]

Here we go for 11/15 this is a phone WE302 I picked up on ebay for about $60.00 with shipping but it is of somewhat historic value. The person named on the plaque is one of the original partners in Endicott Johnson and an investor and banker in Binghamton NY as well as being on the BOD of several prominent companies and NY Tel. The fact that it has a St. Lois, MO area code on the number card is consistent with the family having owned an estate in the area and Chester B. Lord having passed away in MO and the phone possibly ending up in the hands of private party at an estate sale somewhere along the line. here is the original ebay auction (Item# 301785813081) however I installed a period correct finger wheel.

[unbeldi]

Here we go for 11/15 this is a phone WE302 I picked up on ebay for about $60.00 with shipping but it is of somewhat historic value. The person named on the plaque is one of the original partners in Endicott Johnson and an investor and banker in Binghamton NY as well as being on the BOD of several prominent companies and NY Tel. The fact that it has a St. Lois, MO area code on the number card is consistent with the family having owned an estate in the area and Chester B. Lord having passed away in MO and the phone possibly ending up in the hands of private party at an estate sale somewhere along the line. here is the original ebay auction (Item# 301785813081) however I installed a period correct finger wheel.

What are the markings on the back of the dial?   Is it marked 5H, 5J, or is it a 6D ?
It is interesting that they or someone installed a what appears to be a 5J or 6D dial with the white-painted dial case. Certainly the finger wheel didn't exist at that time.  Also the handset is not of then current or recent production. The guy retired end of 1954 and I think by that date production of black 302s had been discontinued already, but new handsets were still made.  The handset is probably from the early 40s. Seems the phone was put together from parts for the occasion.   What is the date on the dial face, the number plate?

The finger stop seems to be pretty high, as if intended for the new style finger wheel.

[cello973]

Here we go for 11/15 this is a phone WE302 I picked up on ebay for about $60.00 with shipping but it is of somewhat historic value. The person named on the plaque is one of the original partners in Endicott Johnson and an investor and banker in Binghamton NY as well as being on the BOD of several prominent companies and NY Tel. The fact that it has a St. Lois, MO area code on the number card is consistent with the family having owned an estate in the area and Chester B. Lord having passed away in MO and the phone possibly ending up in the hands of private party at an estate sale somewhere along the line. here is the original ebay auction (Item# 301785813081) however I installed a period correct finger wheel.

What are the markings on the back of the dial?   Is it marked 5H, 5J, or is it a 6D ?
It is interesting that they or someone installed a what appears to be a 5J or 6D dial with the white-painted dial case. Certainly the finger wheel didn't exist at that time.  Also the handset is not of then current or recent production. The guy retired end of 1954 and I think by that date production of black 302s had been discontinued already, but new handsets were still made.  The handset is probably from the early 40s. Seems the phone was put together from parts for the occasion.   What is the date on the dial face, the number plate?

The finger stop seems to be pretty high, as if intended for the new style finger wheel.

Not about to remove the dial for a date today however the housing is consistent with the plaque date... I have a 500 in my storage area that was presented to a retired Western employee in 83 that was pieced together just for the purpose of presenting it...

[Doug Rose]

You don't have to remove the dial, just open the phone and look at the back of the dial.  As Karl stated, its either a 5J or a 6D and had the correct clear open face finger wheel already on it....Doug

[unbeldi]

Here we go for 11/15 this is a phone WE302 I picked up on ebay for about $60.00 with shipping but it is of somewhat historic value. The person named on the plaque is one of the original partners in Endicott Johnson and an investor and banker in Binghamton NY as well as being on the BOD of several prominent companies and NY Tel. The fact that it has a St. Lois, MO area code on the number card is consistent with the family having owned an estate in the area and Chester B. Lord having passed away in MO and the phone possibly ending up in the hands of private party at an estate sale somewhere along the line. here is the original ebay auction (Item# 301785813081) however I installed a period correct finger wheel.

What are the markings on the back of the dial?   Is it marked 5H, 5J, or is it a 6D ?
It is interesting that they or someone installed a what appears to be a 5J or 6D dial with the white-painted dial case. Certainly the finger wheel didn't exist at that time.  Also the handset is not of then current or recent production. The guy retired end of 1954 and I think by that date production of black 302s had been discontinued already, but new handsets were still made.  The handset is probably from the early 40s. Seems the phone was put together from parts for the occasion.   What is the date on the dial face, the number plate?

The finger stop seems to be pretty high, as if intended for the new style finger wheel.

Not about to remove the dial for a date today however the housing is consistent with the plaque date... I have a 500 in my storage area that was presented to a retired Western employee in 83 that was pieced together just for the purpose of presenting it...

So it looks like it's No. 6 dial, there is just a little bit visible.  A date on the case or on the number plate would tell whether the dial was replaced in the 1960s with the new-style, solid window fingerwheel.
The base is from 1949, and the housing is just right, as you mentioned.   Black housings were still made for 307 sets, which did not get discontinued immediately.  They probably also made some as replacement parts for the distributing houses.

[cello973]

You don't have to remove the dial, just open the phone and look at the back of the dial.  As Karl stated, its either a 5J or a 6D and had the correct clear open face finger wheel already on it....Doug

Doug,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you don't remove the dial you wont be able to see the dial type number... 202 302 5302 or 500 you gotza unscrew the dial... for this particular dial the dial type number is usually under the terminals which as you will note is covered by the housing...

And its a 6D dial dated 10 of 1953 and you will also note it had to be removed in order to see the markings...

[unbeldi]

For a No. 6 dial it is indeed hard to see.  For the No.4 and No. 5 dials usually the type is very easily seen.
But a No. 6 dial is easily recognized by its construction.  What is more interesting at this point is indeed the date.  When dials were replaced in the 60s, No. 6D dials were indeed equipped with the closed finger wheel, and I have also seen that a 6A dial was over-painted white to look like a 6D.
Those are the reasons I asked.
The number card is not from the 1950s, it's an early 60s card, so I think the solid window FW was there when installed.

PS:
Ok, we cross-posted, and you added a picture.  Very good, the dial is the original.  So, the the finger wheel was installed in the early 60s when that number card was installed.  The exchange names were dropped not long before the switch to ANC.  It may be possible to find newspapers with Bell System ads that announced when this happened.  The central office name was FOrest.

[cello973]

For a No. 6 dial it is indeed hard to see.  For the No.4 and No. 5 dials usually the type is very easily seen.
But a No. 6 dial is easily recognized by its construction.  What is more interesting at this point is indeed the date.  When dials were replaced in the 60s, No. 6D dials were indeed equipped with the closed finger wheel, and I have also seen that a 6A dial was over-painted white to look like a 6D.
Those are the reasons I asked.
The number card is not from the 1950s, it's an early 60s card, so I think the solid window FW was there when installed.

PS:
Ok, we cross-posted, and you added a picture.  Very good, the dial is the original.  So, the the finger wheel was installed in the early 60s when that number card was installed.  The exchange names were dropped not long before the switch to ANC.  It may be possible to find newspapers with Bell System ads that announced when this happened.  The central office name was FOrest.

Reason I went with the open finger wheel was because I found a celluloid number card cover underneath the current number card and the ring clip matches a few 202 imperials I own from around the 54 to 58 period . You are correct the card is definitely from the 60s as the EXchange name was shortened to two letters...

[unbeldi]

Here is the central office to which your phone was connected.
The remarkable aspect of that is that it still is a No. 1AESS switch, one of the last few remaining.  I thought I had read that they were already replaced those in Missouri.  It serves ten prefixes.

[cello973]

Thanks and if I'm not mistaken and my ex Father in law didn't lie to me (he worked in that CO) the bricked the windows up in the mid to late 70s early 80s due to the natives attacking the building. According to him they used to steal a van or two a month from the lot or the garage in that district...

"the new" AT&T has quite a few 1As floating around. They usually upgrade them after a natural or man made disaster.

Sorry to all for the thread being hijacked.... we now return you to your normally scheduled thread...... 

[unbeldi]

Sorry to all for the thread being hijacked.... we now return you to your normally scheduled thread...... 

yes, perhaps a moderator can separate out the discussion of the phone into a separate topic.

[TelePlay]

Sorry to all for the thread being hijacked.... we now return you to your normally scheduled thread...... 

yes, perhaps a moderator can separate out the discussion of the phone into a separate topic.

No problem. I was waiting for about an hour to do this. I didn't want to split the topic and move it while members were posting to it. I don't know what the SMF software would have done had I made the split and move while someone was posting.

This phone can be "re"-nominated as a candidate for the November Find of the Month by cello973, or anyone else, by creating a reply in the November Find of the Month topic nominating it, basically a copy of the first paragraph in the first post above along with one photo of the phone and a link to this topic.

[Doug Rose]

You don't have to remove the dial, just open the phone and look at the back of the dial.  As Karl stated, its either a 5J or a 6D and had the correct clear open face finger wheel already on it....Doug

Doug,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you don't remove the dial you wont be able to see the dial type number... 202 302 5302 or 500 you gotza unscrew the dial... for this particular dial the dial type number is usually under the terminals which as you will note is covered by the housing...

And its a 6D dial dated 10 of 1953 and you will also note it had to be removed in order to see the markings...

thanks...I am new at this

[andre_janew]

I've always thought the 5J dial had the works out in the open while the 6D dial had a cover over them.  Am I wrong about this?

[rdelius]

You are correct #2,4,5 no cover,#6 has a cover,not always there if not professionaly rebuilt,