The model 302 telephone is a desk set telephone that was manufactured in the United States by Western Electric from 1937 until 1955, and by Northern Electric in Canada until the late 1950s, until well after the introduction of the 500-type telephone in 1949. The sets were routinely refurbished into the 1960s. It was one of the most widely used American combined telephone sets to include the ringer and network circuitry in the same telephone housing.
Western Electric 302 telephone with a thermoplastic case
The Ericsson model DBH 1001 of 1931 may have been an influence on the later Model 302 design.
1948 Western Electric 302 telephone set that was refurbished amidst post-war equipment shortages with an older style handset (E1) and installed on a line of the Newark, NJ, exchange "BIgelow", the last existing Panel office when it was dismantled in 1983.
A 1945 Federal Telephone & Radio Type 803, a clone of the 302 using Automatic Electric components for military applications
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, and purchasing agent for all telephone equipment the Bell System from 1881 until 1984, when the Bell System was dismantled. Because the Bell System had a near-total monopoly over telephone service in the United States for much of the 20th century, Western Electric's equipment was widespread across the country. The company was responsible for many technological innovations, as well as developments in industrial management.
Gray and Barton building in Chicago about 1870s
Former Western Electric factory on Clinton Street converted to loft apartments
1893 The Western Electric factory. Greenwich and Thames Streets
1969 Western Electric keychain medallion celebrating the 100th anniversary of the company's founding, made from the company's recycled bronze metal of scrapped telephone equipment and issued to employees with an inscribed personal registration number.
