Western Electric Model 302 Telephone - $378

This rather ordinary looking phone was recently sold for the handsome amount of $378. Not a fortune, but no pocket change either. To the untrained eye (including ourselves), this looks like a simple telephone made of plastic, which by all means, it is. So what makes it special?

This vintage telephone is a Western Electric model 302 phone. These phones were produced by Western Electric from 1937 to 1948, so the production run was not that long. People who had a phone in those days did not own the phone, but leased it from the phone company on a monthly basis. The Western Electric 302 model was designed by a man named Henry Dreyfuss, a celebrated industrial designer in the 1930s and 1940s. Dreyfuss was the first president of the Industrial Design Society of America.

Originally, the body of the phone was made of cast zinc metal, but later models were made of thermoplastic. The bulk of the model 302 phones were made in black, but towards the end of the production differently colored phones were produced as well, and model 302 became available in ivory, bronze, gold, silver, blue, rose, green and red. The model pictured above is the red thermoplastic version. Colored models of this phone are thus harder to find, and combined with the relatively short production run, it becomes obvious why this vintage telephone might be worth $378 to someone.

Most people who collect telephone related items focus on vintage telephone sets. The example we discussed here is by far not the most expensive antique or vintage phone there is, but we included it since it looks so mundane and simple. Most people would not think of this phone as an item having a value, let alone take it somewhere for an appraisal.

There are plenty of websites where collectors exhibit items from their collection. Good examples are Vince's Calvacade of phones, where you can find a good amount of Western Electric phones, The Old Telephone Man, who not only exhibits part of his collection, but who also sells parts and repairs vintage phones, and the Cyber Telephone Museum, which has a lot of stuff on older phones. For a good bit of telephone history, vistit Privateline.com's pages.