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500-style Telephones "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" ©2009-10
paulf. All rights reserved.
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The Western Electric 500, introduced in 1949
quickly set the standard for "modern" telephone
design. The squared off lines of the 300-series were
replaced by gently flowing lines that were carefully
designed to reflect light and make the larger phone appear
smaller. Internal components were replaced with new
designs providing improved fidelity and long loop
performance. One of the most obvious stylistic
changes was moving the letters and numbers from the dial
plate under the dial's fingerwheel to a ring surrounding
the dial, also increasing the apparent size of the dial.
This page highlights models that were produced starting in the 1950s. Over time Leich and North merged with Automatic Electric and continued to make the proprietary AE 80 design. Kellogg and Stromberg Carlson merged into ITT, producing WE 500 clones made under license. |
WE 500, NE 500 |
Western Electric 500 Northern Electric 500 Originally introduced in 1949, this set quickly became the standard "modern" single line telephone and was copied by others. Click for more details. |
AE 80 |
Automatic Electric 80 AE elected to compete with a proprietary design. While it emulated many features of the WE 500 and had "modern" styling, it's cosmetics and internal construction were noticeably different. One feature AE advertized was their "improved" cradle construction, which reportedly had a lower chance of false hang-ups than the WE design. |
 K500 |
Kellogg K500 (ITT 500) Originally sporting a unique streamlined housing and handset with gracefully tapered lines, Kellogg's 500 set first got a facelift with a housing that was a clone of the WE 500, and later got a handset that was a clone of Western's G3. From that point forward, Kellogg sets were identical to the WE sets, except for the Kellogg name. Sets were eventually marked simply ITT after Kellogg was acquired and fully integrated into ITT. |
Leich Convertible |
Leich Convertible While the dial and smooth lines suggest a 500-style, Leich innovated a bit by designing a cradle that permitted the phone to be used either on a desk or mounted to a wall. Flipping the dial on its mount is all that was required to convert between desk and wall use. |
North 541 |
North 540-series North elected to produce a proprietary design that retained some of the design cues from its earlier bakelite phones. The streamlining is quite attractive in comparison with similar sets. A unique feature is the recessed dial fingerwheel, which is about flush with the surrounding number ring. Click for more details. |
 SC 1443, 1543  SC 1573 set up for wall mounting. |
Stromberg Carlson 1443, 1543 Stromberg Carlson 500 SC responded by quickly designing a streamlined case for its current 1243 set, renaming it the 1443. Shortly thereafter, they updated the electronics inside and called it the 1543. This set could be easily converted for wall use by replacing the plungers and flipping the dial, as shown by the 3-line phone in the lower photo. When it became clear that customer demand was clearly favoring the WE 500, SC first produced a housing and handset for the 1543 that looked more like the 500 and called the resulting set the 1586. They then licensed the WE design and produced a true WE 500 clone. The housing for the 1586 was continued as an upgrade kit for existing 1543-series phones. See "New Image" in the following section. |
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following designs were implemented by refurbishing
previous generation phones or phones removed from service. The intent was to give the older sets extended life by making them appear more like the current generation phones. Western Electric and Kellogg sets were refurbished in company refurb facilities. WE also licensed some refurbishers to convert sets and provided parts. (Some deviated from the "standards.") Leich and Stromberg Carlson sets were available from the company or as parts kits for field or customer upgrades. |
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| Before
Conversion |
After
Conversion |
Description |
 WE 302
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 WE 5302 |
Western Electric 5302 Used 300-series phones were refurbished with housings that looked somewhat like a 500-series set. The white dial plate was replaced with a black plate with white dots. The 500-like numbers and letters were on a double injection molded ring that surrounded the original dial. The 302's F1 handset was often used. To complete the look, a GF handset was provided that contained the same transmitter and receiver elements as the F1. The 5302 was shorter from front to back than the 500, due to the dimensions of the 302's bottom plate. Click for more details. |
 K 1000 |
 K5100 |
Kellogg 5100 Kellogg 1000-series ("Redbar") phones were refurbished with housings that looked somewhat like a 500-series set. The dial was rotated counter-clockwise so the finger stop position approximated the position on Western Electric dials. Click for more details. |
 North H-series
bakelite set
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Leich 7H6-M
 Conversion kit parts |
Leich 7H6 "AE 80" Leich 7H6-M housing on a North H-series phone. The dimensions were different than the AE 80 footprint due to the smaller size of the North base. Click for more views. |
SC 1443, 1543
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SC 1586, "New
Image"
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Stromberg
Carlson
1586 "New Image" The 1543 was updated with new plastics to resemble a WE 500. Since the footprint of the 1543 was larger, the set looks like it flares out toward the front edge. These are easily recognized due to the fingerstop position, chrome number card retainer and shape of the 1543's feet. The 1586 was only available for a relatively short time before SC licensed the 500 and produced a clone -- differing from the WE 500 only by the SC name. The "New Image" plastics were available for several years as upgrade conversion kits for SC 1543-series sets. Sets with many 1543-series model number variations are found with this look, as the original model numbers on the bottom weren't usually updated. |
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©2009-10 paulf. All rights
reserved.
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