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Western Electric Color Codes


©2004-20 paulf.  All rights reserved.
(What's this copyright notice?)



Western Electric used a numeric suffix to part numbers to indicate the color of phone sets, cords, equipment housings, and just about everything else.
Over the years, loads of codes were defined and used.

Here's a place to help keep track of the codes we've found in numeric order.
For telephone set colors,  go to the Phone Colors page.

Most info is from WE catalogs and ads plus discussions on the ATCA and TCI listservs.
Some is from Bell Telephone Laboratories color standard chips.
If you haven't joined one of the phone clubs yet, see my links page.

This is a work in progress.  Please send comments, additions and corrections.

Several members are working on an expanded list that includes the uses and BSP references for each color code!
Here's the current draft in pdf format. (Thanks to Arthur Bloom.)

Last update: 15 June, 2020



 

Western Electric Color Codes

Numeric Order

(Some uses are noted following the code and description)
(MD = Manufacture Discontinued date)
-0 Gray, French
-3 Black (most sets)
-4 Ivory
-5 Gray
-6 Old Brass
-7 Statuary Bronze
-8 Oxidized Silver
-9 Brown wiring
-11 Gold, Medium
-12 Gold, Dark
-16 Old Rose
-18 Dark Blue
-19 Gray-Green
-20 Pekin Red
-26 Green, Olive
-27 Walnut
-29 Transparent, Clear (Display sets)
-40 Green Gray, Wrinkle
-41 Federal Gray, 6L dial
-42 Beige wiring
-43 Beige
-44 Chrome (coin set)
-45 Green Gray, Textured vinyl
-49 Light Olive Gray
-50 Ivory
-51 Moss Green, Mistletoe Green 
-52 Gray, Dark Gray, Oxford Gray (MD 1958)   
-53 Cherry Red 
-54 Brown, Mahogany Brown (MD 1958) 
-55 Beige, Dark Beige, Rose Beige (MD 1958) 
-56 Pastel Yellow 
-57 Blue, Dark Blue, Mediterranean Blue (MD 1958) 
-58 White  (Merlin)
-59 Rose Pink 
-60 Light Beige 
-61 Light Gray 
-62 Aqua Blue
-63 Gold (Bell Chime)
-64 Turquoise
-65 Dark Gray (Backboard)
-66 Medium Gray
-67 Stainless Steel, brushed (Coin Set)
-69 Muted Red (1500/2500 faceplate)
-70 Charcoal (Trimline) (1500/2500 faceplate)
-71 Light Green (1500/2500 faceplate)
-72 Light Yellow (1500/2500 faceplate)
-73 Light Gray (Trimline) (1500/2500 faceplate)
-74 Muted Pink (1500/2500 faceplate)
-75 Muted Beige (1500/2500 faceplate)
-76 Muted Blue (1500/2500 faceplate)
-77 Muted Turquoise (1500/2500 faceplate)
-78 Silver (Call Director Paper Mat)
-79 Gold (Call Director Paper Mat)
-80 Muted Ivory (Trimline) (Call Director Paper Mat)
-82 Pearl Gray wiring
-83 Gray Brown wiring
-84 Bronze (Coin Set)
-86 Orange (Coin Set)
-87 Satin Silver (wiring)
-93 Lemon Yellow (Design Line)
 -100 Avocado (ComKey faceplate)
-104 Chocolate Brown  (Design Line, Merlin)
-105 Dark Green, Hunter Green  (Design Line)
-106 Lime Green  (Design Line)
-108 Teak (ComKey faceplate)
-109 Walnut (ComKey faceplate)
-110 Avacado
-111 Harvest Gold  (ComKey faceplate)
-112 Orange  (ComKey faceplate)
-113 Textured Brown  (ComKey faceplate)
-114 Bright Red  (ComKey faceplate)
-115 Royal Blue, Dark Blue (ComKey faceplate)
-116 Bright Green (ComKey faceplate)
-118 Textured Black 
-121 Off White
-122 Matte Aluminum 
-123 Butter Yellow 
-124 Rust (Trimline)
-125 Sunset Orange
-126 Mint Green
-127 Fern Green
-128 Powder Blue
-129 "Greige" (Dark Ivory - Grey/beige?)
-130 Corporate Bluebell
-138 Warm Gray
-139 Charcoal Gray (Merlin) (Trimline)
-142 Midnight Blue (Merlin) (Trimline)
-143 Burgundy (Merlin, Cords) (Trimline)
-144 Cinnabar (Merlin) (Trimline)
-145 Teal Blue (Cords) (Trimline)
-146 Dark Teaberry, Desert Rose (Trimline)
-147 Creamy Apricot, Fresh Peach (Trimline)
-148 Almond (Cords)
-155 Pearl, Smoky
-158 Smokey pearl (Cords)
-161 Miami Sand
-170 Mocha (Cords) (Trimline)
-185 Light Gray
-189 Cobblestone Gray
-195 Twilight Brown
-213 Cocoa Brown
-215 Misty Cream (Cords)
-220 Java Brown
-226 Green
-235 Lt. Ash (Cords)
-236 Taupe Brown
-242 International Gray
-245 Electrical Brown (Jacks)
-246 Electrical Ivory (Jacks)
-254 Gray Blue
-255 Cameo Green
-256 Mauve
-257 Yellow Essence
-258 Peach, Salmon
-260 Pink Pearl
-262 Electrical White
-264 White, Oxford Or "AT&T"
-265 Ultra Light Gray
-266 AT&T Light Gray
-267 AT&T Medium Gray
-268 AT&T Dark Gray
-269 AT&T Ultra Dark Gray
-270 Gray
-272 Light Oak
-293 Slate Blue (Trimline)
-302 Green, Forest (Trimline)
-303 Yellow, Sunny (Trimline)
-304 Brown, Mocha
-305 Blue, Country (Trimline)
-308 Yellow, Maize
-313 Green, Hunter
-317 Red (Jack)
-318 Blue
-323 Gray, Dust Dark
-361 Violet 
 
-??? Gun Metal Grey (Oxford)
 
Thanks for major contributions from Arthur P. Bloom, Paul Fassbender, Steph Kerman, William Wright, Richard Gerber and Sam Etler.
 
To view 1983 Western Electric Color Charts, follow these links: 
For Phones , or For Components .

(Thanks to Todd Bernstein and David Massey for providing these charts!)
 

Please send comments or photos of your favorite phones to: 

Email address


©2004-20 paulf.  All rights reserved.