Model 500 telephone
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The Western Electric Model 500 telephone was the standard desk-style telephone set used by AT&T (the Bell System) in North America from the late 1949 through the divestiture of AT&T in 1984. Many millions of Model 500 phones were produced and were a familiar sight in almost every home in North America. Numbers of Western Electric 500 phones are still in use today thanks to their durability and ample availability on the secondhand market at inexpensive prices. The basic phone's modular construction not only made manufacture and repair simple, but also made possible a large number of variants and derivatives with added features. A Touch-Tone variant was first introduced in 1963, the Western Electric Model 1500, with only the 10 number keys. In 1968 it was upgraded to the Western Electric Model 2500 with the addition of the * and # keys; that model is still in production today by several manufacturers.
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[edit] Origin
The original Western Electric Model 500 was designed by the firm of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, the product of several years of research and testing, and introduced in 1949. The 500 replaced the Dreyfuss-influenced Western Electric Model 302, introduced in 1937, and improved upon several areas of design that were problematic in the earlier models. For example, the Model 302 utilized a porcelain-coated dial plate, with the numbers printed inside the finger holes. After years of use, the printed numbers and the even the dial plate's porcelain coating would wear off. The design of the 500 corrected this by molding them into the plastic instead of printing them on the surface. The numbers were moved outside of the dial to enable the user to see the numbers while the dial was spinning back to its resting position, to position his finger to dial the next digit (later this became redundant with clear plastic dials). This arrangement also had the benefit of reducing mis-dialed calls.
Originally, the 500 was available only in black and had a rotary dial with a black-painted metal fingerwheel (black remained the most popular color throughout the model's production, and the Model 500 has been affectionately nicknamed by some as "the black brick"[citation needed]). Within a few years the Model 500 began to be made in a variety of colors, and the metal finger wheel was replaced with a clear plastic rotary dial. The 500 was also the first phone to use the G type handset, which remains the standard handset on public payphones.
[edit] Development
Telephones derived from the basic Model 500, using some of the same components, included the Model 554 wall-mounted phone and the 1500 and 2500 Touch-Tone phones. In the mid-1950s, to avoid disposing of older phones, Western Electric manufactured a 500-style plastic replacement shell to update the appearance of the 302, calling it the Model 5302. This model used the internal components of Western Electric's earlier Model 302 phone, and was issued with both the F and G style handsets. [1]
In addition to the model 500, the Western Electric 500-series included many related variations and special purpose models with additional features. This included phones with dial lights (500U), party line sets (501), keysets (540 and 560 series), Call Directors, panel phones (750 series), industrial and outdoor phones (520 and 525), and automatic dialers (660).[2]
Because phones in the Bell System were owned by the telephone company, which was responsible for keeping them in good repair, the Model 500 was designed to avoid repairs. As a result, it was extremely rugged and reliable, and intended to last for decades. The 1940s-era technology of the 500 makes extensive use of solid metal components and point-to-point wiring, and most components are simple to remove and replace.
Originally the line cord and headset cord were secured by screw down terminals at both ends, with a strain relief anchor. Tubular rubber covers at the ends resisted tangling and wear. The line cord (the cord that connected a desk phone to the wall) was originally the same color as the phone. In approximately 1973, the line cords were changed to a neutral gray color and from round to flat. In the late 1960s a need arose for a plug and jack system. At first a proprietary four prong plug was used only for the wall end of the line cord. A few years later much smaller "modular" plugs were introduced at both ends of both cords. These were less rugged and more convenient. A new standard RJ-11 jack was molded with lips to grip firmly the edges of the hole in the Model 500 housing.
As with all telephones of the time in the US, the 500 phones were owned by the local Bell Operating Company, most of which were owned by AT&T, which also owned Western Electric itself--and leased on a monthly basis by customers. This monopoly made millions of dollars for AT&T, which had the secondary effect of limiting phone choices and styles. AT&T strictly enforced policies against buying and using phones by other manufacturers. Most phones made by Western Electric carried this disclaimer permanently molded into their housings starting in about 1968: "BELL SYSTEM PROPERTY--NOT FOR SALE." Telephones were also sometimes labeled with a sticker marking the Bell Operating Company that owned the telephone. After some consumers began buying phones from other manufacturers, AT&T changed its policy for its Design Line telephone series by selling customers the phone's housing, retaining ownership of the mechanical components, which still required paying AT&T a monthly leasing fee.
In 1983, after being forced into divestiture by the courts, AT&T started selling phones outright to the public through its then-new American Bell division. AT&T found itself unable to compete either in price with existing phone designs, and eventually closed its USA consumer telephone manufacturing plants, and moved production to Singapore, China, Thailand, and in the 1990s, Mexico.
[edit] Other Model 500 manufacturers
Beginning in the early 1950s, 500-style phones were also made under license by ITT Kellogg (now Cortelco), who continued manufacturing the original rotary design, marketed as the Cortelco ITT-500AS (desk phone) and Cortelco ITT-554AS (wall phone), until discontinuation on January 1, 2007.
Stromberg-Carlson (now part of Siemens) also made the phones in the 1950s.
[edit] In popular culture
The Model 500, and its distinctive ring, are near-ubiquitous in late 20th-century U.S. and Canadian film and television.
- Perhaps attesting to their robust construction, Model 500s are shown as effective weapons in both the films True Lies and High Fidelity.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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