Western Electric Model 354 – From September 1952

My latest project is a wall phone. This model 354 was made by Western Electric in September of 1952—just short of fifty-six years ago. It has held up pretty well over the years. I have no idea about its history but it does not appear to have been mistreated, but the surrounding walls had at least one coat of paint applied while this phone hung near-by. It has a pretty good coating of paint speckles, an issue that will not be difficult to correct. But I’ve decided to tear it down and give it a good cleaning. The process has begun. I thought I would share some of the steps that it will go through along the way. As always here are a couple of “before” photos showing what the phone looks like “as removed from service”.

I have already disassembled the phone and put the pieces into individual sections. I have refurbished many telephones but for some reason this is my first experience with the model 354, the wall version of the 302.

I have decided to publish a series of articles showing my progress on this telephone, from start to finish.  In my next posting I will highlight the #6A dial, showing it in “as removed from service” condition and explain what I’ve done to improve not only its looks but the function of the dial as well.