Design Line telephone

Design Line is a brand that AT&T has used on several of its telephones, also known as Deco-Tel.

Pre-divestiture Design Line

A giant replica of the Mickey Mouse phone design at Disney's Pop Century Resort.

In the early 1970s, before the Bell System divestiture, customers in increasing numbers chose to install and use telephones not manufactured by Western Electric, AT&T's wholly owned subsidiary, the Bell System began to offer specialty telephones that could be purchased or leased, called the Design Line series. The Design Line name did not refer to one particular telephone; rather Design Line was the collective name given to all the specialty phones, including Candlestick phone, Country Junction phone, Mickey Mouse phone, etc.^[1] The phones were among the few that could be purchased in the early 1970s.

Western Electric broke tradition, by obtaining housings for some of the sets from other manufacturers or local contractors in Indianapolis. In all cases, Western Electric did supply the internal components of the phones (ringer, receiver, etc.). Early Design Line sets had this disclaimer:

"The telephone housing is your property. To assure quality of service, all working parts, e.g., dial, cords, and electrical components remain the property and responsibility of the Bell Telephone Company."

As a consequence, Bell customers still had to pay a monthly lease fee in order to 'rent' the phone's internal components, which remained the property and responsibility of the local Bell provider. Design Line phones are among the few lines of phones produced by Western Electric that were more renowned for looks than durability. Because the majority of the Design Line phone housings were not made by Western Electric, which remained responsible for the phone's internal components, Bell's standards were less stringent for exterior housings than for the phone's internals.

Beginning in around 1980, the Bell System finally allowed customers to own the entire phone, including internal components. Sets were marked with "CS" to indicate the phone was entirely customer owned.

The arrangement in which Western Electric components were installed into Japanese-made housings ended around the time of divestiture. Character phones, such as the Mickey Mouse phone, were made in China using the Trimline handset, rather than just the receiver with dial in the base. These phones were still sold as a part of the Design Line series.

Post-divestiture design line

In 1985, AT&T Technologies redesigned its consumer telephone products to be cheaper to build and be more competitive in the marketplace by adding electronic ringers and redial. In 1986, they moved telephone production out of the United States. After this time several new Design Line series telephones were marketed and discontinued. One example of a "Design Line" phone was model 140, marketed in the mid 90s. The phone was similar in size to the 2554 wall phone, but had unique features:

• Round Buttons
• Round Receiver/microphone
• Switchhook similar in shape to a slice of pie
• Desk or Wall use

The phone also required a base-to-handset cord which had a large portion non-coiled, as the plug to the base was located on the bottom of the phone, instead of facing out on the side.

In 2000, Lucent Technologies spun off its consumer telephone division, resulting in the Design Line being redesigned. The basic design was retained, except that the handset was "squared" more, and an "AT&T" badge was placed on the outside of the handset. The phone also replaced the Traditional 100 series (the 2500 and 2554 telephones) for consumer use, as Lucent kept the phones because of their high demand for business use after spinning off its consumer division.

Gallery

• 

  rotary Candlestick model, in Stars and Stripes

• 

  Touch Tone Celebrity model, in ivory; on the hook

• 

  Touch Tone Celebrity model, in ivory; off the hook

• 

  Touch Tone Stowaway model, with "Mediterranean" finish; lid closed

• 

  Touch Tone Stowaway model, with "Mediterranean" finish; lid open

References

1. ^ "Western Electric Design Line Telephone Types". http://www.paul-f.com/weDesignLine.html. 

External links

• Western Electric Design Line Telephones
• Western Electric Telephone Models