Design Line Telephone - Pre-divestiture Design Line

Pre-divestiture Design Line

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. 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.