During World War 2, the German military used a variety of headphones plugged into field telephones, desk telephones, and chest microphones. These headphones had one or two earpieces and they had a strap or other means for securing the earpiece(s) to the head. The ends of the microphone cords plug into the phones or chest microphones with a 2-pin plugs.
Unfortunately, telephone headphones for sale by militaria dealers are typically missing the plugs and the straps and hardware are either damaged or missing. On top of that, the headphones go for a very hefty price, especially outside the EU.
To work with field telephone equipment, the headphone coils must have a resistance of around 57 ohms. Militaria dealers sell headphones for radios and tank intercoms, but they are typically in the 1000 – 2000 ohm range and will not work with field telephone equipment. Also, the plugs wont fit, because the pins are too far apart. The dealers typically don’t have a clue about resistance measurement or plugs.
Fortunately, I live near a company called PhoneCo, Inc. PhoneCo refurbishes and sells antique telephone equipment, including switchboards. Their website is at: https://phonecoinc.com/home.asp
Taking a trip over to PhoneCo with my multi-meter, I was able to find a Western Electric 588A operator’s headset that measured in at 57 ohms. Fortunately, the price was much much less than an authentic German headphone, plus it had a means for attaching to the head.
The 588A headset originally plugged into a switchboard with a large tip sleeve (TS) connector which is incompatible with WW2 German field telephone equipment. The connector had to be replaced with a 2-pin German connector purchased from a militaria dealer.
The completed headphone has a sheet of plastic covering the Western Electric markings. It works perfectly with my chest microphone at reenacting events.
For more information about German WW2 field telephone equipment, check out my new book… https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/rotwang-manteuffel/world-war-2-german-field-telephone-equipment-a-basic-guide-for-reenactors-and-historians/paperback/product-976w9q.html?page=1&pageSize=4
WW2 German Field Telephone Equipment 