Princess Phone Colors

tjmack99 · January 30, 2011, 07:59:03 PM

Are there any particular princess phone colors that are more sought after than others? Does it depend upon rotary vs push button?

Kenny C · January 30, 2011, 08:03:45 PM

Black and Light gray are tough colors to find while i would say pink is a popular color

Jim Stettler · January 30, 2011, 08:47:22 PM

A quick overview:
Black and Transparent are tough colors, so is light grey, I saw a strange shade of peach in the past as well.(mod)Pink is popular.
Some early princess phones were soft plastic.

The earliest princess phones had a seperaate ringer

!0 button princess phones are nice. NE princess phones (Contessa) are different than WE proncess phones

THey made "Imperial " Princess phones which were shiny silver or gold housings. The silver housings are very hard to find. The gold ones aren't very easy either.

I have a couple of swirled housing sets. These are Very hard to find.
Jim

stopthemachine · January 30, 2011, 08:51:08 PM

Yes, I agree with Kenny. Also, any Princess phone with a perculiar button such as a two-line key, 10-digit touch tone sets-- 701B (rotary sets without the bell) sets are more sought after USUALLY because they are older sets--especially if they are hooked up to a small ringer. Any Princess phone dated on the bottom (and elsewhere if possible) with 1959 (very hard to find) and 1960 (1-60 in pink is the earliest I have). I've noticed that even the later production, pre- to after-Bell System breakup colors are coveted because they weren't usually made for too long (e.g.-dark blue). The clear and "Imperial" Princess phones are also HTF. Also, the circa 1993 "Signature Princess" phones go for nice money due to their scarcity. Hmmm--did I forget anything? Haha.

Yes, pink phones, while not overly difficult to find, are just highly collectible. (Gals love phones too, and that just proves it!)

~Dan

stopthemachine · January 30, 2011, 08:53:50 PM

Quote from: Jim S. on January 30, 2011, 08:47:22 PM
A quick overview:
Black and Transparent are tough colors, so is light grey, I saw a strange shade of peach in the past as well.(mod)Pink is popular.
Some early princess phones were soft plastic.

The earliest princess phones had a seperaate ringer

!0 button princess phones are nice. NE princess phones (Contessa) are different than WE proncess phones

THey made "Imperial " Princess phones which were shiny silver or gold housings. The silver housings are very hard to find. The gold ones aren't very easy either.

I have a couple of swirled housing sets. These are Very hard to find.
Jim

We must have answered this at the same time, Jim. Haha. Pretty close answers too! Also, there's the variation of the Cinderella (ITT) and SC's "Petite" models, but that's a whole 'nother discussion! Ahhh, not really. Haha

Jim Stettler · January 30, 2011, 09:04:59 PM

I guess so Dan,
I also came up with some more.
The shiny gold metal bases are always fun. These are early bases.
There are also Interphone princesses.
I have a modifed farm interphone princess. It was modified by Pacific Bell as a " radio station" Remote broadcast telephone.

Paul F has some neat Prot0 princess stuff as well.
Jim

Jim Stettler · January 30, 2011, 10:15:54 PM

Here are some photos of harder to find Princess phones. The Green and white swrl doesn't count. It is carved from marble
Jim

stopthemachine · January 30, 2011, 10:39:11 PM

I would like a manual Princess phone as well--just because it's a bit strange to see. Were Princess phones made with the touch-tone-looks-rotary pad like the Celebrity phones, Jim??? Never saw those before--when were they made?

Jim Stettler · January 30, 2011, 10:57:03 PM

The rd TT pad was added when the phone got notched to mod. I think that is when the original handset disappeared. I would pay well for the original handset.

Jim

Adam · January 30, 2011, 11:03:33 PM

With all due respect, who said there was such a thing as a manual Princess phone? I've never seen such a thing, and I've never seen anything that resembles a blank for a 7-series dial, the dials used in Princess phones.

Does anybody know, is there such a thing?

stopthemachine · January 31, 2011, 12:09:20 AM

Quote from: masstel on January 30, 2011, 11:03:33 PM
With all due respect, who said there was such a thing as a manual Princess phone? I've never seen such a thing, and I've never seen anything that resembles a blank for a 7-series dial, the dials used in Princess phones.

Does anybody know, is there such a thing?

I know I've seen a picture for one or at least a wiring diagram for one online. (Either WE or NE) Trust me--I didn't just make this up out of the air. Can anyone help us out with this one? Whether or not I was mistaken, this will surely make an interesting topic of discussion.

Jim Stettler · January 31, 2011, 12:27:47 AM

I don't see a referance for a manual Princess on Paul's page, I don't think I have ever come across a referance to them either.
OTOH I would think that they made dial blanks for princess phones.

It seems likely to me that they probably exsisted. Now I need one in clear.

JMO,
Jim

stopthemachine · January 31, 2011, 12:35:14 AM

From the page on gray phones--it's an ITT Cinderella phone in GRAY with a dial blank! (Special thanks to jsowers for uploading the pic of his manual ITT Cinderella phone.) OK, so we found one from ITT, but did WE make one? I emailed a WE guru who will surely give me the answer--although I'm sure there are many experts on the forum who could shed some additional light on the matter.

As I said before, I want one myself!

Adam · January 31, 2011, 12:51:47 AM

HOLY CRIPES! That might be among the coolest things I've ever seen! Thanks for posting that!

I, too, would be most interested in knowing if that's only an ITT thing, or if WE made them too.

paul-f · January 31, 2011, 02:09:53 AM

Apparatus blanks for WE Princess sets were designed and built.

I have photos labeled "Bell Telephone Laboratories" of a blank mounted in what appear to be a production 701 housing with molded in 1961 date. They're in my pile of things to scan and write newsletter articles about.

It mounts like the 95B blank on a 554 set -- with a metal bracket held on by a center screw (like the Cinderella).
http://www.paul-f.com/500blanks.html

One difference is that there's a rectangular plastic key that fits into the notch in the housing for the fingerstop. That keeps the blank from rotating when the screw is being loosened or tightened. (Of course there's no notch on a 500-series housing.)

So far, I have seen no references to the blanks or a code for a manual Princess set (e.g. 701A) in BSPs or catalogs and haven't seen sets marked 701 A/B. It would be interesting to find one!

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Princess Phone Colors