And Now For My Princess's & Trimlines

[Jim Stettler]

I  have heard the ericophon was the inspiration for the trimline.

If you look at the chart in the link, you can see the 1952 set looks a lot like an ericofon prototype. You can see the erico prototypes on Richard Rose's ericofon site.
Jim

[GusHerb]

I do notice that now that you mention it.  It was interesting to read where Donald Genaro talked about his disappointment with the evolution of the Trimline design to where they had a single universal base for wall and desk, and how that removed a lot of the artistic feel of the design.  I've even felt that way about the move to the modern modular cords, which are smaller and not really integrated into the housings. 

I assume that your NOS wall version was to be hardwired to the wall.

It was designed for hardwire yes. My Grandma's old red 1973 Trimline wall TT had the newer base with the fins, it too was hardwire.

[jsowers]

Jonathan, those are some great Princesses and Trimlines. Hang onto the ones from your grandmother. You're lucky to have phones with a family connection. Many of us don't have the actual phones we remember from our childhood (but I bet we have some like them). Many times the phone company required them back when they were updated or the lease ended. Before the 1980s, you couldn't buy your own phone, I don't think.

If you need a light beige modular handset cord for that one Trimline, send me a PM. I have a bunch. Also, Dennis has a lot of cords for the earlier "large modular" Trimline if you ever need any. I'm sure he won't mind my mentioning those.

The early rotary and TT Trimlines had lighted dials that used a 6.3 Volt AC (2012A) transformer. You can find the lamp behind the dial card area above the dial. Mostly I think they used the yellow and black wires from the mounting cord to light the lamp, but sometimes it uses the white wire when yellow may have been used for ground. The later square-button Trimlines used LEDs powered by the phone line.

To show you what colors are available, below is my Trimline collection, on a bookshelf I've had since I was a kid, but the phones I've gotten gradually in the last 10-15 years. It takes a while. The pink one was a gift from a cousin. It was her phone growing up. The rest I've gotten off eBay and from thrift stores. It's not easy finding uncracked and unfaded ones. As you can see there are lots of colors, and I have more I can't fit in here, like Teaberry (sort of a dusty rose) and Country Blue (similar to dark blue 500 sets). I think there was a Cameo Green color too, sort of a light green, and probably several more.

Good luck in your collecting! Keep us posted on the new additions.

[Jim Stettler]

Jonathan, those are some great Princesses and Trimlines. Hang onto the ones from your grandmother. You're lucky to have phones with a family connection. Many of us don't have the actual phones we remember from our childhood (but I bet we have some like them). Many times the phone company required them back when they were updated or the lease ended. Before the 1980s, you couldn't buy your own phone, I don't think.

If you need a light beige modular handset cord for that one Trimline, send me a PM. I have a bunch. Also, Dennis has a lot of cords for the earlier "large modular" Trimline if you ever need any. I'm sure he won't mind my mentioning those.

The early rotary and TT Trimlines had lighted dials that used a 6.3 Volt AC (2012A) transformer. You can find the lamp behind the dial card area above the dial. Mostly I think they used the yellow and black wires from the mounting cord to light the lamp, but sometimes it uses the white wire when yellow may have been used for ground. The later square-button Trimlines used LEDs powered by the phone line.

To show you what colors are available, below is my Trimline collection, on a bookshelf I've had since I was a kid, but the phones I've gotten gradually in the last 10-15 years. It takes a while. The pink one was a gift from a cousin. It was her phone growing up. The rest I've gotten off eBay and from thrift stores. It's not easy finding uncracked and unfaded ones. As you can see there are lots of colors, and I have more I can't fit in here, like Teaberry (sort of a dusty rose) and Country Blue (similar to dark blue 500 sets). I think there was a Cameo Green color too, sort of a light green, and probably several more.

Good luck in your collecting! Keep us posted on the new additions.

If the teaberry and blue are Fat mod, then squeeze them in. Those were short production colors from the mid 70's. Re-released around 1983. Un-faded Pink counts up there w/ NOS .

My opinion is that Trimlines are a "sleeper" and well worth collecting.
Jim S.

[Craig T]

I have four different Trimlines too, none of that early ones you have though, man those look great!

I was looking into Trimlines and stumbled on this site here, it is a time line, so an easy and informative read.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Trimline_telephone

[Jim Stettler]

I have four different Trimlines too, none of that early ones you have though, man those look great!

I was looking into Trimlines and stumbled on this site here, it is a time line, so an easy and informative read.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Trimline_telephone

That's a good starting point. The IC based trimline question is mine. I never got any replies, but I have accumulatted more info.
I think Zuperdee (on the webring?) has more precise/pertinent info, he has some good info for 500 sets. I have a lot of trimline rough notes that I will dig out with a little prodding.

Jim

[GusHerb]

Jonathan, those are some great Princesses and Trimlines. Hang onto the ones from your grandmother. You're lucky to have phones with a family connection. Many of us don't have the actual phones we remember from our childhood (but I bet we have some like them). Many times the phone company required them back when they were updated or the lease ended. Before the 1980s, you couldn't buy your own phone, I don't think.

If you need a light beige modular handset cord for that one Trimline, send me a PM. I have a bunch. Also, Dennis has a lot of cords for the earlier "large modular" Trimline if you ever need any. I'm sure he won't mind my mentioning those.

The early rotary and TT Trimlines had lighted dials that used a 6.3 Volt AC (2012A) transformer. You can find the lamp behind the dial card area above the dial. Mostly I think they used the yellow and black wires from the mounting cord to light the lamp, but sometimes it uses the white wire when yellow may have been used for ground. The later square-button Trimlines used LEDs powered by the phone line.

To show you what colors are available, below is my Trimline collection, on a bookshelf I've had since I was a kid, but the phones I've gotten gradually in the last 10-15 years. It takes a while. The pink one was a gift from a cousin. It was her phone growing up. The rest I've gotten off eBay and from thrift stores. It's not easy finding uncracked and unfaded ones. As you can see there are lots of colors, and I have more I can't fit in here, like Teaberry (sort of a dusty rose) and Country Blue (similar to dark blue 500 sets). I think there was a Cameo Green color too, sort of a light green, and probably several more.

Good luck in your collecting! Keep us posted on the new additions.

Your Trimlines are beautiful!  I can tell which ones are rotary too, that's one thing I learned when I finally had a Rotary and TT Trimline to compare against was that the rotary had a fatter handset to accommodate the dial.
Out of pretty much all my phones those 2 Trimlines would be the last to go since they are also the only ones with some sort of sentimental value to me. I always had my eyes on them since as far back as I could possibly remember.
When I first opened a Trimline I thought that light bulb was a fuse of some sort, then I realized what it actually was. some years later the Transformer was taken off the phone lines and luckily whoever took it off just stuck it in the junk drawer in the kitchen and I'm luckily able to have the transformer that originally went with these phones too.

My Grandma's house since she moved in, in 1975 had all Trimlines, in fact the transformer to light them was centralized at the 1951 terminal block/lightning protector, so all the jacks had power to them wherever the Trimlines were moved to.
Some years later the Transformer was taken off the phone lines and luckily whoever took it off just stuck it in the junk drawer in the kitchen and I'm luckily able to have the transformer that originally went with these phones too.

On another note regarding the same thing I'm right now trying to figure out what I want to put in place of that 1951 terminal block since the neighborhood had a flood and the water got up that high and wrecked the fuse that was within that thing... right now all the old wiring is still connected to it except for a couple jacks that are being used. I want to get all the old Bell System wiring back up and running.

[jsowers]

On another note regarding the same thing I'm right now trying to figure out what I want to put in place of that 1951 terminal block since the neighborhood had a flood and the water got up that high and wrecked the fuse that was within that thing... right now all the old wiring is still connected to it except for a couple jacks that are being used. I want to get all the old Bell System wiring back up and running.

They sell those protectors all the time on eBay, complete with the fuses. I remember the same one in my grandmother's basement, from circa 1953. I think it was disconnected when Southern Bell came in and added an extension once about 1977. Her house was built with a corner of the basement on a granite boulder that actually stuck up some through the concrete basement floor. Across the road is a granite quarry. Every time they had a thunderstorm with a close lightning strike, the bells on her black 500 set would tinkle. It never got a direct hit and survived into the 1990s without any failure.

Also, Jim, those teaberry and dark blue Trimlines of mine are the later modular ones. I have never seen large modular versions of those two colors. And yes, they are a sleeper, though if you've ever tried to buy a 1220 (ten button) model, they really go sky high. I have a light gray one I was able to get that was a Buy it Now for less than the going price, but none since then.  I noticed there's another thread on rare colors in Trimlines, so I'm posting it there.

[baldopeacock]

Did WE produce some metal-look plated Princess phones?  Ran across a 702B dated '65 with a gold-or-silver looking plated plastic case.   Wondering if that's real or not.

[bingster]

I've seen gold ones with ivory handset and cords.  I think one of of our members has one, actually. 

[baldopeacock]

I've seen gold ones with ivory handset and cords.  I think one of of our members has one, actually.  

I've seen the gold with ivory Princess on eBay, it was advertised as an Imperial version of the Princess.   Were those offered to customers or were they more likely retirement gift sets for Bell employees?

This one's handset is plated also.  I'm wondering if it's Bell-issue or if a creative owner had the plastic plated.

[jsowers]

I've seen a digital clock made out of a metallic gold TT Trimline. I bought it in an auction and gave it to a phone collecting buddy who collects Trimlines. It's very unusual and I know how some feel about phones made into clocks or lamps, but this one looked like someone from the phone company did it.

It sat on a wood base that one time had a plaque on it, but that was gone. It had a 6-volt 2012A transformer hooked to a standard modular cord hooked to the Trimline base. There was a brown coil cord that attached the handset to the base and the handset was glued down on top of the base facing sideways with an LED digital clock display where the buttons would go. You set part of it with the recall button and part of it with the switchhook, which were still operable. I don't have a picture of it to post, unfortunately. It worked great and kept good time. I've never seen another one.

I think the Imperial-type Princess was available to the public. I've seen many of them, and there is a black handset and cords model with a metallic gold housing in addition to the white one. I've also seen copper and silver ones.

[Dennis Markham]

I have two of Gold plated Princess phones.  I happen to buy two from the same eBay seller.  I bought the first one and then he listed a nicer one.  So I bought that one too.  Both are marked 9-64 (702B's).  In the attached photo of both sets, the nicer one is on the left, but it is minus the mounting cord.  The one on the right has the mounting cord, the white handset is in nicer condition but there is paint loss or whatever they used to make it look Gold.  On the nicer one the coiled cord and handset have that toasted marshmallow brown to them.  I didn't do much in the way of cleaning them when I got them.  I just cleaned an inch of dust off of them for the photo session.

[gpo706]

It would be interesting to see someone cook up a method to turn a vintage Trimline handset into a working cell phone like has been done with the Sparkfun.com model 500 conversion.

McHeath, if only you could see the "Tommorow's World" BBC technology clip at the BBC website over there that I posted before.

The presenter is trialling the UK's first real (experimental) mobile phone, (not a radio-phone, it dialled straight through to an operator or line), and its an ivory trimline handset with and additional on/off or TX switch they used for it.

The handset is connected by the curly cord to a clip on belt black box about the size of an old voltmeter with a TX/RX meter like a CB on it, complete with rubber duck.

The size of the handset is well utilised through the clip as he takes it inside and out of his suit jacket inside pocket.

[Jim Stettler]

Did WE produce some metal-look plated Princess phones?  Ran across a 702B dated '65 with a gold-or-silver looking plated plastic case.   Wondering if that's real or not.

Those are known as "Imperial Princesses. They were trimed in white or black, I also have 1 that has a gold handset.

WE also made 1-in-1,000,000 sets that were non bell WE sets That were gold and were presented to a WE "recommended"employee from   a waiting list.

I have handled the only 1-in-1,000,000,000 set it was a (real?) gold plated trimline, it has a medallion on the back stating it to be 1-in-1,000,000,000 and the name and date of the employee it was presented to. It was offered for trade at an ATCA show the trade wanted was a blake transmitter.
Jim