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Princess Phone in a Rare Color

Started by Dave F, December 07, 2011, 01:20:32 PM

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Dave F

Anybody ever seen one of these?  I never had until now.  In 1992, AT&T refurbished an old 702 set and dressed it in new charcoal gray plastics and matching coil cord.  According to my color-chart info, this would most likely be AT&T color -268 (Dark Gray), or -269 (Ultra Dark Gray).  The handset is labelled AT&T, clearly indicating that this phone postdates the Western Electric era.  They removed the old rubber bottom pad and replaced it with a new cork one.  Also, the numbers and letters on the new dial plate are more black in color than the reddish tint you usually associate with older Princess phones.  All the bottom tags indicate that this was an official AT&T refurb and not some aftermarket job.

Due to the near-mint condition of the housing and the unusual dial center card, I suspect that this may have been a demo set in an AT&T phone store.  I find it interesting that as late as 1992 they were still promoting rotary dial sets.

Any more info would be welcome.

ESalter

That's really neat!  I can say I've never seen a Princess that color before.  Like you, I'm very surprised they would have refurbished a rotary set in 92.  Are the plastics dated 92 as well?  If so, I'd be flat out surprised they were molding new 702 housings of any color in 92!  ---Eric

Dave F

Quote from: ESalter on December 07, 2011, 01:43:55 PM
That's really neat!  I can say I've never seen a Princess that color before.  Like you, I'm very surprised they would have refurbished a rotary set in 92.  Are the plastics dated 92 as well?  If so, I'd be flat out surprised they were molding new 702 housings of any color in 92!  ---Eric
There are no dates on any of the plastics.  The mounting holes in the housing do not have threaded metal inserts, and the housing is attached with self-tapping screws.  This would indicate that the housing was a newer design, and certainly not what W.E. would have done.  Maybe AT&T had the housing manufactured overseas, but the quality is quite high, and with a cursory look you would never think that it wasn't W.E.

Dave

1954NE500

I have a Northern Telecom 500 that was also refurbished in 1992 as well I got in the last couple of months.
I really do love that charcoal grey on that princess phone that was refurbished in 1992. In the 1950's this was Oxford Grey on colored 500-series phones made from 1954-57 as well. This is the 1st princess phone I've seen in dark grey as well. I really love this color  :D

ESalter

Now that you mention that Dave, I think I have a Princess that doesn't have the brass inserts in the mounting holes.  I'll dig it out tomorrow and see if it's a late refurb like this.  I seem to think it's Ivory, but don't remember for sure.  ---Eric

jsowers

I've seen that gray color a few times in auctioned phones and I think it's called Charcoal Gray. It was a very late offering. I had no idea it was as late as 1992, though.

There's another late color called Cameo Green that's a lot like the old turquoise. I have a phone collecting buddy who's found a couple Princesses in that color and I have a few pictures he sent, years ago. The first two pictures are of a Cameo Green 702 and it has that black number dial and AT&T logo on the handset like you describe. The next two pictures are of a 2702. The base has what looks like a 92 date on the sticker. I'm sorry I don't have the rest of the base pictured. The 555-2368 card is a copy, FYI.

These phone plastics could also be painted. If they're lightly used, it's sometimes hard to tell. But the refurb houses were really into painting plastics back then, and the cords too, so I wouldn't be surprised.
Jonathan

GG



That gray one looks like it would be found in a den or office environment.  "That's the color that pink & light-blue Princesses change into for work":-)

Re. absence of brass inserts: I wonder if there's a nut that is of the right size to be stuffed into those pesky plastic holes?   What I would do in the event of stripped plastic screw holes on housings, is to put some Elmer's Glue into the hole so it sticks to the rough surface of the existing plastic and provides a new surface for the screws to bite into.  I wouldn't use acrylics or other glues for that, since they would be less forgiving of possible mistakes.

Dave F

Quote from: jsowers on December 08, 2011, 09:16:35 AM
I've seen that gray color a few times in auctioned phones and I think it's called Charcoal Gray. It was a very late offering. I had no idea it was as late as 1992, though.

There's another late color called Cameo Green....


Cameo Green was color -255.  I've never seen one in person, but it looks very nice in your pictures.  I'll be watching for one now!  Looking at your pictures, notice that they restamped the metal base of the 2702 with the FCC notice.  That's the first time I've seen one that had the base restamped in that way.  All the other refurbs I have run across have the FCC sticker applied to the bottom, like on mine.

Quote

These phone plastics could also be painted. If they're lightly used, it's sometimes hard to tell. But the refurb houses were really into painting plastics back then, and the cords too, so I wouldn't be surprised.


I try not to collect repainted phones, and I was quite hesitant to buy this charcoal gray phone just from a picture, as I had never seen this color on a Princess before.  My wife and I both looked at it carefully, and we discussed in detail the possible pros and cons about the actual color of the plastics.  We jointly made the decision to go for it, realizing full well that it might be just a painted pig with lipstick.  Fortunately, when the package arrived, we were both very happy to find that it is really the rare dark gray plastic throughout.  As I often have to tell her, "Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose".  This time we won.

rdelius

At COT we bought some 1990s refurbished Princess and the electronic princess sets in colors such as dark grey, a peach color,white, ivory,pink, light and dark blue. ATT had these rebuilt in mexico for rental use.The electronic ones had a LED lighted touch pad,handset volume adjustment, plastic base.
Robby

poplar1

#9
Quote from: Dave F on December 07, 2011, 01:20:32 PM
Anybody ever seen one of these?  I never had until now.  In 1992, AT&T refurbished an old 702 set and dressed it in new charcoal gray plastics and matching coil cord.  According to my color-chart info, this would most likely be AT&T color -268 (Dark Gray), or -269 (Ultra Dark Gray).  The handset is labelled AT&T, clearly indicating that this phone postdates the Western Electric era. 

The correct color name is Slate Blue (color code --293.) The other colors available on refurbished 702 and 2702 Princess sets from the early 90s are Peach (-258), Cameo Green (-255), White (-58), and Ivory (-50).

New retail (CS) sets were available until at least 1985 in yellow (-56),  ivory (-50) and dark blue and possibly white (?).


The Atlanta Service Center was the last remaining AT&T repair shop in this U.S. On the sticker, "RF 92AT 11" means refurbished at the Atlanta shop in Nov., 1992. The onsite paint shop had been closed down before the rest of the operation. Per Bill B., the housings were imported from overseas.

The housings require "thread forming screws." The use of these was proposed earlier,  but there had been some resistance to the idea, according to one source,who worked at the Shreveport Works.

Slate blue and cameo green were replaced by. Rose Pink (-59) and Aqua Blue (-62) for the 2703 Signature Princess. Peach, Ivory and White remained as Signature Princess co!ors.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

zenithchromacolor

Here is a Touch Tone version I had. Also refurbished in 1992. I purchased it a while back at the estate sale of a phone company employee. It has since been sold, so I can't offer any more information than the photos.


poplar1

Is that phone black rather than slate blue? If so, I'd be willing to bet that this phone didn't leave the repair shop in black  in 9/92, unless it was a special order. Notice the captive machine screws, rather than thread forming screws, for attaching the housing. The handset is a post-1983 AT&T, but the housing must be older than 1992 if it has inserts for machine screws.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

zenithchromacolor

I no longer own the phone, but I am pretty sure it used the thread forming screws, not machine screws. Note in the photo of the chassis, there are no screws in the base. The thread forming screws I believe were not captive like the machine screws, so did not say with the base when the housing was removed. The phone was not black. When I purchased it, it had been stored in a bag with a black Princess and the color difference could be seen. I was surprised at the color as I had not seen an example before.