Rotary Princess wont ring without a bell

[carl]

I recently acquired a nice looking pink princess rotary,which works fine......except it wont ring....AND that it does not seem to ever
have HAD a bell! I compared it to my green princess and the bell is stationed properly,but the pink one does not even have a screw
hole in it,so I thought I had better ask those with more knowledge than I if it would seem plausible that the phone would have
been manufactured in this manner.I've attached a pic,which resembles the green one very closely.Thank you..Carl NY

[Phonesrfun]

Carl:

The earlier 701B Princess phones circa 1959 to about 1961 did not have a ringer, because they had not yet perfected the smaller ringer style yet.  They had a separate E1B ringer box that had to be attached to the wall.  Your earlier phone is more sought after than the 702 because its earlier and was made for such a short period of time.

-Bill

[bingster]

Carl, if I understand correctly, you have a green Princess with a ringer.  If you sit the pink one right next to the green one, you'll notice that the pink one sits lower, and doesn't have the sound vents around the perimeter of the metal base, just below the plastic.  When they added the bell to the phone, there wasn't enough room for it, so they had to raise height of the phone a bit, and they punched little rectangles in the metal base for the sound of the bell to get through.  

Personally, I prefer the 701, not only because it's older, but also because it's a more involved setup than the "plug and play" 702.

[carl]

So thats it! I'm not going crazy after all,as it seemed inconceivable that a phone would be made without a bell.I do remember back then
when the princess model was introduced,but wasn't aware that the ringer didn't appear until a later model.This model does say
701b and has 10-60 on the bottom,and yes,it sits slightly lower than the green,which I confirmed when I attached a pic of both and
upon cropping the pic,the border approached the green first.I've also attached a pic of another phone I purchased with the princess,
and....it works fine,no adjusting necessary at all! Again,thanks guys for your help and expertise.Best,Carl NY

[HobieSport]

Nice phones there Carl. What year is the aqua 500? I have a couple of 1960 aqua 500s, my favorite color besides black, but both are faded.

[carl]

It actually says 78067 on the bottom,next to a sticker from NY tel saying it's theirs,not ours.

[Dennis Markham]

Carl, also notice that the 701B has  "mouse hole" for the handset cord where it enters the phone.  The later 702B does not.  The 701B should have a weight that fits inside the base where the bells fit later.  I'll get a photo to show you.  The weights were only held in with a spring clip.  They often seem to disappear over the years.

[Dennis Markham]

Here is the photo of the lead weight that sits on the left side of the Princess.  It has a cut-out so that it will fit over the small square network.  This one is dated 3-60.

[carl]

I see..well,it appears that mine is missing,as is one of the receiver tabs,but it still works quite well,and looks clean,as I've spruced it
up a bit.I had no idea it was apparently collectable on its own,without the ringer,but I'll hold onto it a while,and again,thanks for the
update and info.Carl Ny

[bingster]

Carl, if you do go looking for a ringer for your Princess, the E1B ringer that Bill mentioned looks like this:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1162.0

[carl]

Wow! It's quite a sight.No,I think I'll just let it stay the way it is,having no idea where I would place it where my wife wouldn't object,which is anywhere!!

[Dennis Markham]

Carl, that's a real nice dial card in there.  One doesn't often see that old of a card in a Princess phone.  do you suppose it's original to the phone?  It looks very nice.

[carl]

Dennis,you're referring to the actual dialer,I believe.I am sure that this is
the original,since when I bought the phone,it was covered in years of dirt and
neglect,which I promptly eliminated,not so much that it bothered me,but more out of fear that my wife would see me bringing it into the house!

[Dennis Markham]

Carl, I was referring to the number card in the center of the finger wheel.  It's an older style.  Nice.

[jsowers]

Carl, also notice that the 701B has  "mouse hole" for the handset cord where it enters the phone.  The later 702B does not.  The 701B should have a weight that fits inside the base where the bells fit later.  I'll get a photo to show you.  The weights were only held in with a spring clip.  They often seem to disappear over the years.

Dennis, I don't think the weights disappear as much as they weren't retrofitted. I think the original 701s came without a weight and long about 1962 or so, that was added to production 701s, which were produced until 1963. Some were retrofitted and some weren't. I've seen them with a cardboard spacer underneath the weight too. Look at the stamped numbers on top of your lead weight. It looks like R-15E-79, but a wire is in the way and that could be a "P" and not an "R."  Your weight could have been added in 1979. Those weights were the result of complaints that the phone pulled off the beside table too easily, or so I have read.

Normally the E1B ringers for the 701s were mounted on the baseboard. I remember crawling under my aunt and uncle's bed to see theirs, when I was a kid and wanted to know how that light lit.

And I agree, that EDgewood card is nice and not often seen on Princesses. By that time many phone companies were using all numbers on their cards.