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Kidphones luck rubbed off on me.

Started by McHeath, February 08, 2010, 12:32:33 AM

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McHeath

So we were out at one of of favorite junk stores on Saturday.  It's in an old warehouse in downtown, and caters to the mid-century modern/retro crowd, so almost all their stuff is from the late 40's to the late 70's. 

They never have any phones of interest, they have the same beat beige modular 500 and beat 2500 that they've had for literally years.  So I was expecting nothing phone wise.

They just unpacked a box, I watched the help putting it's contents on the shelves, and two rotary phones came out.  One was a nice aqua 500, made in 63' decent shape and never refurbed, he wanted 20 dollars for it but I passed.

The other was rather shocking, a black hardwired rotary Princess.  Couldn't believe my eyes, I asked the gal for the price and she called the owner, it had no tag on it, and he wanted $15.  And, to add to the sweetness they were having a sale and she let me have it for an even $10.

It's dated 1971, and seems to have been refurbed in 74' when the handset cord and handset were replaced.  The shell is dated 1970, and the rest is 71'.  The handset is an oddity as the receiver cap is dated, drumroll please, 1956! 

I've cleaned it up, all the plastics needed was a good polish and wax.  The handset cord was a real mess and I did the oven bake on it, it's reasonable now and certainly has good color.  The dial card seems to be original, it's the old area code for here that was changed back in the mid 90's. 

Never dreamed that I'd ever own such a rare bird, and at a price that amazed.


Craig T

What a great find and an excellent price too!  :o

Good eye McHeath   :)

The phone looks to be in excellent condition also,  a great all around buy on that one.

AET

Great find and they're even more fun when you can squeeze the crap outta the buffalo nickel in the process!!!

I'm kind of curious why black never took off for the princess phones.  They sure look nice in it!
- Tom

Jim Stettler

Quote from: AtomicEraTom on February 08, 2010, 01:28:27 AM
Great find and they're even more fun when you can squeeze the crap outta the buffalo nickel in the process!!!

I'm kind of curious why black never took off for the princess phones.  They sure look nice in it!

Color was an option on 500 sets with an additional charge..
When they produced the princess, 2500, and trimline. you had to pay an additional charge for these sets, but you could get your choice of color for the phone. Most folks wanted to get away from "boring" black.

The story regarding black princess phones is that they didn't make the princess in black until Jackie Kennedy requested one. I believe the story is documented. I have never searched for documentation.

Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

bwanna

way to be in the right place, at the right time, heath :) i love it when that happens!
donna

Dennis Markham

Great buy McHeath.  Try finding a nice black Princess like that one on eBay for $10---not going to happen.  No frog for you that day!

Doug Rose

McHeath...glad my luck could be of assistance...Doug
Kidphone

McHeath

Thanks all, it was simply a matter of being in the right place and the right time.  That phone literally came out of a box, went on the shelf for maybe 2 minutes, and was then in my hands.  I did at least know that a black Princess of any sort is rare, thanks to this forum. 

I found a web site that has loads of pics of the White House rooms over the decades, and did find some black Princess phones in several of the rooms.  At least one rotary and one touch tone, could not tell on the other, and the rotary survived until at least 2001.  After that they vanish, guessing they got tossed in some sort of general phone system upgrade.  Wonder where they went?  The Kennedy bedroom had a white Princess on each side of the bed, as was mentioned on this forum a while back, and they seem to have survived into the late 70's at least.  I did not realize that pretty much every president sees fit to redo the decor in the White House, the rooms change constantly. 

Dan

I love a black princess. A hardwired one is even more rare!!! Beautiful find!!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dan/Panther

The "Princess" for some reason doesn't fit in Black, even though I personally love it. Maybe some Distaff comments, do you Gals like the Black Princess, my guess the consensus will be, "not my first choice." Gals I think Want the Blue, Pink, and then White.
Dan

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Dan/Panther on February 08, 2010, 08:36:33 PM
The "Princess" for some reason doesn't fit in Black, even though I personally love it. Maybe some Distaff comments, do you Gals like the Black Princess, my guess the consensus will be, "not my first choice." Gals I think Want the Blue, Pink, and then White.
Dan

I have always liked the black princess. I also have an AT&T in Oxford gray. It is quite sharp. 

Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

McHeath

My esposita likes the black, a lot more than the moss green, yellow and ivory Princess phones I also have.  We replaced the ivory one in our bedroom with the black one, and to our eyes it certainly looks great.