Princesses in Color!

[paul-f]

Speaking of ivory, I've seen experimental Princesses in ivory that look to be Tenite. I don't know for sure if it was a Field Trial model or not. I think Paul Fassbender has one. Years ago he and I were the only ones who recognized what it was and he won the auction. No hard feelings, Paul! It's the second Princess listed.

http://www.paul-f.com/weproto.html#PrincessProto

Jonathan,

Unfortunately, I did not win that set either.  I wonder who did.  My ivory set is number 1308, not 1409.

The field trial bedroom sets were soft plastic.

I believe I have cracked the code on the ivory sets.  In 2013 there was an auction of items from the Cleveland Telephone Pioneers museum.  It included several bedroom sets, including a few in ivory.  Several of us got together shortly after the auction and compared notes on our sets.  I posted a group photo here:

   http://www.paul-f.com/webr.html#Colors

It appears that ivory was added to the color lineup after the instruction sheet was printed in March.

[paul-f]

I have been in fact thinking that it was the development of the Princess model that prompted Western Electric to use ABS for all colored telephone sets starting in 1959. The thickness of the plastic for the housing of the Princess is distinctly smaller. This would probably have prompted WECo to look for new materials with higher impact resistance than Tenite has.  ABS plastics fulfill that need, and rather than maintain inventory and processes for two types of plastic, they opted to change the plastic on all the color housings for the 500-type sets as well.  This explains also why the black 500-sets still used Tenite until ca. 1964. Note that black was not an option for Princesses until 1963 and they supposedly had not even planned on manufacturing Princesses in black. Therefore, they did not need to maintain two types of plastic in black.

There were probably lots of reasons that contributed to the switch to ABS.

Another claim was that pre-ABS plastics stained permanently.  ABS is easier to clean.

See:  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14203.0

[jsowers]

Paul, thanks for clearing things up about ivory and the type of plastic. I guess #1409 came along later. Tenite did stain easily, especially dark beige. You can see it in the handsets of surviving 500 sets.

[unbeldi]

I have been in fact thinking that it was the development of the Princess model that prompted Western Electric to use ABS for all colored telephone sets starting in 1959. The thickness of the plastic for the housing of the Princess is distinctly smaller. This would probably have prompted WECo to look for new materials with higher impact resistance than Tenite has.  ABS plastics fulfill that need, and rather than maintain inventory and processes for two types of plastic, they opted to change the plastic on all the color housings for the 500-type sets as well.  This explains also why the black 500-sets still used Tenite until ca. 1964. Note that black was not an option for Princesses until 1963 and they supposedly had not even planned on manufacturing Princesses in black. Therefore, they did not need to maintain two types of plastic in black.

There were probably lots of reasons that contributed to the switch to ABS.

Another claim was that pre-ABS plastics stained permanently.  ABS is easier to clean.

See:  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14203.0

Thanks for the link and that article.

The claim is made that ABS does not contain plasticizers and therefore does not stain permanently.

However, the fact is that plasticizers are used in ABS plastics just the same as in virtually any other polymer, and I cannot imagine this was any different in 1965.

[compubit]

I'm closing in on the known colors - picked up a Peach Princess on eBay.

So far I'm at 17-1/2 colors:
Black
White
Light Gray
Beige
Ivory
Cherry Red
Pastel Yellow
Moss Green
Seafoam Green (ITT)
Turquoise
Aqua Blue
Teal Blue
Pink
Peach
Cameo Green (base only, so 1/2 credit)
Cranberry (painted)
Slate Gray
Imperial Gold

Still missing: Chocolate Brown, the other half of Cameo Green (handset/cord), and Transparent...

Jim

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I'm closing in on the known colors - picked up a Peach Princess on eBay.

So far I'm at 17-1/2 colors:
Black
White
Light Gray
Beige
Ivory
Cherry Red
Pastel Yellow
Moss Green
Seafoam Green (ITT)
Turquoise
Aqua Blue
Teal Blue
Pink
Peach
Cameo Green (base only, so 1/2 credit)
Cranberry (painted)
Slate Gray
Imperial Gold

Still missing: Chocolate Brown, the other half of Cameo Green (handset/cord), and Transparent...

Jim

How do you know it's Peach for sure? It looks like it could be discolored Light Beige to me, but you're the expert, so I'll take your word for it...

[jsowers]

Look inside the handset, behind the receiver capsule, and that should tell you the original color. It looks Peach to me on the outside, and a very even color too.

I think there were black and white Imperial Princesses if you want one more variation to collect. A gold flashed base with either a black or white handset and cords. There were also all-gold painted Princesses that were often given out as awards to employees, but I don't think they were ever available to the public.

Good luck finding that Cameo Green handset and cord.

[poplar1]

What is the date on the refurb sticker, if any, on the bottom? Peach, slate blue and cameo green are about 1990-1994 only. No beige reported that late.  May be something like "2702BMG 91AT04".

[Jim Stettler]

I'm closing in on the known colors - picked up a Peach Princess on eBay.

So far I'm at 17-1/2 colors:
Black
White
Light Gray
Beige
Ivory
Cherry Red
Pastel Yellow
Moss Green
Seafoam Green (ITT)
Turquoise
Aqua Blue
Teal Blue
Pink
Peach
Cameo Green (base only, so 1/2 credit)
Cranberry (painted)
Slate Gray
Imperial Gold

Still missing: Chocolate Brown, the other half of Cameo Green (handset/cord), and Transparent...

Jim

Are the known colors, colored plastic  or are some painted.
Just curious. I have a painted brown princess somewhere.
Jim

[Dave F]

Here's a 702B in mirror-gold:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=f5053a4bf51e4bdaa18ec9438e375db8&topic=12115.msg128262#msg128262

DF

[compubit]

What is the date on the refurb sticker, if any, on the bottom? Peach, slate blue and cameo green are about 1990-1994 only. No beige reported that late.  May be something like "2702BMG 91AT04".

Now that I'm back in town, I've had a chance to look at it further.

There is no refurb date sticker on the bottom, but there is some sticker residue.  The original build date was 77167 (which ties to the Touch Tone pad). Polarity Guard is dated 7-83.

The handset is marked AT&T and is solid color both inside (down through the center channel) and outside (as are the transmitter and receiver caps). The cord is peach, and the base cover is solid also and does not have the metal screw inserts, but has just a plastic channel for the screws to "self-tap".

I call it Peach!

Jim

[compubit]

June 2016 Update: I have collected all of the best known official colors. Just picked up a brown (painted) at the Lancaster show yesterday. Here's a picture of all of the colors I have (including an ITT Seafoam Green Cinderella and a painted Burgundy). I also have a "silver-tinted" Imperial with a Black handset (currently MIA as I am rearranging my house...)

Top to Bottom, left to right:
             Gold Imperial
Turquoise - Moss Green - Teal Blue
Cameo Green - Aqua Blue - Slate Blue
Seafoam Green - Peach - Burgundy
Pastel Yellow - Rose Pink - Cherry Red
Ivory - Light Beige - Chocolate Brown
White - Light Gray - Black

Jim