Princess telephone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Princess telephone was introduced by AT&T in 1959. It was a compact telephone designed for convenient use in the bedroom, and contained a light-up dial for use as a night-light. It was commonly known with the slogan "It's little...It's lovely...It lights". Its dial was in the base of the telephone.
The Princess was unique in two aspects: it required an external electric transformer to power the light-up dial, and when the telephone began production, Western Electric did not have a ringer small enough to fit inside the case; an external ringer was required.
Early versions of the Princess were known as 701 series phones. These required the external ringer. Customers complained that the phone was so light that it would slide off surfaces while dialing, so a lead weight was added resulting in the 701B.
Later models which included a P-type ringer were known as 702 and 702B. A ten button Touch Tone version was known as the 1702, while the standard twelve button arrangedment was known as the 2702.
The telephone was produced at the Western Electric Shreveport Works plant, also the location of 500/2500 series telephone production. The Trimline telephone is often confused with the Princess, due to the fact that the Trimline dial lights up, even though the dial on the Trimline is in the handset.
The Princess underwent several changes in its production run:
- In 1963, the Bell System introduced TouchTone dialing, and Western Electric began production of a touch-tone model, with 10 numerical keys (lacking today's * and # keys). The internal network of the Princess was reduced in size the same year, allowing a small, quiet bell ringer to be placed to the left of the touch-tone dial.
- In the late 1970s, AT&T introduced "modular" telephone plugs, with the RJ11 standard home telephone jack. Most customers who had Princess telephones were converted to modular dial.
- In 1983, AT&T was preparing itself for divestiture of the Bell System. It started American Bell, a separate sales subsidiary of Western Electric and the Bell Operating Companies. AT&T introduces a non-light up dial with white keys to be sold in Phone Center Stores. AT&T continues to produce light-up dial Princess telephones for lease customers.
- In 1993, the Princess is heavily redesigned. Although it retains the same handset & oval shape it has had since its introduction, a new dial is introduced. The dial still requires an external transformer for night-light use; a handset volume control is added to the dial pad; phone number "card" is moved from below the dialpad to the location of the rest for the microphone. The model is called the "Signature Princess", and is freely available for lease; only available for purchase at AT&T Phone Centers, which closed in 1996.
In 1994, AT&T ended production of the Princess telephone. It continues to lease the Signature Princess model. Due to its removal from production, and its attractive design, the Princess has become an extremely collectible phone. Princess telephones in pink, turquoise, and black are among the rarest colors of the phones and most valuable.
| Western Electric telephone models |
|---|
| Basic models: Magneto | Candlestick | 102 | 202 | 302 | 500 Special models: 5302 | Trimline | Princess | Design Line |
| See also: Bell System | GTE | Stromberg Carlson | ITT | Henry Dreyfuss |
