LAMP INSTALLATION IN A 711B
The lamp circuit makes use
of the black and yellow conductors in standard station wire. Its powered by a small
transformer that plugs into an outlet. The lamp itself is a small screw bulb that could be
replace by the customer - yes you heard me right, the customer was actually able to make a
repair. Access to the bulb was made by turning and removing the socket from the
bottom of the phone. The slot in the lamp base was curved to best fit a coin so that no
real tools would be required. A
switch in the circuit at the rear of the phone let the
customer turn off the night light.
Webmaster's
Note: Later models of the Western Electric Princess phone did
not use a screw type base but rather a wedge type base. See
my
photo of the new socket and lamp style.
|
GAS TUBE INDICATED BY ARROW ON RIGHT
In night light mode current
passes through a dropping resistor to dim the bulb. Contacts in the hookswitch bypass the
resistor to provide full illumination for dialing when the handset was picked up. |
The 2012A transformer originally powered the lamp. It had
solid plug blades that caused problems because it tended to fall out of wall outlets. The
correct part number for the 2012A replacement is the 2012C. Both the A and C versions put
out 6-8V AC. (There was also a 2012D which put out 15-18V and replaced the 2012B.) The
photos in the BSP (Section 501-136-100, ISS 7) show the 2012A and B with solid prongs and
the C & D versions with folded prongs.
[Webmaster's
note: At the suggestion of one of our website visitors, here is some info on where
you might be able to purchase these transformers made by AT&T as part of a kit which
also includes the modular adapter and line cord. Click
HERE for a view of the
instruction sheet and HERE for a view
of the transformer label. The kits may be obtained from
Dennis Owens of Vintage Telephone Restoration.
His phone number is 1-609-886-3352 (USA).] |
To combat this a 2A clamp was designed and implemented to hold it firmly in place. Later
the 2012C transformer fixed the problem. It had folded prong blades the held tighter and
didn't require the clamp. In the eighties a modular solution was developed. The
transformer had a cord with a modular plug. This was plugged into a Y adapter designed
specifically for this task. The 218 adapter turns up in modular schematics. |
Inside the 701
|
INSERTING THE WEIGHT
While they may not have
gotten a ringer into the 701 Princesses they did manage to squeeze in a bunch of
stuff. The weight mentioned earlier (P15E719) came with a cardboard insulator to
protect the terminal strip and a spring clip to hold it in place. These were installed at
the factory and also retrofitted in the field. In some instances party line identification
involved a scheme that wired the ringer from tip to ground instead of across tip and ring.
It was known as "Tip Party Identification". But without a ringer something had
to be done. To solve this problem an induction coil with resistances equivalent to a
ringer coil had to be added to the phone. The 1610 Inductor used a wedge to hold it in
place and took the spot reserved for the weight. A 1635 inductor was later used. It had a
mounting bracket and fit into the middle of the phone so that the weight could be
used. You might even get lucky and find a gas tube inside. This was used for a
polarity ringing scheme on party lines.
1610A INDUCTOR
|
Ringers
 |
The original 701 princess
required a wall mounted ringer, the 702 ushered in a
M1A ringer that just fit into the
small space. |
Colors Choices
The original 701 princess was introduced in White, Light Beige, Aqua Blue, Turquoise, and
the all time favorite Pink. Later the more common colors of Ivory, Moss Green, Red Yellow,
Black and Light Grey were made.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Gold and
Clear sets could be special ordered. In the mid 1980s, Teal Blue sets were made for a
short while.
In the 1990s sets were refurbished in Slate Blue, Peach and Cameo Green. The Signature
Princesses were available in Pink, Light Blue White, Ivory and Peach.
Part Numbering
Its important to note that the 701 didn't have the vent slots that the 702 did - its a
quick way to spot one.
701B Original set without a ringer
(see stripped base and
bottom
of one I have)
701D The D was for message waiting lamp
702BM The 2 designates an internal ringer,
the M is for modular
1702B Ten button Touch-Tone
2702B 12 button touch-Tone
711B - Slide switch /push button, two line
with exclusion
712B - Turn Key, 2 line with hold (and
several other combinations)
713B - 2 line with Exclusion or hold
CS2702BM - Touch-Tone, no illumination
2703BMG - Signature Princess
702D WITH MESSAGE WAITING LAMP
Toys
Probably the most loved phone by any little girl the pink princess was often copied as
toys I had to show one:
A big thanks to the listserve members who helped me!
The First
Touch-Tone Princess had only 10 buttons
The first touch-tone Western
Electric phones, including the Princess, had only
ten buttons (there were no keys for the # or * symbol). Here are some
scans of a pamphlet of a ten-button Princess (model 1702) submitted to this web
site by Paul Rush (page 4 shows other 10-button Western Electric models):
Inside view of a traditional
Touch-Tone model Princess telephone.
Click on image above to
enlarge
Event: Seattle
World's Fair
Year: 1962
The Princess phone had only been
available for a few years at the time of the fair. A non-working,
smaller-than-real-life model of the phone was a souvenir from this event.
They were about 10cm (4 inches) long. A real Princess is about 21.5cm (8.5
inches) long. One of these was just sold on eBay in mint condition!
Here are the photos from that auction:
Now another historical
look at the development of the Princess phone based on my research prior to the article
above:
In 1955,
Western Electric began work on the Princess telephone. Prior to the Princess telephone,
clunky desk telephones prevailed. The Princess was designed to be a “bedroom
telephone.” It was smaller and sleeker than what was known as the “500 set” and was lighter in weight. It
had a rotary dial and no internal bell when it was first introduced to the Bell System
customers. It's name was chosen from a list of 300 suggested names. The name
"Princess" was chosen for this model for its small size and decorative oval
shape.
Industrial designer
Henry Dreyfuss, who had assisted Bell
since the early 1930's, was asked by the Bell System to design the Princess, partly due to
his very popular design of the "500"
desk set which was the "basic" phone for many decades. He worked with Bell Labs
engineers and Western Electric's Indianapolis Model Shop to create a model that was
lighter and smaller--designed for use on night tables--than the standard model. The
Princess had an illuminated dial, and came in five colors. The Princess was test marketed
in Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
In 1956, he had prototyped models of the
Princess which were shown to telephone subscribers in Richmond and Cleveland for their
reactions to this new style. When Western completed design of the Princess, it operated
two field trials, one of which was in Pennsylvania. Customer comments were highly
critical. Western Electric had designed the small, oval-shaped base with all the internal
equipment on the left side. According to Western, the right side was empty so new
equipment that would make the Princess more versatile could be added at a later date. The
uneven distribution of weight caused the set to move around the table as a subscriber
tried to dial. The subscriber needed one hand to hold the base in place and the other to
dial, while squeezing the handset between neck and shoulder.
Bell Labs chose to disregard the complaints
and gave Western Electric the green light to manufacture the Princess sets as designed.
Tens of thousands of sets went out to subscribers, and the result was thousands of
disgruntled customers and thousands of calls to individual operating company repair
service facilities.
Northern
Electric Company (the Canadian equivalent of the United States' Western Electric),
which was producing a similar but better designed set, ran full-page ads reminding
subscribers that Western Electric's Princess was a two-piece set for three-handed people!
However, a rather interesting point on Northern's version of the princess: Early on in the
production run they used a glue for the base pad that lost its adhesion when it had a
couple months to cure on the shelf. As a result, the base pads fell off of the phones when
they were removed from their boxes. These were commonly referred to as the "barefoot
contessa".
Finally, because of sheer customer pressure,
Western produced a counterweight to be mounted on the right side of each set and thousands
of repairmen made scheduled visits to retrofit the tens of thousands of Princess sets
installed in the marketplace. Millions of dollars were expended because the infallible
Bell Laboratories rejected their own test results.
Even though the Western Electric Princess
phone was officially introduced in 1959, it wasn't until 1963 that Bell Labs designed a
ringer small enough to fit into the base of the Princess phone. Prior to 1963, the ringer
was external and mounted on the wall's baseboard.
The Princess phone requires a separate A.C.
line-powered transformer to power the light inside the phone. The
Trimline telephone required a wall
transformers at first. The round button Trimline touch-tone model and rotary model of the
same period used incandescent lamps powered by external transformers. When Western
Electric went to the square buttons on the Trimline, they changed over to line powered
LED's. Incandescent bulbs require too much power and too high a voltage drop to be powered
from the CO. LEDs overcame these problems but they weren't commercially available until
the mid seventies.
The
following was a News Release by AT&T which briefly touches on some history of the
Princess* telephone while introducing the "new" Princess* (original text found
at http://www.att.com/press/1193/931103.cpa.html
Steve O'Donnell
201-581-3904 (office)
201-228-6707 (home)
Mike Zeaman
201-581-3938 (office)
908-277-1105 (home)
FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1993
Classic AT&T Princess phone now available with new technology
(see original AT&T
web page)
PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- AT&T has redesigned
the Princess telephone, adding updated technology to the classic design introduced in 1959
and currently featured in a New York City museum exhibition.
The new Princess design retains the compact
oval shape, lighted dial and real bell ringer of the classic Princess phone, which
originally was described with the theme line "It's little, it's lovely, it
lights."
The most significant change to the original
design is the addition of a receiver-volume control, conveniently located on the front of
the set and designed to boost hard-to-hear higher frequencies as it increases volume,
according to Gerry Yorkshire, product manager for the Princess phone.
The new design also includes a ringer-volume
control, selectable touch-tone/dial-pulse dialing, and a raised center "locator
bar" on the dial pad for easy dialing. With the addition of an optional transformer,
this new model's dial will stay lit continuously, for use as a night light.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Museum of Design of
the Smithsonian Institution in New York City, features the original Princess phone in its
current exhibition [editor's note: August 17, 1993 - January 2, 1994], Mechanical Brides:
Women and Machines from Home to Office. The exhibit examines mechanical objects designed
for use by women in 20th century America, including the telephone, typewriter, washing
machine and iron.
Calling most phones "neutral, anonymous
objects until the 1950s, when the domestic phone was reconceived as an alluring commodity
made to appeal to women," exhibit materials describe the Princess phone as
"feminine by name and feminine by design."
The new Princess phone will be available
through AT&T's Consumer Lease Services program.
"The redesigned Princess phone is one of
AT&T's new Signature series, developed specifically for the lease customer," said
Yorkshire. "Signature phones incorporate the best features of some of AT&T's
classic telephones that make these older phones popular even today), as well as many newer
features customers have come to expect, such as memory dialing, hold and last-number
redial."
Speaking about the Signature line in general,
Laura Antonucci, manager for the Signature series, said, "We developed this new line
specifically to give our customers some attractive new products with added features,
without increasing the lease rate. That means better value for our customers."
Customers who lease the Signature Princess
phone will enjoy all the benefits of AT&T's lease program, including free, immediate
replacement of products for any reason; the convenience of dealing with more than 1,000
AT&T Phone Centers and authorized Services Agencies across the country; the
flexibility of having products delivered to their homes, free of shipping or handling
charges; and the support of a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, toll-free assistance number. The new
Princess phone will be available in white, ivory, rose pink, peach and aqua.
Customers can call 1-800-555-8111 for the
location of the nearest AT&T Phone Center or AT&T-authorized Service Agency, or
for more information about leasing the Princess phone.
*Princess is a registered trade mark of
AT&T.
Often imitated, never
duplicated
The "Princess" name is the
registered trademark of AT&T for this telephone model and the name has been
incorrectly used by the public to describe other styles of phones like the Trimline and
the Celebrity models, which were both produced by Western Electric for AT&T, and
Princess "clones" produced by competitors of AT&T. These competitor
models were:
"Cinderella", made by Kellogg,
originally. (ITT bought Kellogg, but the company is now known as Cortelco).
Looks very much like the Princess because ITT would pay Western Electric to
use Western Electric's designs.
Princess
phone in Disney's "Toy Story 2"
Note the Princess phone in the image above?
It's sitting to the right of the record player in front of the framed picture.
Little girl in
"Toy Story 2" animation grows up and gets her own telephone in her bedroom -
guess what it was?!! What was the most desired telephone by pre-teen and
teenage girls of the 1960's and 1970's? The pink Princess, of
course!
Movie star Angie Dickinson with Princess telephone.
Click on image to enlarge
Miscellaneous:
Before you proceed to the links below,
check out this excellent Princess chart from the book "100 Years of Bell
Telephones" by Richard Mountjoy. The chart contains vital information on dates,
colors, models and other information for the collector of
Princess phones. This chart DOES NOT, however, include the
2702 series of Princess phones which were the
touch-tone models.
Click
here to view the chart.
| Instruction
manual that came with the Princess phone. Click
here
for scan #1 and
here for scan #2. These scans of the Princess instruction manual are from Constantin Maragoudakis. |
Bell System Practices
document on the 2702 model Princess
(touch-tone dial model) in PDF format. Click
here
to download the file. This file is 1.75Mb so may take time to download.
Bell System Practices document on the
702 model Princess (rotary dial with
internal ringer) in PDF format. Click
here
to download the file. |
| Bell System Practices
schematic for the 701 model (rotary Princess with external bell) can be
viewed by clicking here. |
| Bell System Practices
assembly drawings on the Princess phone. Click here
to view. |
Here
is a Princess phone used in modern advertisement for NetByTel.com. Note
the last two sentences where it says, "Now all your customers need is
a phone. Any old phone." Click thumbnail image to view full
size:
 |
These scans are
from a 1960 Telephone Almanac (click on each image to enlarge):
  |
| Has your
touch-tone Princess developed an intermittant weak dial-tone when you pick
up the receiver? It may just need some contact cleaning on the
touch-tone pad. See
this photo. |
| Old
Bell System advertisements of the Princess phone:
Advertisement #1
Advertisement
#2
Advertisement
#3 - Courtesy of Becky Luxbacher -
Ebay ID: beccer
Advertisement #4
- Courtesy of Mark Yeager -
Ebay ID: mjy1 |
Keychain Princess phone
"charm" advertising give-away; an
original 1959 Bell System
Promo:
|
|
|
Real pink Princess phone
compared to keychain Princess
Click on image above to enlarge |
Real blue Princess phone
compared to keychain Princess
Click on image above to enlarge |
|
Pink keychain Princess "charm"
close-up
Click on image above to enlarge |
Blue keychain Princess "charm" close-up
Click on image above to enlarge |
|
Molded on the bottom of the keychain
Princess are the words:
"The Princess phone...It's Little. It's Lovely. It
Lights!"
Keychain Princess phone
"charms" shown above were sent to me by
logantradingco.com
"Your
Online Source for Astounding Collectibles, Antiques, Novelties, Auctions
and More!"
"The
Transmitter" Cover Story
on the PRINCESS* Telephone
(Click on image above for
full-size view)
This web page
contains some excerpts from the September/October 1960 issue of "The
Transmitter", published for the active and retired employees of The
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Companies of the Bell System.
The above scan is of the upper half of the inside
front cover and introduces the cover story found on pages 8 and 9 of this
magazine.
To maintain a higher quality image
of the two-page article so you can still read the words, you will have to scroll
your browser's horizontal and vertical positioning to view the entire
article. It will take some time to download if you have a regular dial-up
modem of 56K or slower. Some editing of the layout of the two pages was
done to make the image (and thus the file) more compact with no loss of information or photos. Basically
I edited out the wide white margins and other large white spaces. Please click
HERE
to view the scan of pages 8 and 9.
I also scanned the back cover of the
magazine and you can view it by clicking
HERE.
*Princess was a registered trade mark of AT&T.
Word Mark PRINCESS
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 009. US 021. G & S: TELEPHONE SETS. FIRST USE:
April 15, 1959. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: July 6, 1959
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM
Serial Number 72087107
Filing Date December 11, 1959
Registration Number 0702185
Registration Date August 2, 1960
Owner (REGISTRANT) AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY CORPORATION NEW YORK
195 BROADWAY NEW YORK NEW YORK
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL August 2, 1980
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date August 18, 2001
|
