The Western Electric Princess. This phone made its big debut in 1962 at the World's Fair in Seattle with the slogan "Its little, its lovely, it lights". Before shopping, please read a few brief notes about the Princess, it may save you from buying something you don't want.

Princess Model Numbers

There are three distinct models of the Princess phone. Before investing in one, you should be aware of the differences. When looking through the selection here, I have the three major model numbers divided up so there will be no confusion as to what you are getting.

1. 701 - This is the first of the Princess phones and these date around 1959 to 1962. They hadn't developed a small enough ringer to fit in this phone at this point, so a separate ringer is needed for this phone. These may lack a ringer, but collectibility wise, some say they are better to have. In the end it's all a matter of preference.

2. 702 - This replaced the 701. The only real difference is that this phone now has a ringer in it. They also changed the design of the light bulb. The light bulb in the 701 was a screw in type. The light bulb in the 702 is a push in type. Both run off the same transformer.

3. 2702 - This is the TouchTone version of the Princess.

Lighting up your Princess

The power needed for the light in the Princess phone was too much for the phone system to handle, so a transformer was added to the household wiring to power the light. This was back in the days when houses had an extra pair of wires to do this with. Today, this is not so easy with DSL, security systems, multiple phone lines, etc. To add a transformer to light these phones now takes special care. I do have kits available for this  if you are interested for $24 extra.

A transformer is not required for the phone to work, only for the dial to light. The light is not all that great either, it makes the dial just visible enough in the dark to find it.

All the princess phones for sale here have been completely restored, have a modular plug, and it looks and works like new. All you need to do is plug it in and use it. For more information on the restoration process, Click here.