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Western Electric "Princess" Phone

National Museum of American History

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Object Details

Western Electric
Description
Western Electric manufactured the pink “Princess” telephone beginning in 1959. The original Princess phone was model 701 that needed an external ringer; this phone is model 702B that was manufactured in September of 1969 with the ringer moved inside the base. Henry Dreyfuss, already popular for his design of the Western Electric 302 tabletop phone, designed the Princess telephone. As telephones became mainstream instruments of teen communication, phone manufacturers began designing specifically for the growing teenage market. Available in white, beige, pink, blue, and turquoise the Princess was designed to be a bedside phone for teenagers—specifically teenage girls. To facilitate bedside use, the phone took up only a third of the space of the standard desk phone, while containing a night light under the dial. These features were brought to the fore with the advertising slogan “It’s little, it’s lovely, it lights.”
Credit Line
from Kathleen G. Franz
1969-09
ID Number
2015.0136.01
accession number
2015.0136
catalog number
2015.0136.01
model number
702B
Object Name
desk telephone
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
metal (overall material)
glass (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 4 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 11.43 cm x 21.59 cm x 8.89 cm
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Work and Industry: Electricity
Communications
American Enterprise
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_1694826
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-0921-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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