The Western Electric Princess was designed as a bedroom phone in 1959, but was so popular due to its novel design that it had a long production life and was made in many versions and colours, even black. It was originally promoted with the phrase “It’s little, it’s lovely, it lights”. The dial illuminated when the handset was lifted. The early 701B had no internal ringer and required a lead weight to prevent it slipping around when dialling. Definitely a design classic, it came from Henry Dreyfuss Associates, who had earlier designed the 500 type.
700 Type Telephone