By 1961, the telephone had become an important part of the home, with well over half of American households having at least one of them. While consumers may have raved about the technological capabilities of the phone, they were likely a bit less enthused about its appearance. Older phones were bulky squarish tabletop and wall-mounted units in a very limited choice of colors - mostly black - and had a decidedly stodgy, utilitarian look that didn't exactly jibe with the color-coordinated and stylish trends of mid-century decor.
The Princess phone, first introduced in 1959, was one of the earliest attempts to give the telephone a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The units were more rounded and compact than traditional tabletop phones, and came in a variety of colors in order to coordinate with some of the most commonly used decorator colors of the day. They also had a light in the dial which activated when the receiver was lifted, so that a user would be able to dial a number in the dark without turning on a lamp. Although touch-tone versions would become available just two years after this advertisement was published, these earlier Princess phones had only the rotary-dial option.
The image of a typical teenage girl, chatting on the pink Princess phone in her bedroom, was iconic in various forms of pop culture media throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Princess phones continued to be popular for quite a few years. Although no longer made, used models have become a collectors item for those seeking to recreate the mid-century look, and perhaps to help evoke memories of a more simple era.
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