My Vintage Radio Collection

[Frankie Lamb]

Whoops, wrong picture!!

Here's the

picture I was trying for.

 

[vitanola]

Here are a couple of my sets:

A Crosley 52 (1923)

A 1925 Silvertone Neutrodyne

1931 Crosley Midget

1949 Silvertone

1924 Atwater Kent Model 20

1929 Philco Model 96

1924 Crosley Tridyn with Mozart Concert Grand horn

1924 Atwater Kent Model 10C

1931 Majestic model 51

1931 RCA Radiolette

 

[vitanola]

1925 Day-Fan with Orchestrion horn

1925 Grebe MU-2 "Synchrophase"

1925 Samson Superhetrodyne

1935 Zenith 6V27 "Farm" set (6 volt set, operated from a wind-charged storage battery).

1935 Grunow

1936 RCA 6-T

1928 Atwater Kent model 44 with model E2 speaker

1928 Brunswick 5KR with Sonochorde cone speaker

1927 Atwater Kent model 37 with model E speaker.

1926 Atwater Kent model 35 in Red Lion desk

 

[vitanola]

1929 Majestic 90B

1926 Steinite

1929 Majestic model 91

1928 Atwater Kent model 44 in Stout-Smith desk

1929 Victor R-52

1928 RCA Radiola 18

1928 Eveready

1928 RCA Radiola 60

1926 Atwater Kent model 33

 

[RetroToday]

Here's the picture I was trying for.

That is one beautiful Zenith! I have to get me one of those one day!
Looks even better with the Maltese Falcon on top.

 

[airgrabber666]

I think you mean "My Man Gatsby".

Actually, I think I mean "My Man Godfrey"...lol! At least I'm not alone!

 

[RetroToday]

1949 Addison radio, model 55

I recently found and purchased this cool old plastic radio at a sale (Early February, 2010).

Didn't try it out to see if it works.
As you may already know, it's actually better that way - replace the capacitors first and you don't burn out anything expensive.

Addison Industries was centered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company originated from the Addison car dealership chain.
The business was very successful throughout the 1930s and 40s and merged to become Addison-Norge, a company that cranked out several types of household appliances.

 

[jeep44]

My Aunt worked for many years at Motorola in Chicago. She had a collection of various Motorola radios in her house,and when she passed away recently, this little bakelite beauty was offered to me. The cord is bad, so I have no idea if it works or not, but it certainly has style,doesn't it?

 

[feltfan]

Sigh... the envy I feel. What an incredible bunch of radios JUST ON
THIS PAGE. wow.

This thread is sheer torture.

 

[Miztorif]

Sparton 1068-1937

Ok so now I have experts to ask (Thanks for all of the info earlier today Forgotton Man)
I picked this radio up at a thrift Store in Redmond, Oregon almost a month ago for 75.00. Its original everything. Its missing 2 knobs and the dial glass.
The cabinet has some chipping and it was very dry. I used a mahogany shade of Howards finish restorer (a wipe on product) and as of now am resisting the urge to get it redone. I found a guy in Portland who sells parts and hopefully soon will find someone to replace the capacitors and cord- Im afraid to plug it in which from what Ive read here is probably a good thing. My question is someone mentioned adding a transmitter so they can plug in their mp3- pardon me for going girlie but What was that thingie called & how do you install it? Untill I read the threads today and realized what I have I was thinking about converting (gutting) it- But Im not going to now.

This is what the radio looks like now

....& This was taken at the store sandwiched between a couple of mattresses.

You all have such beautiful radios, Im hoping to get an old clock radio for my bedroom and a bakelite for the kitchen. Id also love to find one of those bar radios that sit next to a chair and open up....and a phonograph too.
There are 4 consoles for sale on Bend Oregon CL- I believe one is a Philco with a record player for 100 to125- for those interested.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ok so now I have experts to ask (Thanks for all of the info earlier today Forgotton Man)
I picked this radio up at a thrift Store in Redmond, Oregon almost a month ago for 75.00. Its original everything. Its missing 2 knobs and the dial glass.
The cabinet has some chipping and it was very dry. I used a mahogany shade of Howards finish restorer (a wipe on product) and as of now am resisting the urge to get it redone. I found a guy in Portland who sells parts and hopefully soon will find someone to replace the capacitors and cord- Im afraid to plug it in which from what Ive read here is probably a good thing. My question is someone mentioned adding a transmitter so they can plug in their mp3- pardon me for going girlie but What was that thingie called & how do you install it? Untill I read the threads today and realized what I have I was thinking about converting (gutting) it- But Im not going to now.

Definitely don't gut it -- that's a very high quality radio, from the peak era of radio quality.

The transmitter device is called the SSTran AMT3000 -- it's a miniature AM radio station. You plug your sound device into the input jacks on the transmitter -- it can be a computer, an ipod, a tape deck, whatever you want to use -- and then simply tune in the transmitter signal on the radio. Good thread about it here.

Good luck!

 

[Atomic]

Just picked up this little guy today. Turns on but the volume knob isn't working and its having a hard time getting signal. I might tear into it soon and see if I can fix it. Not sure though, I've not taken a radio apart before. I love the number style (font?) they used for the face. Its great!

1951 Philco Transitone Clock Radio

 

[Forgotten Man]

Just so ya guys know, I'm selling the '38 Silvertone... check out Classifieds.

 

[jeep44]

My Aunt worked for many years at Motorola in Chicago. She had a collection of various Motorola radios in her house,and when she passed away recently, this little bakelite beauty was offered to me. The cord is bad, so I have no idea if it works or not, but it certainly has style,doesn't it?

I replaced the cord today, and despite the dire warnings about paper capacitors and such, plugged it in. After a brief warm up period, the radio started playing Artie Shaw's "Begin the Beguine" loud and clear ! This was somewhat spooky,as I had not touched the tuner,other than turning it a bit as I was cleaning the radio up. This little radio has a deep,rich sound to it. I found an auction tag inside-apparently my Aunt had paid $15 for it back in '94.

 

[jeep44]

Here's another Motorola radio that belonged to my Aunt-I almost forgot I had it,as I covered it up with a plastic bag,and set it on a shelf. Anyway, I got it out,and polished it up today. I'm not really a fan of '50s Style,I guess because it was all around me growing up,but it is still a very nice-sounding radio.

 

[jessesgirl08]

question about radio

this weekend i purchased an RCA VICTOR dual amplifier stereo orthophonic Hi Fidelity - thats all the info i have on it i cannot locate the model # anywhere (maybe im looking in the wrong place?) it is about 3-4 feet wide and about 3 feet tall (it is a console radio) it has two doors on the front, one pulls out like a drawer and holds the record player in it and the other opens more like a door and contains the radio. i cannot really find much online can anyone help? i would love to post a pic but camera is on the fritz. thanks for any info you may have. oh and by the way i got it for only $10 at an estate sale! it turns on but needs some repairs to get a clear sound to come out but the light work and it is beautiful just for looks even.

 

[dhermann1]

We really need pics to know anything about it. You might find the model number on the back of the chassis. To get at that you might have to take the back off. If it has tubes you should definitely have it repaired, i.e. have the capacitors replaced, before using it. But if it's stereo, it's probably transistor, in which case it would be safe to play.
Pics!
Some of those early models had very nice "Eames Era" - "Mid Century Modern" consoles.

 

[Flivver]

The term "Orthophonic High Fidelity" was used by RCA from 1956 into the early 1960s. Given that your unit is stereo, it would probably date from 1958-1962 or so. As such, it could be either tube or transistor, but likely tube (unless it carries the designation "solid state" wnich designated transistors).

 

[Texas Raider]

I got a Philco 46-1226 like the one pictured (not mine, but mine is as nice) at an auction today. It cost $55, and the best thing of all is IT WORKS! :eusa_clap I need to take a photo of mine and post it.

Never saw the picture of your Philco, did you post it? Love that model!

 

[decojoe67]

A few select favorites of my collection:
A 1930 Gloritone 27 (One the earliest cathedral radios)

1933 Stewart Warner R127A "Prado"

1936 Zenith 5-S-29

1938 RCA 811K console:

A 1939 Zenith 9-S-367: