The Vanishing Point: Atwater Kent

Monday, November 14, 2022

Part 2 Dad's Magnificent Radio Collection (a work in progress)

This is the elegant Deforest Crosley Grandfather Clock Radio from 1931. I believe all grandfather clocks chime when they are wound but it wouldn't turn on the radio at a preset time like modern clock radios. The cabinet beneath the clock face pulls down to reveal the radio controls. Click here to see details of the insides.

Clearly this collection is too large for a single blog post so I am breaking it down into manageable sections by cutting and pasting. Pictures will gradually disappear from the original post.

The video below features a gallery of Dad's radios with a gripping radio thriller from 1938: The Shadow in The Phantom Voice.

Imagine the family gathering around this Zenith Tombstone radio from 1936 to hear the thrilling adventures of The Shadow.

Or this Rogers Console wood lowboy. The year of manufacture is a mystery but these floor models were popular in the 1930s.

This Atwater Kent Cathedral radio from 1933 had police bands. Look at the lower center knob. It went from Police to Tone. Wealthy gangsters like Al Capone could listen in at their hide-outs to find out if the cops were on their trail.

Rogers Majestic kitchen radio from 1950, broadcasting Joe Friday's adventures.

Another Northern Electric Baby Champ. The year is unknown but the style says late 50s or early 60s.

Rogers Majestic 1949

Here's a nice wooden RCA model from 1949

I asked Dad if the house was on fire, Mom was already safe and he had just enough time to rescue one radio, which would he save, he chose the matching pair of Crossley radios from 1950 below. They really do belong together.

I was a bit surprised he didn't choose something more ancient like this one but then I realized the companion radios would be a lot more portable for a race with time than this steel Atwater Kent table radio with steel external speaker from 1929. It is at least a 2 man lift and might even survive a fire.

Smart choice, Dad.

Sonora. 1946

Philco tombstone

Yes. it's a radio. Three guesses on where the antenna is.

Zenith portable with a flexible handle and a round dial.

Another Sparton from 1949.

Hmmm. 1950s? Remove the center piece for long playing 33 1/3 albums.

Sparton. Year unknown. Sometime in the 50s.

Philco Tombstone from 1937.

Cylinder records! Pre-dating flat ones.

CD single from an early 90s Moosehead beer promotion. Molson had indie grunge rock bands but the New Brunswick brewery chose to go for "maritime" music.

This Atwater Kent from 1927 is a very serious machine.

Crossley 1953 with a great old car look.

Zenith 1938

Stromberly Carlson 1949

General Electric clock radio 1960

General Electric 1950

Robert Simpson 1950

That is plenty for part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3

Part 1

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/11/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-work.html

Part 3

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/11/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-work_26.html

Part 4

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/12/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-work.html

Part 5

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/12/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-work_11.html

Part 6

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/12/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-part.html

Part 7

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/12/part-7-dads-magnificent-radio-collection.html

Part 8

https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/12/part-8-dads-magnificent-radio.html

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Dad's Magnificent Radio Collection (a work in progress) Part 1

Dad's collection of old radios and gramophones is impossible to take in immediately. Just when you think you've checked everything out, boom, there is a whole new shelf you missed the first time.

This has been a labour of love for years. Every radio works and he has personally opened up every one of them, changed tubes and did whatever was necessary to nurse them back to health. It's a bit like an animal shelter but for radios.

Philco Tombstone 1936

Researching some of these radios, I came across someone selling these restored machines with audio inputs to play your mp3s or whatever through the speakers. Considering there is so little broadcast on AM radio or shortwave these days, it's nice to know these old radios can still be enjoyed in more ways than just decorative furnishing.

Here are two charming variations on the Philco Table Model 1937. They are quite similar at first glance but the dials and knobs are different as well as the art deco speeding bullet . I have identified the one below as Philco 37-630T Tabletop but, while I have found radios with the same speaker design as the one above, I haven't found one with the same knob arrangement. The closest is the Model_37-610T but it isn't an exact match.

Next is the Sentinel portable radio with slide rule tuner, 2 knobs and a flexible handle. Dad knows his radios better than anyone else and he claims it is from 1950 but I found an ad for this model from a 1948 magazine.

"Sentinel Radio ... Newest of the New! AC-DC-Battery Portable ... Play It Anywhere! ...".

Hey, this one is still in the box. Presumably, anything more modern with an FM band will be more useful today, at least for a few more years. Wait a minute! Port for MP3s? Uh. this one is quite modern and didn't merit a place in Dad's inventory list but still a nifty radio. The design and look is still used by other stereo manufacturers

Wow! Sony Walkman and clock radio for kids. Still in the box! Sony made sturdy Walkmans back in the day so if they designed something for kids, I'll bet they were designed to withstand quite a beating. I once had the original Walkman model. I was hitch-hiking one summer day to St. Andrews and my Walkman slipped out of my belt while I climbed way up to the passenger seat of a transport truck and hit the road below. It had a major surface scuff mark but continued to play with no problem.

Northern Midget Electric Blue. 1951. She's Dynamite The bullet style continues.

RCA Victor Nipper brown. 1951 Go! Go! Go! Incidentally, Nipper was the name of the RCA dog.

Gem radio. 1951

Dad will have read this book cover to cover. Every radio in his collection has been taken apart. Most of them, if not all, had to be fixed at some time.

The Trav-ler 1948 tube radio is also called the Smiling Radio because of the front lower curve.

This is the Zenith clock radio with an alarm from 1959. It's also called the Owl Eye clock radio.

Regal radio. Crazy Man Crazy. Bullet style. 1953

Another RCA Victor from 1941. Duke Ellington

Sparton 1949. I suppose that was pronounced Spar-tone. Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee by “Stick” McGhee and His Buddies

Northern Electric Model 5002 1946 Baby Champ with 3 knobs. Bakelite case. Brown knobs.

And white

On this Emerson from 1947, someone might have been listening to Call It Stormy Monday but Tuesday Is Just as Bad by T-Bone Walker

Stewart Warner 1954 Hmmm. Or is it 1952? I found a service manual for this model in'52. Was there anything good on the radio that year? Oh yeah. Tons of good stuff.

Admiral model 7T10-5K1 5 tube bake-lite table top radio. 1947

Atwater Kent 60 from 1929. That is a serious radio before the age of portables. Waitin' for a Train was released that year. I don't know when this film was made because I don't think talkies had been developed that early.

Tucked in under it is the Westinghouse Table Record Player (and radio of course) 1946

Two gramophones stacked on top of a record cabinet.

My pictures aren't good enough to tell which gramophones are which but the years run between 1892 and 1920.

This Philco from 1953 was someone's vision of the future. No doubt astronauts were using equipment with a similar look in sci-fi movies of that time,

There are too many radios for one post. I need to just call this a work-in-progress for now. This should be a 3 or 5 part post. Possibly, likely, even more.

Part 2 https://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2022/11/dads-magnificent-radio-collection-work_14.html