My Vintage Radio Collection

I picked up one of the most attractive horn loudspeakers of the 1920's, a circa 1924 Amplion loudspeaker. I'm using it with my 1922 Westinghouse RC radio and getting excellent results - besides, it just looks so cool!

It was a tough decision, but I traded the Amplion speaker for the rare and authentic 1922 "Vocarola" speaker that was designed specifically for the Westinghouse RC. A very primitive looking thing, but it, along with the RC, was radio pioneer Frank Conrads vision of what THE FIRST home radio receiver should look like!

I will be giving a presentation on Los Angeles radios on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California on Sunday, August 21 at 10:00am. I will have restored radios to show and play, and a slide show. This is part of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles three day event on the Queen Mary. Yes, I will be dressed in 1920s or 1930s style clothing. Please pass the word. If you live in places where August is miserable with heat and humidity, please visit. I can arrange for visits to other collectors.

Radio:
The Music, Machines & Los Angeles Makers

Summary

Radio was a vital part of the Art-Deco era, as it provided entertainment, news and employment for a major portion of our population. We will show restored Art-Deco era radio designs and will play radio programs on them. Los Angeles was one of the major centers of radio manufacturing, so our special focus will be on radios made here. Many people would enjoy such a radio(s), so we will discuss how to find them and the ways the Southern California Antique Radio Society ads to the enjoyment of radio collecting.

Synopsis

This will be presented by F. Stephen Masek, Events (external) Coordinator and Board Member of the Southern California Antique Radio Society. He is an experienced speaker, who has spoken at local, regional, and national conventions. He started collecting and restoring radios in 2008 (both cabinets and electronics).

The audience will enjoy:

● A “slide” presentation with photos;

● Beautiful restored radios made in Los Angeles, formerly one of the major centers of radio manufacturing, and elsewhere;

● Music received on the restored radios and sent by a transmitter (several audience members will have an opportunity to transmit music from their own music devices); and,

● Tips on how to find and enjoy Deco-era radios and programs.

Questions will be answered during the formal presentation, then attendees will enjoy seeing and touching the radios.

People of all ages and backgrounds will enjoy the presentation. Technical information will be minimized, although some of the key milestones will be covered.

I was very lucky to score an original driver to go with the Vocarola. It's not as good as the Dictograph one I was using, but acceptable, and I'd rather have authenticity. I can call this one done now.

In keeping with my '20's trend I added a 1925 Crosley "PUP" single-tube radio to the collection. These were a miniaturized model 50 tabletop and one of the first compact tube radios. Although a novelty looking set, it performs very well with a set of headphones. These sold very well, but many were discarded long ago making them a fairly scarce set today. They're even cuter in person!
See photo below

My 1925 Crosley "PUP"

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Scored this '39 GE model H-639 radio/phono at the big Brimfield Mass. show. It's a nearly mint original set and one of the few of this type of set that I like. Usually these are big and boxy, but this one is very art-deco and quite light and compact.

Going a little continental here with a circa 1924 "Radio-Regula" French crystal radio. It has a light colored cabinet, crystalline bakelite top panel, and two removable external coils. One is adjustable. With a nice new crystal detector, it plays fine. The bottom reads:
ETABLISSEMENTE
RADIO REGULA
APPAREILS RECEPTEURS DE T.S.F
LA REOLE (GIRONDE)

Yet another 1920's set. A 1923 ACE Type V small tabletop model. This set is interesting in that Powell Crosley bought The Precision Equipment Company to easily obtain the Armstrong license. It's an interesting story. This set soon was offered rebadged as a Crosley. It works great and you can view the glow of the single tube filament through the little peek-hole on the front panel. It has all the original tags and the name of the original owner. A Mr. Cory D. Johnson of Bevans, New Jersey dated 5-1-1923.

A friend offered this 1923 Westinghouse Aeriola Sr. radio to me for sale and I just had to grab it. I always wanted one of these solid little sets with the lid. It's a one tube set using the correct rare and pricey WD-11 tube, which I am using. It simply requires one D battery for the A supply, and 3 9V's in a series for the B supply. This set was right at the time when RCA, who were marketing and selling Westinghouse radios, decided to begin to put their names on the sets. Instead of calling them RCA Aeriola's, they decided to go with the Radiola name. Note the instruction card in the lid that's in very good condition:

I thought this might interest some. I was able to score 3 rare early Radiotron vacuum tubes from a friend that were originally offered with my 1922 Westinghouse RC. These early tubes are "tipped" clear glass with a brass covered ceramic base and were first offered in 1919. They draw 1 amp a piece and require a 6 volt/12+ amp battery for the A supply. The really cool part about these are that, unlike tubes that were offered soon after, these glow brightly like light-bulbs! Not the most efficient tubes, but a beautiful sight to behold through the sets viewing porthole on the front panel! (See a pic of the set above)
Here's a pic of the tubes blazing away with the top hatch door opened.

Getting back to art-deco again, I acquired a 1940 Arvin 602 recently. The bulbous shaped cabinet along with the small deco dial make this one a standout among the many, many bakelite radios produced in the '30's and '40's. The variable center tone control is a nice feature too.

I'm on a bakelite kick now!
A 1940 RCA Victor 45X11.....


....and an 1941 Admiral 15-D5

Staying with small deco radios, I just acquired this 1939 RCA Victor 9TX33 "Little Nipper". You can pick it up with one hand as it's only about 9 1/2" long and weighs only 5lbs. It looked faded and worn when I got it and was supposedly not working. The set cleaned up like a gem, and the chassis appeared to be completely recapped at some point. I cleaned and checked everything and it turned-on with it's glowing dial lamp and is playing perfectly. This is a really cute little set in which you have to use the tips of your fingers to work the tiny knobs!

Back to the '20's! I made a trade with a friend for this 1923 British "Bijou" crystal receiver made in Rugby, England. Using my AM transmitter with it's strong signal I am able to get a low yet clear sound out of my 1922 Brown mini goose-neck horn speaker which is also British, made by S.G. Brown LTD, London. This compact little set is so well made with it's solid gleaming cabinet, brown bakelite face-plate and knobs, and nickle plated metal parts. It even has a two-position antenna tap switch.

My latest addition to the collection is this 1930 Philco model 20 "Baby Grand" consolette. In 1930 Philco offered one of the first "cathedral" radios or "compacts" as they were called then, and it was hugely popular then, and now as a collectors item. They also offered the chassis in a small (a little over 30" high) console. This one has a very nice original finish, but the two lower knobs are not original and will be replaced. It has nice veneers including the birds-eye maple front panel. The chassis has been restored and it plays great although rather flat sounding much like late '20's sets. It can truly be described as an "adorable" radio!

I just acquired this true piece of radio history. It's a rather rare 1942 Zenith "Clipper" Transoceanic 7G605 portable radio. This version with the sailboat stitched grill cloth was the first short run of this first Transoceanic radio. This represents Zenith CEO McDonalds desire to have a multiband battery portable radio on his sailboat. Nothing like it existed at the time. The cloth was quickly changed to a bomber-plane design at the onset of WWII, which is the more common model. It took a lot of trail and error for the Zenith engineers to work the bugs out of this set, have it fit in such a small case, and have it work properly under very humid conditions. Be aware this was the VERY first fully portable multi-band shortwave radio. The Zenith Transoceanics would go on to be one of the most successful line of radios staying into production up to 1981! Besides getting a recap to fine working condition, this set appears to have never been cleaned and detailed. It has such a nice patina I really don't even want to touch it! I definitely wont polish-up the gold metal parts. I'm glad to have this piece of radio history in my collection.

I just acquired this circa 1931 Auburn 4-tube cathedral radio. This medium sized cathedral was a very popular inexpensive type of radio sold during the tough depression years. They were good working sets if you lived in an urban area and used a long antenna. This example is in nearly mint original condition and, although I bought it as-is, was pleasantly surprised to find that it works perfectly! It no doubt had a recap in recent times. When I do research on it I'll likely find that "Auburn" was a generic name put on this particular set and that they were produced under a slew of other names with no marking on the chassis. This was popular practice at the time with these low-cost radio. A nice touch is it's "floating" pilot lamp that moves with the tuner lighting only a specific area of the dial.

This is the pre-restoration shot of my 1950's Hallicrafters TW-1000A Short Wave. Now it goes to Tom's Antique Radio Repair in Dayton, Ohio. He does magic... I can't wait to get it back and spend all night listening to the "numbers" station.