Westinghouse Golden Era Radio

[MK]

I was driving down the street minding my own business when I saw this sign. "Vintage Radio Sell!" I had no choice in the matter. Trowing caution to the wind, I turned my jalopy around and pulled up in front of the joint. They were having a vintage radio swap meet. I went inside and new I was in trouble. There were beautiful radios everywhere.....and for decent prices too. There was everything from fully restored radios to venders with tubes and parts. I am glad Wild Root wasn't there. I hate to see a grown man lose control. I knew he wouldn't have left until his pockets were empty. The man has no will power when it comes to radios.....but I degress.

I wanted to get one of the restored units, but they were asking $175-200, so I picked up this little gem for $25:

It looks great in my office.

 

[The Wingnut]

Wow. Screamin' deal. I've got a repair guy that works on the CHEAP, so getting one that cheap would be an easily justifiable fix.

 

[shamus]

sweet radio!

just give the tubes a good cleaning and it might work!

What is the top dial for?

 

[Mycroft]

The woodwork is beatiful, is it buralwood(SP?)?

 

[MK]

sweet radio!

just give the tubes a good cleaning and it might work!

What is the top dial for?

Short wave.

 

[Dalexs]

OK, give... who was havng the sale?

 

[MK]

.

I was held in moose lodge or some community center.

 

[drkilmer]

You didn't say how it plays? They're pretty easy to fix up ... the capacitors usually need replacing, and tubes are surprisingly easy to get ... I love the sound of the old tume radios. I have a few around the house and they're just swell!

 

[Wild Root]

Very nice MK! I aprove of your buy! Not a bad little early 40's job!

When it comes to buying vintagre radios, you'll save money buying them done already. Trust me on this. It's some what like vintage cars! If you buy a radio with a bad cabinet, you'll save money at first, but when you want to refinish the set, if it's a table model, it's going to be over $100. If it's a console, your looking at a $250. -$350. price. Also to replace all the caps will cost from 50 to 100. It all depends on who you take it to but, you get what you pay for.

The radio as it stands I wouldn't touch! It has a nice original patina to it. You can have it serviced to play and that wont cost much. More then likely needs new filter caps and maybe a new tube at the most.

Good luck with that set MK, it's worth every sent!

WR.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

The woodwork is beatiful, is it buralwood(SP?)?

On that radio, the burled insets are likely photo printed, not real wood.
Keep chemical stripper and sandpaper away from photo printed areas, and other table top radios that are made from Rep-wood.

In refinishing old radios, Tone-Spray becomes your best friend.

Nice looking table top, like Wildroot said, getting it re-capped will likely get her going.

 

[MK]

.

You didn't say how it plays? They're pretty easy to fix up ... the capacitors usually need replacing, and tubes are surprisingly easy to get ... I love the sound of the old tume radios. I have a few around the house and they're just swell!

It probably does play. The tubes are new. It looks like someone has done the work to get it up and running. I just can't see trying to turn it on in my office. I hate to admit it but it is far easier to play internet radio or CDs on my computer. Perhaps I should get one of those AM transmitters and send the signal to it. For the most part, it is a looker.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

One of my favorite things to do when I want to unwind, is to turn the lights way down and fire up one of the Zenith's, and watch the dial glowing, with an old-time radio broadcast playing.


Definitely get an AM transmitter and hook it to your computer, there is a lot of old-time radio and music online.

 

[Mycroft]

On that radio, the burled insets are likely photo printed, not real wood.
Keep chemical stripper and sandpaper away from photo printed areas, and other table top radios that are made from Rep-wood.

In refinishing old radios, Tone-Spray becomes your best friend.

Nice looking table top, like Wildroot said, getting it re-capped will likely get her going.

Thanks.

 

[Wild Root]

Rep-wood/Photo finish.

Out of the many radio manufactures that existed in those days, only a small handful really put this method to use. Philco was one of the first to use the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? which enabled them to produce a remarkable looking finish with extensive inlay. Philco started to introduce this method in 1934 on only a few of their small models. They dropped it from late 1934 and picked it up again in 1937-1938. It was used on the more affordable sets they offered. Tombstones, cathedrals and small table tops with in 1937-1938 saw this ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? process the most.

As for Westinghouse, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m almost sure that they didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t use a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? on they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re models. Westinghouse had a good reputation as being a quality radio manufacture. The Philco?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? of the late 30?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s consisted of the whole face of the radio being of the imitation finish not just parts of the front but, the whole thing. A way one can tell if it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? is you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll see mostly small flakes coming off and age and scratches. I have one remarkable 1937 Philco model 37-602 that has this Photo Finish on the front and back of the set. The Photo Finish is in marvelous shape with only very minor flaking around the edges.

MK, you should just plug the little guy in and worm him up! Try and tune into what ever and see what you might find on the air. It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s good to turn them on here and there if they do work.

WR.

 

[Mycroft]

Out of the many radio manufactures that existed in those days, only a small handful really put this method to use. Philco was one of the first to use the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? which enabled them to produce a remarkable looking finish with extensive inlay. Philco started to introduce this method in 1934 on only a few of their small models. They dropped it from late 1934 and picked it up again in 1937-1938. It was used on the more affordable sets they offered. Tombstones, cathedrals and small table tops with in 1937-1938 saw this ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? process the most.

As for Westinghouse, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m almost sure that they didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t use a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? on they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re models. Westinghouse had a good reputation as being a quality radio manufacture. The Philco?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? of the late 30?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s consisted of the whole face of the radio being of the imitation finish not just parts of the front but, the whole thing. A way one can tell if it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? is you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll see mostly small flakes coming off and age and scratches. I have one remarkable 1937 Philco model 37-602 that has this Photo Finish on the front and back of the set. The Photo Finish is in marvelous shape with only very minor flaking around the edges.

MK, you should just plug the little guy in and worm him up! Try and tune into what ever and see what you might find on the air. It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s good to turn them on here and there if they do work.

WR.

Photofinish, why do they call it that and why would one want a tombstone radio on their tables.

 

[Mycroft]

The front and back of the cabinet on this Philco model 37-602 is a "Photo Finish". A process that is done photographically to emulate a high quality veneer inlay cabinet that is very hard and expensive to produce. It was a way to give a rich looking cabinet at half the cost to the consumer. When new, you would have a hard time telling if it was a fake finish with no real inlay.

Tombstone radio: A radio that is tall and square in shape. Has a tombstone silhouette. It's the name of the style of cabinet of this type of table radio.

Why wouldn't any one not want a Tombstone radio on they're table? They are very collectable and beautiful radios!

WR.

Oh, I see, they are beatiful, Root are you at Matt's House, since you are posting under his name?

 

[Wild Root]

Matt was at my house and forgot to log off. So, I edited it. Sorry.

Here are the styles and terms that are used by radio collectors. This will help some of you to know what you're looking at when you find a radio.

Cathedral radio: An arched topped radio cabinet with intricate grill cut-outs much like the large windows in a Cathedral chapel.

Tombstone radio: A radio cabinet that sits vertically and are mostly squared or rectangular in shape. Often having some curved or stepped upper corners.

Table Top radio: Any small or large horizontal sitting radio cabinet with Art Deco or traditional styles.

Console radio: A radio that sits on the floor. Also known as "floor models". Early consoles had four to six legs and later sets had no legs.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Out of the many radio manufactures that existed in those days, only a small handful really put this method to use.WR.

This is somewhat incorrect, photofinish trim was used by a number of radio manufacturers to simulate not only burled wood trim, but other types like zebra wood etc.

The practice was used because a lot of wood radio cabinets were often made from plywood, and several makers including Zenith, used veneers and photofinish trim to simulate a high end finish on their products.

The practice of using photo finished trim also extended to furniture in many cases as well, one my first restoration projects in the late 1980's, was a pair of 30's deco cobalt mirror toped side tables, what looked to be zebra wood trim vanished into a printed mess, when the methylene chloride stipper hit it.
I've seen the stuff on everything from bedroom furniture, to deco bar cabinets.

Be very careful with what looks to be burled wood, in quite a number of cases it isn't real wood.

Be careful with your radios.

(Currently redoing an AM/SW Zenith 5s-228 tombstone that was found for ten bucks in a garage sale)

 

[Wild Root]

Very interesting indeed, I have to say it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s funny that out of the radios I have collected that only one of them has a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ?. When I find photo finished cabinets, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s very easy to tell because 85% of them are beat up when found. The Midwest brand used this process on most of their cabinets and I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m well aware that others did so as well, but companies such as Emerson, Zenith, RCA, Airline, Silvertone, Westinghouse, GE, Fada, Sparton, American Bosh and Truetone hardly ever used fake inlay. I have seen some beautiful sets and have talked to cabinet restorers and they haven?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t found a whole lot of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPhoto Finish?¢‚Ǩ? inlay or cabinets. Mostly Philco used this process as you may well know and you can tell right off the bat (not if it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a very fine example) that it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s imitation inlay.

Zenith may have used it, but it was very, very mild. All the sets I have seen are all real wood veneer and inlay. Most cabinet men love them because of the lack of phony photo inlay.

Other forms of furniture from those years did use it too, but only the cheap brands did. The photo finish is printed wood grain and inlay printed on a piece of stiff cardstock then glued onto the cabinet. This process was used mostly during the Depression but, into the 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s it wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t used as much at all.

Photo Finished cabinets are out there by other brands, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m not disputing this, but, one can tell if it is or not by doing a little research. Looking at it closely and feeling for true grain patterns one can tell its real or a fake.

WR

 

[Mycroft]

Matt was at my house and forgot to log off. So, I edited it. Sorry.

Here are the styles and terms that are used by radio collectors. This will help some of you to know what you're looking at when you find a radio.

Cathedral radio: An arched topped radio cabinet with intricate grill cut-outs much like the large windows in a Cathedral chapel.

Tombstone radio: A radio cabinet that sits vertically and are mostly squared or rectangular in shape. Often having some curved or stepped upper corners.

Table Top radio: Any small or large horizontal sitting radio cabinet with Art Deco or traditional styles.

Console radio: A radio that sits on the floor. Also known as "floor models". Early consoles had four to six legs and later sets had no legs.

Oh, it's all good in the neiborhood.