Vintage Radios

Valve (vacuum tube) radios endured a short span of time, from the early 20’s to the mid-50’s, when valves were overtaken by transistors. Perusing the descriptive placards and the design characteristics of these vintage radios in our Museum of Sound and Radio, their exteriors connote their lineage in radio development.

Our earliest examples exhibit an almost coffin-like appearance, which were large, lumbering and unattractive boxes with difficult reception, such as the 1924 Browning Drake 4-valve kitset. From 1925, there is the Fried-Eisemann Model NR-20-5, Kellogg's Wavemaster and King Hinner's Neutrodyne. However, there is some early design excellence shown in that year's Atwater Kent 5-valve Model 2O and Stewart Warner's Model 300.

A couple of years later, the first consoles started to appear, acting as a necessary lounge furniture fashion requirement for those who could afford it. The electronic contents still remained simple and performance was dubious but the fretwork was brilliant. Towards the end of the decade, metal cabinets came into brief vogue, as in our 1928 Western Air Patrol 80 and the strange little Phillips QP.

In 1931, Powell Crosley, bunged a tacky muck that he called Repwood into a press and created the incredibly ugly Widget. For an ornate Cathedral design, an excellent example is our 1932 Echophone Model 80, with its involved fretwork frontage and a compactness that would bring in the new term, mantle model. Wooden cabinets were soon simplified and would briefly be entitled the Tombstones with plywood exteriors which were steam bent into rounded tops and simplified frontages. We have several examples of these on show, such as the two pictured.

Australia's AWA Fisk Radiolette of 1935 created its obvious design nickname, Empire State. The mid-1930's art deco craze is exemplified by the Stewart Warner Ferrodyne and by the Spartan Model 557 with its mirrored case and chrome-plated side bars.

In 1937 the Philllips V7A Theatrette and the STC 6-valve Code 5018 were introduced. Timber fought bravely in a losing battle against Bakelite and, finally, plastic as the industry merged into a bouncing post-war economy, but some fine examples of wooden cabinets can be seen in the range of Columbus and Courtney radiograms which were still very acceptable in the lounges of New Zealand until the end of the 1950's.

If you are curious to see and learn more about the development of radio, drop down to the Museum of Sound and Radio and talk to Miles, Mark or Pete.

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