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1938-1942 Prewar Portables and Wood Sets
1938-1942 Prewar Portables and Wood Sets
Radio production kept rising and America's love for style and form had manufacturers continuing to upgrade products. The introduction to smaller and more efficient tubes help speed things along- rising to the peak of radio's Golden Era. When the US entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, production of new radios stopped from 1942-1945 as manufacturers helped support the war effort. Those few short years came some big changes like the multiband Zenith Transoceanic portable, the hallmark of tube radio design; a real compact portable you can carry around by Sonora called the "Candid"; table radios and consoles with push button tuning and magic eye tuning; and the first practical application of electronic television with real tv channels demonstrated at 1939 New York, World's Fair by RCA, made this period one to remember.
Prewar Radio Table of Contents Links
Prewar Radio Table of Contents Links
Page 1: Portable and Wood Table Radios 1938-1942 PORTABLE AND WOOD CABINET TABLE RADIOS
Page 2: Rise of Plastic Radios 1938-1942 PLASTIC CABINET RADIOS
Page 3: Battery or Farm Radios 1938-1942 FARM RADIOS
Page 4: Magic Eye Tuning Radios 1938-1942 MAGIC EYE RADIOS
Page 5: Me Restoring a Sentinel 243T Farm Radio RESTORING SENTINEL 243T FARM RADIO
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Portable and Wood Table Radios
Portable and Wood Table Radios
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I. Camera Portables, no more lugging around a suit case.
I. Camera Portables, no more lugging around a suit case.
RCA introduced the first miniature battery operated tubes. Sonora Radio and TV beat out RCA by a month in 1940 in making the first compact portable called the Candid based on the shape of a camera.
Sonora KG-80 (Candid) 1939: First compact portable using miniature battery vacuum tubes
Sonora LP-161 (Candid) 1941: A Compact AC/DC portable
II. Table Radios- Traditional Wood.
II. Table Radios- Traditional Wood.
It became common for Americans to have an extra set for the bedroom or kitchen. Manufacturers were making high end to low cost space saving models to fit everyone's needs and affordability. As WW2 started to draw nations to war, radios with shortwave bands were popular allowing families to tune in to the world.
PHILCO
A big name in radios at that time was PHILCO. Started as the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company. They made fashionable and beautiful cabinets that emphasized craftsmanship. For a while they sold more radios than even RCA! After they ventured into appliances, making transistors and the aerospace business. In 1959 PHILCO made the world's first transistor TV called the "Safari". In the 1960's, Ford Motor Company would buy PHILCO to support auto electronics. Ford would finally sell off Philco to Philips.PHILCO
1939 Philco 39-7T, (1939) No more cathedrals and tombstone style sets for Philco. This transformer operated superheterodyne set uses 5 tubes (84/6Z4, 75, 78, 41 and 6A7) 1939 price $27.50.
Top view of chassis. Custom settings for the push button were accomplished by adjusting individual trimmer capacitors for the oscillator and antenna sections. Notice only one IF transformer on the top. Philco continued (since 1934) to place the other one underneath with a single padding capacitor.
Underside of chassis. Replaced all paper capacitor with film capacitors and the resistors are the molded "dog-bone" type. The look like the next generation resistors but the color code was that of dog-bone types.
1941 Philco 41-255T ($59.50 1941 price)
Philco makes a radical change in their high end large table sets and consoles with the slant front. This 9 tube set features push button tuning, push pull amplifier output (Class AB amplifier) 3 bands (std broadcast and two SW) and 8 inch electrodynamic speaker.
Philco makes a radical change in their high end large table sets and consoles with the slant front. This 9 tube set features push button tuning, push pull amplifier output (Class AB amplifier) 3 bands (std broadcast and two SW) and 8 inch electrodynamic speaker.
ABOVE: I chose to restuff all the capacitors with new ones. Most resistors look like the more contemporary style, allows me to do a one to one replacement. This radio being multiband has a lot of wire connections and sadly used natural rubber insulation. I only replace wires that definitely show deterioration and potential harm to the radio.
A common problem with these radios is the plastic escutcheon. Over time they deform and cannot be restored. Luckily there are a few places that make a modern long lasting replacement. It's expensive and expect to pay over $35.
A common problem with these radios is the plastic escutcheon. Over time they deform and cannot be restored. Luckily there are a few places that make a modern long lasting replacement. It's expensive and expect to pay over $35.
Inside the KG-80\
Can run on batteries or off the AC line.
Inside the LP-161
Push Button tuning was the big rave. The 39-7 has 5 buttons for custom settings and 1 button for manual or preset selection. Below is a look at the radio dial light.
Back of set seeing the tubes glow.
Emerson ECB-376 Story
The radio belonged to Mary Kramer Kryder. It was originally purchased new by her grandparents Charles and Martha Kramer. The radio passed on to her father Arthur Charles Kramer and then to her. She recalls that the last time this set was used is around the late 1970's.
She read an article about my rescuing "radios" in the OC edition of the Los Angeles Times and somehow she contacted my church, Knott Ave Christian Church, which in turn contacted me. The radio had been in storage for a while. When I saw the set for the first time I already knew that this is a collectible set especially with a genuine Ingraham designed cabinet as stated on the bottom of the set.
I told her that I will keep this set and fully restore it. I asked any thoughts about this radio and she stated, "I hope you will enjoy having this radio". She was so happy to find a home for it!
A complete restoration inside and out!
ABOVE: Ingraham Label underneath the cabinet. Says "Cabinet by Ingraham"
III. Twin Speaker Wooden Table Sets
III. Twin Speaker Wooden Table Sets
RCA 55X (1941-42) One of My Favorites and very Attractive.
An early table model AA5 TWIN Speaker Radio and one of the last prewar radios. I think more of a sales gimmick, but more speaker area does spread the sound better however for this radio there's no improvement on the amplifier. The front panel is a vernier but the rest of the cabinet is solid wood with a slight arched top.
Has distinctive speaker louvers and RCA nipper trademark on the dial.
BELOW: Typical pre-war AA5 tubes; 12SA7, 12SK7, 12SQ7, 35Z5GTT and 50L6GT. Interesting twin speaker, the one mounted on the chassis is a electrodynamic and the other speaker is a permanent magnet.
Dial Light provides more than enough lamination for evening use.
Emerson ECB-376 (1940-41) Emerson's only twin speaker radio from this era. Genuine Ingraham designed cabinet. It is possible that it was a sales promotion to see how well it was received. The service documents does not show the twin speaker addition. The electronic design is similar to the RCA 55X above.
The back of the radio was breaking apart. I was able to make a new one, paint the back to closely match the original, scan the original patent notices and touch up the scan to match the original and finally paste the reproduction and seal the back panel.
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