Author Topic: When Radios Were Furniture  (Read 3771 times)

Offline stokester

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When Radios Were Furniture
« on: October 08, 2019, 01:13:41 PM »
and cost a bunch too!
Nick
Yorktown, VA

Offline m_fumich

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2019, 01:15:28 PM »
I would sell my mother for a Philco Radio Bar with original glassware.


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Offline goodfellow

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2019, 01:20:31 PM »
Radios were beautifully crafted back then. They were big and heavy and the rectifiers were often a thing of beauty.

Offline stokester

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2019, 02:29:36 PM »
I would sell my mother for a Philco Radio Bar with original glassware.


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There is one on eBay for $19,000!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Philco-Radio-Bar-Original-Glassware-1937-/401279441053
Nick
Yorktown, VA

Offline J.A.F.E.

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2019, 02:37:07 PM »
They were big and very expensive and represented the most high tech thing people owned until TV's came out. They were all hand made and wired and soldered by hand. Tubes were hand made as well (and the ones still made still are for the most part). If you've ever looked at or taken apart a tuner dial it is pretty complicated and was all done by human hands (same with the actual tuner).

You bought one and a technician came out to the house to set it up for you if you can imagine.

Before super-heterodyne tuning came out each stage had to be tuned individually so selecting a station could take quite a while. But all the IF stages that made tuning so easy added complexity and a lot of cost.

No wonder they were so expensive.
People who confuse etymology and entomology bug me in ways I can’t put into words.

Offline m_fumich

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When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2019, 08:40:52 PM »
I’m aware of what they cost. I just need to find someone that needs an 82 year old woman to sit on their couch and say “Well, that’s just stupid.” and will pay $20,000 to have one.


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Offline john k

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2019, 08:45:28 PM »
Got a dozen radios in the house, one is a coffee table, another is a bookcase, think i like the art deco ones the most.  Remember listening to the folks big Zenith before the bought a television.

Offline daves_not_here

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Re: When Radios Were Furniture
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2019, 10:27:34 PM »
Let's just say that I have 'several' radios large & small, newer & older. My '50s Zenith TransOceanic is the jewel of my collection.

One of my friends has the one on the lower left in the ad - it sat in a shed for decades.

He refinished the cabinet, and my electronics genius buddy restored the radio to working order. It is beautiful.
David