I was looking for some knobs to use as replacements which lead me down a rabbit hole of the coolest antique radio collection I've ever encountered. Radio Guy Antiques is a slow website, unfortunately, but it's worth the hassle of waiting for the pages to load if you're into history.
https://radio-guy.com/product/atwater-kent-model-9/
Atwater-Kent created some of my favorite antique radios mostly because I appreciate their style. This one is niftiest I've seen with the rainbow tipped bulbs.
https://radio-guy.com/product/1949-point-of-purchase-displays-coca-cola-cooler-radio/
I actually had, and sold, one of these. I don't think they are that rare. Even though they weren't sold directly to the public, many stores sold their display model once they were done or went out of business. I picked mine up at an estate sale and the daughter said her grandfather simply asked the owner to get him one, or at least that's what she grew up hearing.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18783 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Those are so cool! I love 'em !
But kinda pricey. They're worth it, in my opinion, if you can afford them. Because they're a little piece of history and so interesting. But you don't have to spend a thousand buck to own your own little piece of history. For anywhere between $50.00 and $200.00, you can get a nice table radio from the thirties, fourties or fifties, and think about how someone listened to new about WWII and other historically significant events as you listen to it today.
Check out estate sales and eBay for old tube radios. You can find 'em anywhere in your budget.
It is interesting that the novelty radios - like the Coca-Cola radio - are the ones that are worth the most money. I personally like the "regular" table radios with wood cabinets. They're all hand-made, and most are beautiful.
I'd love to see your collection. Can you snap a few pics of your radios and upload 'em here in this thread?
That's a nice collection, Wayne! I hope you left Riley's label on. I like things like that and would wonder about Riley's identity. Which of your radios was the most difficult to restore?
Madison, I think I've been to the museum if it's in New York. If so, they have all kinds of neat stuff like old medical equipment and ancient tribal masks.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18783 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
The Stewart Warner radio was the most difficult, and yes, I left the repair sticker on it. Most of the rest of the radios were pretty easy, just needing tubes and power supply capacitors. Some had all good tubes and just needed caps. But the Stewart Warner had an output tube that was different than it was supposed to - Probably a clever retrofit by a radio repairman that didn't have the right tube - and it also had an open field coil. So I had to rewire the radio and rewind the field coil on the speaker.
gofar99 Messages: 1947 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I have acquired a few vintage radios as well. The one I like the best is a 1939 Philco Barn radio. It was battery powered and actually had good battery life. It did use huge and costly batteries though. I made an AC power supply for it and refurbished it a few years back. However being idle caused it to misbehave. I have just gone through it and replaced a number of capacitors and resistors as well as one tube to get it back to its former glory. I was a the point of refinishing the top of the cabinet when the virus struck so I was hesitant to haul it to the local hardware stores to find out what they thought would match well.
That horned violin is the most bizarre instrument I've ever seen. All because microphones didn't exist. I would love to have one just for a conversation piece.
Rusty Messages: 1185 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Gofar did you replace the fabric no doubt for the cabinet? I use to have a link for antique radio speaker cabinet fabric. I don't know if it's still around. I really like that style radio too.
gofar99 Messages: 1947 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, Funny thing is the fabric is original. The wood on the top still needs help though. I redid the dial molding and lens (fortunately it was flat) had to replace the speaker and repaired the electronics. It actually works and sounds good. Far better than you would expect. They designed the cabinet as a back loaded tuned area. It even specified exactly where the batteries had to go for best sound. Amazing for 1939.
10 or 15 years ago a few of us wandered to Radio Daze, a supplier of old radios and old radio parts in one of the outlying Rochester, NY farm towns. They had quite a nice showroom full of restored radios going back to the 1920's. We had a ball going through the place.
This thread reminded me of them so I looked them up and it turns out they've moved closer to town and are in the Rochester suburbs now. The web page doesn't show more than a few restored radios so they may not be doing many restorations anymore. But they do seem to have a lot of parts. Could be useful to somebody working on a project.
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Amazing for 1939.
