Trawling through one of the audio visual message boards which I mostly read and to which I occasionally subscribe, I came across a thread about "picnic portable radios." Portable radios were a bit of an innovation in the very late thirties, as the manufacturers of tubes used in radios had found a way of making them that didn't have a huge drain on the batteries, which previously made these radios impracticable. Several manufacturers started producing them. The cabinets were I guess, to compliment the style of traditional picnic baskets. I'm just imagining the joy these must have given some young people, possibly on warm summer Sundays in 1939, before the horrors which were to come in WW2. For me, the styling beats that of audio of much of which we see today. A Motorola An Emerson A Firestone Roamer.
Of course, there would be times when people wouldn't want to go out, but stay in and relax listening to their "chairside radio," Zenith made a number of them.
A while back I found this. I believe it's from the early 1950s. So I too was thinking of restoring it. Beauty about these old style vacuum tube electronics is that they can often survive an EMP, (which accompanies a nuclear explosion). So that's my only interest when it comes to these things. Because a neighboring country is always itching to start a nuclear war with my country... It's also the reason why I am never going to sell my vintage 4x4 off-roader, (as that also, I am customizing to survive nuclear fallout)... Anyway restoring these old radios isn't always easy, (specially if the vacuum tubes are damaged). However, for these who are determined and stubborn enough - YouTube now has some amazing videos on how to make your own "valves"...
Back in the sixties when in my twenties I bought second hand, a Bush VHF 64 radio. These were made in the fifties. The sound was exceptionally good, it having three speakers. The FM band was so wide you could pick up BBC (405 line) TV on it. In those days Bush was a well respected brand and their products were first class. All that's left of the company today is the name, which the new owners stick on any old rubbish manufactured in the far east and should be avoided at all costs. I kept it for a few years then sadly sold it on. Here's a video of one which someone restored. You'll be able to see the quality of the cabinet which matched that of its performance.
My cassette tape player, isn't that old...well..not quite. 1972. This is a video I made for a discussion on vintage cassette tape players on a dedicated A/V board. They don't make things to last these days do they?
