The Radio Collection

Gentle readers, if there be any of ye,

This is the latest of my collections. Old radios, or radios that are made to look old, but are not. I sometimes wonder if there's anything to reincarnation. You see, I for some reason am fascinated with things, times and events from the first half of the twentieth century. My love of big band music, for instance, fascination with WWII, especially D-Day, and in this case, old radios.


Today, I built the shelves from scrap wood we had lying around. Can you tell from these pictures which are the truly old ones and which are not? Remember, click on any image and it will open full size in another page.

Let's start with the one on the top shelf, left side:


This is a Crosley, a famous name in the radio days. It is a reproduction, still made by Crosley, but with modern transistor electronics and it has a cassette player on the right side. Unlike most of these radios, this one has a pair of 3 inch full-range speakers in it. It plays FM as well as AM.

Next is in fact the one that got me started. I was pleased when Thomas and other companies started making and/or selling reproduction radios in the classic design during the 1980's. I wanted a "Cathedral" style but was shocked at how much they wanted for them new. This one I found at the local Salvation Army. It was Wednesday, so everything was 25% off, making this one less than $20.00.


I decided to upgrade the speaker in this one from the cheap 4 inch single cone to a Sony 5 1/4" three-way car stereo speaker. Seems simple enough, right? NOT! I had to notch the speaker frame at the top to clear a cleat on the inside of the top, and cut it off straight along the bottom, just missing the cone's surround. I then filled the case with poly fill. The results were an outstanding improvement in the sound. Well worth the effort.

It too has a cassette player on the right side and with a Sony cassette adapter, I was able to play CDs from my Sony CD Discman. Since this display is up and running, this radio will only be used when I'm working in the work/laundry room.

This next one is one of the most authentic of the lot and at $25.00 via eBay, the most expensive. But, typical for eBay, a week or two later, I saw plenty of them for a fraction of that price! It is a GE reproduction of their own 1936 model. It and the next one are also the tallest at 15 inches.

It has terrific sound even with the small 4 inch speaker. It is plugged in and was playing while I was making these images.

Last of the top row is a Franklin reproduction. It is the cheapest made of all of them, and sounds cheap as well. It DOES manage to look the oldest and Franklins don't come along often.


NOW, the bottom shelf, which is in fact about 14 inches off the floor, contains the following mix of genuine and reproduction models.

First off, is an old Hallicrafters model 5R10. It was owned and loved by Nancy's Dad, the late Julio Rodriguez of Cauguas Puerto Rico and Falls Church, Virginia. I think he bought it new. MY Dad also had an old Hallicrafters and I enjoyed listening to it as a boy. It was a different model, but was of the same size and construction. I think my brother, Jim has it now.


I had to "paint" over the SSN that Senor (that's what I called him) had engraved on the front of the radio. That's pixel painted. This radio is all tubes and still works. It would need a better antenna to pick up more than AM, though.

Below is what sometimes is called a "Tombstone" radio because of the shape. The Thomas, top shelf, second from left, is also called that. It is a "Classic", I don't recall who made it. I've seen it with or without cassette on the right side. This is without. The whole thing is very light, and it only sounds OK. Still, it was less than $10.00


Next is another Thomas, in the classic Cathedral shape. There is another model that has fancier scroll work for the speaker opening. It's missing the plaque on the bottom front, and could use a cleaning/lubrication. Sounds good.


Last, but not least is the latest and final acquisition. This is a real tube radio. ARIA is the name, but I could find no name. At $8.50 it was the least expensive. Advertised on eBay, as working, it arrived VERY well packed. Despite the seller's efforts, the USPS still knocked a tube and chassis screw loose. Those were not a problem, but the tuning string coming off was!

I tried and tried to find the correct way to wind the silly string so that it would turn everything and not be too tight or too loose. Nancy, God bless her, found a website with 522 diagrams for restringing radios. Those were some sick engineers to come up with such a complicated way to tune a radio and show which frequency you were listening to! I gave up and used a doubled rubber band around the shaft and tuning gang. Works great, but of course the needle doesn't move. It's AM/Police only and the best sounding AM station is all Spanish out of Manassas. Nice music, and I suppose if I listened long enough, I might start to learn the language.


I'd initially planned to refinish the wood, but it adds to the charm of the radio. It's fun to plug it in, and wait for the tubes to warm up. Sounds really good, too. I don't know how old it is.

On a final, unrelated note: Nancy starts back on DAY shift at her job tomorrow. YAY! She turned 45 on Tuesday and still looks half her age. I'm so blessed to be married to her! Not just 'cuz she's beautiful, either, she's my best friend and my absolute mate! We are so alike it's scary, sometimes.