Anyone have any info on this Zenith? From what I understand it's an auto radio with seperate speaker. Never saw one before.

Not an auto radio, it is a model 4B106, advertised by Zenith as a Boat and Trailer radio.

1937, shown in the sales literature at $39.95. Information from Alan Jesperson's Zenith Radio book.

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That has got to be a seldom seen model I'd think. How bout a picture of the chassis?

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The astern side.

A traveling farm radio, synchronous vibrator and all. From the circuit it has to travel pretty close to the transmitter to hear it.

Carl

They also made a better one the same year, a 6 tube version also advertised as a boat and trailer radio. One would expect it to perform similar to a normal radio, and it even looks a lot nicer with a larger dial.

The ad says also good for use at camps, summer homes, and for trappers or hunters. Of course you would need to lug along a 6 volt auto battery to power the set, and likely need to figure out a way to recharge it after several days of use.

I don't have any other pictures, it was listed on the Chicago area craigs list.

Funny, but in yesterday's paper in the almanac section was an article from 75 years ago about a farmer who lived a couple miles east of Spokane, Washington. He did not have electric power yet, but he had a 12 foot windmill turning a generator to keep his batteries charged for his radio.

His comments were he wished the wind would slow down some or he needed to gear down the generator.

Must have been quite a windmill! Most of what I have seen were in the 8 to 10 foot diameter sizes.
Curt

Google Wincharger, eventually owned by Zenith when the Rural Electrification Act took hold.

Carl

Neat set! i would enjoy one of those sets for camping.

What I thought was odd about that article is that Spokane had AC power in the city since about 1890 or so. Seventy-five years ago would have made it the year 1935. The only thing I can say is that he must have been a hold-out. That area is a big prairie with no mountains within several miles. A bit further east, Coeur d' Alene, Idaho had power. There was power all around him in 1935.

Oh well, makes we wonder what kind of radio set he had.
Curt