Well, a crate can be built out of 1 1/2 sheets of 3/16" plywood, 10 or 12 1x2 or 1x3 furring strips, and some 2x4 scrap. The thin plywood is glued and nailed, with furring strips in a v on the outside of the corners. The sides form a stressed skin and will support the weight of the set nicely. With the radio shipped upright it may be left with the chassis in place, secured with blocking if necessary. this is the way that these sets were originally shipped. I've had quite a number of original crates to copy over the years. Victor crates, Edison crates, Brunswick crates, General Motors Radio crates, Philco crates, and Zenith crates.

Some time ago I renovated a rental house and removed six rooms of 1970's paneling. I have been using this salvaged paneling (with the nasty looking finished side turned inside, of course) for crating. WIth this my crates cost practically nothing. When I buy the material at the Home Center store, a crate for a modest set costs about $25.00, including padding. The crate for a very large set, on the lines of a Victor Borgia II or a 10-50 record changer machine will use closer to $50.00 worth of materials, including the extra lumber to give the crate a pallet bottom, so that it may be easily moved by a lift truck.

The reason I suggest a crate that is solidly mounted to a pallet is so that the radio can be shipped lying on its back. The chassis should be removed and also fastened to the bottom part of the crate. The reason for all this seeming overkill is because overkill is exactly what's needed for rare vintage items such as this. Everyone knows it's going to be rolled, dropped and bumped into if it's just in a box. On a pallet, it is highly unlikely that it will be tipped, and just as unlikely that it will be dropped. It will be forklifted, and they might jab the forks through the crate, but that's far less likely than for it to be damaged in a cardboard carton while it's being thrown off a truck somewhere.
And putting it in a box upside down to protect the legs does absolutely nothing, because in shipment there is no right side up.
Mark D.

Well, that would work, but remember that these sets were originally shipped via Railway Express, which was known to be extremely rough with packages, shoving, pushing, and the use of hay hooks through the sides of the crates. Hence the admonition "Use No Hooks!". Edison designed their crates to properly protect a from being dropped six feet on any side. Properly crating a radio or talking machine allows it to be shipped with its chassis in place, which in most cases is really safest. In many years of shipping all over the world I've had only a few damaged items, a tube and a light bulb which suffered inertial damage (triple-boxed, but subjected to forces over four G's) a Victrola 45 player (I packed it like an original, but didn't realise that the rubber motor mounts would not hold as they did when the set was new), a 24" Victor petal horn (the barrel that it was packed in was RUN OVER by a vehicle and quite thoroughly crushed), and an Edison A-290 Sheraton Inlaid Marquetry which though crated was damaged after having been skewered by a fork-lift truck. On the other hand, victorlas, Amberolas, Diamond Disc machines, Grafonolas, Combinations and radio consoles of all sorts have made it to their destinations quite intact, despite some pretty heavy damage to the exteriors of some crates.

Now, for difficulty of packing, quantities of radios are a pistol! At one time sent several shipments of radios, mixed battery sets, early AC sets, horn and cone speakers, tombstone and cathedral radios, to an East Asian buyer. Packing these mixed lots so that precious volume was preserved, and yet the contents were safe was quite a challenge. I found plastic bags filed with spray foam insulation to be invaluable in this case, making solid, yet slightly yielding blocks which prevented the heavy transformers in, asy a group of Radiola 18's, form crushing AK 82 and an Apex model 27 cathedrals.

A trebeled bag filled with expanding foam placed inside a cathedral set along with a cardboard cone over the speaker and a sheet of cardboard over the (fully meshed) tuning condenser will also do a fine job of supporting the loudspeaker. WHen the set si similarly surrounded with foam on the outside and then double boxed, it will survive the roughest treatment.

Yeah, but that was then. This is now. I doubt it was packed the way the Edison company originally packed them, and I doubt that the materials would be readily available. Also, we don't know the amount of damage that might have been done in those days. Unless there are records somewhere showing how many radios R/E had to pay for.
All I know is that if it's packed in a coregated paper box with a little foam around it, it isn't safe. I believe in overkill for historical items.
I'm about to ship an ancient computer printer to a guy. It weighs 30 pounds. The packing material will weigh nearly as much before I'm done. I still can only hope that it arrives in one piece.
But it will be packed to the best of my ability, and the receiver will need tools to unpack it.
Mark D.

" I believe in overkill for historical items. "

So do I.


II'm not suggesting that one place an item into a corrugated box with a little foam around it. I agree with you wholeheartedly that this will not properly protect a radio or phonograph, or much of anything else, for that matter.

I've owned period crates with all packing material. Pads were made of heavy "Mule hide" paper stuffed with Excelsior. Modern insulating foam sheet, at least 1 1/2 inches thick, (and NOT the white beaded styrofoam) is a suitable substitute, when covered with Turkish towelling. Pads are necessary, in case the crate is dropped and racked, but they must not be relied upon to protect a console. Of course, the cabinet must be tightly wrapped in several layers of newsprint, to protect against scuffs. It is then advisable to wrap the machine in a tightly sealed layer of plastic, to prevent damage if the crate should be left out-doors in a rainstorm, or should the unit for some reason be shipped in an open truck.

Now as for a cathedral, stuffing it with expanding form which becomes rigid and then surrounding it with rigid foam is a good first step, preventing the cabinet from inertial damage. In the case of a long drop, or a conveyor backup, however, crushing forces would be transmitted directly to the cabinet were it only single-boxed. For safety, the internal box must then be placed in a second container, four to six inches larger in each dimension than the internal box, which is filled with material which will absorb energy, such as styrofoam popcorn sealed into small (perhaps quart sized) bags, stuffed nearly to bursting. The friction of the individual beads against each other will dissipate a great deal of energy, along with the natural "squish" of the styrofoam.

A ShockWatch impact indicator is a very useful addition to the crate of a valuable machine. They are inexpensive, and offer absolute proof that a package was subjected to unreasonable forces. The presence of one of thes bright red, octagonal tags also seems to insure better handling, for unlike a simple "fragile" sticker, these tell tales.

I was talking about the way the Edison radio in this topic was packed. From what I read, I visualize a corregated paper box with some foam stuffed in.
I agree with the double box and filler. I also believe that the best, safest, way would be to also have it on its back, firmly attached to a board inside a strongly built wooden crate that is screwed together and mounted firmly to a pallet, and shipped by motor freight because that's the only way that would ship.
But I believe that would give the best chance for survival. There is no certainty in any shipping, though. There is always danger.
Mark D.

They are all bad in my opinion. I once had a UPS guy set a box down and KICKED it to my door.

Ya' should'a kicked him back to his truck (metaphorcally speaking) and called UPS and told them about it. They would have made sure he didn't do it again.
Mark D.