Neat 1920's battery set portables

[grid-leak]

I'll take a stab at a new topic.
1920's portable radios:

Telemaco portable . This unique radio has a built in folded horn speaker.

[radiorich]

Hello grid-leak
Wow what neat looking set.
I don't have any radios from the 20s How about a Couch or one of my lamps .
Sincerely Rich
_________________

[Dale Davenport]

.
Nice one G-L. Dang - - that sure is pretty.

Telmaco sets don't show up very often and that one is a dandy.

The little nameplate with Konrad Ricker (of Chicago) might make a interesting follow-up story as well.

I just posted pics of my Ozarka first generation portable recently in another thread;

http://antiqueradios.com/forum ... p;start=60


I've owned this set for probably more than fifteen years but to this point I've not known of another surviving example.



Advertised in May of 1924 at $65.00 (including A & B batteries and three type 199 tubes), these sets were the first
of a series of early Ozarka portables. This particular receiver is pretty much as it was found with only a small amount
of cleaning required before display.



The tubes have to be removed and stored in one of the two front-panel compartments
before the lid is closed.



This particular example bosts Serial No. 3629.




I do not know what the production figures for these sets might have been but I'd think probably not a lot of them were
either produced or sold.
_________________

[Dale Davenport]

.
Aw, what the heck - - - most everyone has seen my stuff, but to help get this thread up and running I'll show my
"Ace 3-B" again.







Nope - - its not a machinist's chest, it really is a portable radio receiver:







You arent wrong, it does look like some of the early portable Crosley receivers - - and there is a good reason:








The "accordian" spiderweb coils and the "book" condenser nail its Crosley heritage for sure.




Marketed for only a short time, some estimates put total production of the "Ace 3-B" at less than five hundred
or so.

In more than fifty years of collecting I have not known of another example of this particular portable receiver.
.
_________________

[R-520/URR]

Anyone got some nice pictures of Zenith's portable radio from ~1925? Here's a link to one picture of the one from Dr. Ralph Muchow's collection (third row from the bottom):

http://www.estesauctions.com/RMPIC4.html
_________________
--
Shawn K
www.thisoldradio.com

[Chirpolo]

I can't resist the urge, so here's my ebay-fresh Crosley 51-P:



I'm gonna have fun with the cloth covering on this one!
_________________
It wasn't me!

[RADIO DOGS]

very impressive.for those of us who are just on the edge of this hobby and looking in can you tell us/me who would of owned something like that and what the quality of reception would have been?--for example a Dr in NY who could pick up music from Boston or a ranch out west that could pick up news from the west coast.

[radiorich]

Hello Dale,
don't tease me I would love to have that Crosley in my collection .
Rich

_________________

[grid-leak]

Chirpolo,
That should clean up nicely.

The correct audio interstage transformer would complete the inside.

[Chirpolo]

[Alan Douglas]

"1920s" -- I guess I can't post a photo of my 1914 Sears Roebuck portable?

And everyone knows what an Operadio model 2 looks like.

[Dale Davenport]

[Ron in Radio Heaven]

Here's my Mohawk portable.




Unfortunately this is all that's behind the front panel...


It's been added to my project list.
This is what it should look like inside.

_________________
73, Ron w4ron


"Preservation, NOT restoration"
http://radioheaven.homestead.com/menu.html
http://charlottearc2010.homestead.com/index.html

[radiorich]

Hello Ron,
Wow what neat Set Also like Dale Said Alan let us See that !914 Radio please .
Rich
_________________

[Merrill Bancroft]

This is a National Airphone Radiotrola Baby Grand. National Airphone Corporation of 16-22 Hudson Street NY. It had continuos ads, often two page, in Radio News starting in April 1922 through November 1925 touting the G, G1, Monodyne and also the Model A amp (commencing Jan 1924). The GT 20 and 30 portables appeared in the issues of July, August and September of 1924. This one was advertised as the Monodyne Baby Grand in October 1924 and became Radiotrola Baby Grand in November 1924 This was probably the only time this version was advertised in a national radio magazine. A few months later the company became Somerset Radio after a move to Brooklyn. This one won a first at AWA this year probably because of its rarity. I got this photo thanks to Robert Lozier.

[Merrill Bancroft]

I had a Westburr Six Portable years ago but neglected to photograph it. It was very similer to the notorius Zenith portable. I heard somewhere that, as was their custom, they copied the Westburr and then sued them. Alan may know the story as he is much younger than me and consequently has a better memory. I have seen one item announcing the Westburr but no ads. It used 99's as I recall.

[Alan Douglas]

They copied it but that's all. Zenith's wasn't any more successful that the Westburr. As I recall, Fred Cassens (who was there) told me it ate batteries.

[ton10291]

[Ron in Radio Heaven]

Here's my little Vagabond portable, it uses 199s.

I've had it a while, note the purple first place ribbon it won at the
AWA meet in Augusta GA in 1984.
For some reason a lot of older ribbons change color over the years.
You'll notice there's another purple ribbon in the background of the first photo.

The front cover becomes the loop antenna.






_________________
73, Ron w4ron


"Preservation, NOT restoration"
http://radioheaven.homestead.com/menu.html
http://charlottearc2010.homestead.com/index.html

[Uffda]

Some gorgeous sets here. Since the 51P has already been shown the only other old portable I have is the following homebrew. The seller said his grandpa built it during WW1. Looks later to me. The only brand I can find besides the tube is "Chas Freshman" on the black adjustable thingy (grid leak?). Any information appreciated.









-Phil