Antique radios are
popular collectors’ items. These radio-signal-receiving
systems are often collectors’ favorites because of the
era they date back to and also because of their rarity.
To understand the collectors’ viewpoint, try and
envisage the images that you would associate with
antique telephones radios. Some popular antique radios
would hail from Pre-World war II, when vacum tube sets
were commonly manufactured. Other collectors’ items in
this genre of collecting would include antique vintage
radio tube, antique radio speakers, antique car radio
speaker, and antique zenith radios 30s 40s among myriad
antique collectible radios.
Wooden console radios were once a regular feature of the
living room or hallways in every aristocratic American
household. The cost of manufacture and the luxury value
of these products drove the price of these gadgets to an
absurd seven hundred dollars way back in the early
twentieth century. The figure was so high that only the
elite could afford the luxury of listening to the radio.
The shape of these antique radio kits was exactly the
opposite of its predecessors as the radios were taller
than they were wide.
Later, as antique auto radio manufacturing developed,
table-top radios became popular. These antique radios
are still popular owing to their novel shapes. Some were
designed as boxes with roofs on top resembling
cathedrals, while others resembled the design of
tombstones and still others were simple, short and wide
boxes. These radios, though interesting to look at, do
not command much of a price in the collectors’ market.
One of the antique radio problems was its massive size.
This problem was overcome with the introduction of the
‘Bakelight’ technique. Manufacturers could use this
technique to create smaller and more cost-effective
radios. Such radios were commonly installed in the
kitchens, bedrooms and even in bathrooms of American
homes. This unique material was also safer than its
predecessor, the wooden console as the material did not
burn in fires. It just melted.
This vulnerability to heat however also had other
problems associated with it. For instance, these radios
would encounter problems when their vacuum tubes heated
up. These radios were also much more likely to break
easily and hence warranted some change in the
manufacturing style of radios. Among existing Bakelight
radios though, collectors favor the brightly colored
models and also models that border on translucence.
When the transistor was invented, radio manufacturing
technology immediately used the invention to create
smaller versions of radios. These radios also did not
need to be warmed up in order to get started. One of the
main differences that cropped up with the use of
transistor technology was that radio manufacturing now
became consistent from company to company. Unlike vacuum
tubes, transistors were not hand-made and hence provided
a certain uniformity in the manufacturing process.
Among antique radios, Catalin plastic radios and
top-of-the-line console radios are most favored by
collectors. However if you visit an antique car radio
sale, you would also find scores of collectors there.
The least popular antique radio models include wooden or
Bakelight table-top pieces.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Items over hundred years are not permitted to be taken out of India without the permission of the Director General, The Archaeological survey of India, Janpath, New Delhi - 110 011.