VOLUME 13             NOVEMBER 1996                NUMBER 11

More About The Cover -- Atwater Kent "Dealer's Helps"

BY DOROTHY SCHECTER AND RALPH WILLIAMS

Our cover this month is a photo of an advertising display, shown at the AWA Conference as part of the extensive collection of Atwater Kent expert Ralph Williams. The table lamp and illuminated sign accompanying the Atwater Kent Model 35 were offered as "dealer's helps" in the 1927/1928 Atwater Kent Radio Dealer Help Catalog.

The sign is especially interesting in that it lights up with color and can flash, as well as remain permanently on. When the light is off, the entire sign presents white letters against a dark gold background. However, when the light is on, the words "Atwater Kent Radio" shine red, while the words "One Dial" and the arrow remain white.

The table lamp too is an interesting piece, used, no doubt, by the salesman as he signed a customer up for a $1 a week installment plan. In incidental light, the lampshade is a neutral or light tan color with red highlighting the letters. But, turn the lamp on and the whole shade becomes a translucent cafe color with bright red letters. The iron base of the lamp is labeled with an Atwater Kent medallion. Only about 50 of these lamps are known to exist.

Needless to say, these two advertising pieces enhanced the Model 35 and made an eye-catching display, then as now.

The AK Model 35 itself was a transition set. As Atwater Kent's first metal-stamped cabinet, it replaced the wooden box sets and was the precursor to the Models 37, 38, and all the 40 series of AC-powered radios. Like the Model 30 and subsequent models, it has one dial, but it is different in that the chassis is turned upside down, and the tubes, also upside-down, are held in the sockets with UX pins.

Of the four different types of Atwater Kent Model 35s, two have the antenna, ground, and speaker terminals on the back, and two have them on the side. The latter is more rare and is the type Ralph Williams displayed at this AWA event.

Another interesting bit of historical data about the Model 35 is that it was the "millionth radio" produced by Atwater Kent. On the day the Model 35 was made, Atwater Kent identified all the other Model 35s produced as millionth radios by attaching a keystone-shaped medallion to their fronts. One of these radios may be seen in the Philadelphia Atwater Kent Museum.

(Dorothy Schecter, A.R.C., P.O. Box 2, Carlisle, MA 01741. Ralph Williams, 30675 Main Rd., Orient, NY 11957)