The Town Crier Horn Speaker

BY DAVE CROCKER

Web Edition

A salespitch doesn't always live up to expectations, as we learn from the following story about an unusual speaker. (Editor)

The "Town Crier" horn speaker, shown in Figure 1, was manufactured by the Gale Radio Laboratories of Chicago, Illinois. It is a most unusual shape for a radio speaker of 1925. Billed as "Radio's Most Beautiful Speaker," it came in either a dull golden or dull green polychrome color. The finish can be best described as "goose-bumps" all over. The front label is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3 shows the SAAL driver, which is made of pot metal, and attaches to the horn on the bottom of the structure. From there the sound coils around and exits at the rear of the concave front. See the cut-away view in Figure 4.

Figure 1. The Town Crier horn speaker.

Figure 2. The front label of the Town Crier speaker indicating the manufacturer Gale Laboratories, Chicago, U.S.A.

This unique piece of "sculpture" is 17¹/4 inches tall and weighs in at a whopping eight pounds! What makes it so heavy is the construction of heavy plaster and (whatever) molded into a single form, which might be described as a "cave." It almost feels as if it was molded from pure cement! There is no grille cloth in front, and you can put your finger down the horn opening at the inside front.

Figure 3. The SAAL driver, made of pot metal, attaches to the bottom of the horn structure.

In 1925, the Town Crier speaker sold for $17.50 ($18.50 west of the Rockies). Gale Radio Labs said that it had, "the voice that thrills."

Evidently sales didn't reach Gale's expectations because later that year the same identical speaker was advertised by a wholesaler as the "Echo," shown in Figure 5. It appeared in a radio catalog with no manufacturer's identification, except number 563R 758. The price was reduced to only $7.95 (with shipping only 22 cents), and the one color choice was a dull black.

Figure 4. A cut-away view shows how the sound exits at the rear of the concave front.

Figure 5. The Town Crier was later offered by a wholesaler as "The Echo."

Even though many collectors consider this speaker rather ugly and think the homeowners of the period must not have liked to see it in their living rooms, Figure 6 (see print version) shows an advertisement claiming "The town Crier -- Radio's Most Beautiful Speaker." And another dealer described it as: "It is very attractively shaped and won't look out of place in the finest homes." That prediction was never to be.

Dave Crocker, a graphic artist and a semiretired member of the A.R.C staff, has been collecting radios for over 30 years. Many of those years have been spent researching and collecting radios made by the Crosley Radio Company.