USL Radio Batteries Do Make a Big Difference

By John V. Terrey

WEB edition

The advertising ink blotter above, the basis for our cover this month, tells the story well. You could depend on a USL battery to power the filaments in your early 1920s radio.

Since AC-operated sets did not become common until the late 1920s, a radio during the early 1920s required a 6-volt, automobile-type, storage battery to light the tube filaments. Every several weeks, the battery was taken to the radio shop or garage to be recharged.

The cut on the right from a brochure for Cunningham Radio Co. of Kansas City, Missouri, further touts the features of the USL battery -- long life, radio terminals, polished case, 75 ampere. The retail price was $18.00 and the dealer's price was $13.50.

(John V. Terrey, c/o A.R.C., P.O. Box 2, Carlisle, MA 01741)