VOLUME 13                   JUNE  1996                NUMBER  6

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for June 1996
(Copyright 1996 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

This June issue celebrates A.R.C.'s twelfth anniversary, another year of progress in our efforts to be more than just a magazine. Our goals, stated in every issue, have been to stimulate the growth of antique radio collecting and to provide a forum for the interchange of ideas and information. To fulfill these goals, we have tried to design a magazine that is tailor-made to your needs, one that is not filled with unrelated advertising merely to increase revenues.

We have also done our best to spread the word far and wide about our avocation. For example, in the past twelve years, we have distributed over 46,000 free sample copies of A.R.C., thus enlarging the antique radio marketplace. In addition, we have been a major source of support for over 70 clubs in both their formation and their activities.

The degree of A.R.C.'s success in these twelve years is reflected in the growth of our subscription base to over 8,000 collectors worldwide. For this success, we thank you for your support not only through subscriptions, but also through advertising. We look forward to many more years of serving a very special community.

The colorful radios on our cover introduce our lead article by Gerald Schneider - "Art Deco and Radios." Accepting the fact that even experts do not agree on a definition, Gerald describes the origin of the term "Art Deco" and its application to radios.

Mike Adams, following up on his October 1994 A.R.C. article on broadcasting pioneer Charles Herrold, offers additional details on Herrold's 1915 water-cooled microphone. Water cooling kept his microphone from overheating and burning out. Mike has also produced a video on Charles Herrold, and in 1992, wrote the A.R.C. series on the juvenile books, The Radio Boys.

We're surprised that it took so long for Hollywood to discover Jasper's Antique Radio Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. Jasper Giardina has been unrelenting in his enthusiasm for old radios, and participating in a Bill Murray movie gave him a new opportunity to spread the word. Dorothy Schecter, A.R.C.'s Managing Editor, sifted through the piles of Jasper-related newspaper articles and United Artists' publicity releases to tell Jasper's latest story.

Fred Braddock reports on the annual SCARS auction held February 17 in Van Nuys, California. Surprisingly, the top-bid item, bringing $700, was a 23-volume set of Rider's manuals. Yes, there is a need for information on old radios for all that restoration going on out there.

Speaking of restoration, Doyle Roberts describes the restoration of a Philco 60 which required the reproduction of the entire cabinet. Alton Dubois also took the reproduction route. He completely reproduced the Echophone Model 7 after reading Tom Millward's article in the February 1995 A.R.C.

A report on the Midwest Radio Club's Old Time Radio Days Festival, held last October, is included in this issue. We apologize for being a bit tardy in publishing this report.

Also included this month is Part 5 of Alan Douglas' series on vintage tube testers - testers that are more collectible than useful. And Ed Ripley describes his successful attempt to identify a set in his collection similar to one labeled "RCA Victor Model Unknown" in the February 1996 Photo Review.

Ray Bintliff reviews Jay Miller's Pocket Guide to Collins Amateur Radio Equipment, which covers equipment from the 1946 Model 75A-1 through the KWM-380, complete with photos and variations. This book and six other amateur radio books are available from A.R.C.

Photo Review includes several uncommon items - a receiver for AM, FM and TV sound with Braille markings, an elaborate two-chassis TRF set from 1939 (very late for a TRF), and a 1930s German Volksempfänger propaganda radio.

The interchange among readers continues in Radio Miscellanea. Sources of wire for your transformer rewinding needs are given, two readers comment on how A.R.C. helped in their restoration projects, and Play Things of Past announces its new catalog.

Coming Radio Events. The summer cycle of major radio events is here, beginning with Radio Daze '96 near Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 31 and June 1. Later in June, Radioactivity '96 in Timonium, Maryland, and RadioRama in Ohio take place. July brings Extravaganza '96 in Lansing, Michigan, and back-to-back, across the Labor Day weekend, are the two largest meets in the U.S. - the Elgin, Illinois, Radiofest 1996 and the Rochester, New York, Antique Wireless Association Annual Conference. In addition to seminars, contests, auctions, flea markets and banquets at these meets, three of the most significant radio collections in the U.S. will be open for visitors in Minneapolis, Elgin and Rochester.

Of course, the most important reason to attend these events is to meet all those collectors in person whom you may know only by letter or phone. A.R.C. will be in Elgin and Rochester, so look us up.

Happy Collecting!

John V. Terrey, Editor

ON THE COVER

Our cover is a colorful collage of Art Deco radios. It was achieved through the collaboration of three collectors - Dave Crocker, Rain Buttignol, and your editor - who gathered their sets for a special photo shoot here in Carlisle, Mass. Clockwise from the top left: a Sparton "Polo Club," a Gilfillan, an Air King 66, an Automatic Radio "Tom Thumb," a Sparton 558, a Belmont 6D-111, a Record-O-Vox "Symphony," and a Silvertone 4511. A Kadette "Jewel" (upper center) and a set similar to a DeWald "Bantam" (lower center) complete the group.

Larger cover image [60kb, JPG format].