1940s Radios - Plastic Alphabetical by brand Click on a radio for an enlarged view...

 

Air King A-530 (1947) An Air King radio with a slanted grille design. Someone painted this bakelite radio black; the knobs may not be original, either.

 

Airline 14BR-1502B (1941) Midget radio, repainted in original color. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Airline 74BR-1507A (1947) A radio with "jet-age" styling; compare this cabinet to the Belmont 6D111 below. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Airline 84BR-1503E (1948?) A very clean design. The bullet-shaped knobs are made of swirled plastic.

 

Alden (1940s?) A small ivory plastic set, a little over 7 inches wide. It seems this great cabinet design shows up with all sorts of brand names on it; this one has "Alden" on the dial.

 

Arvin 544A (1946) An ivory bakelite set, repainted in original color. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Automatic 614X (1946) This brown bakelite radio has a slanted grille design and an unusual dial: it's a dome of plastic, and the whole thing rotates as you tune the radio. The dome lights up when the radio is on, a very nice effect.

 

Belmont 6D111 (1946) This streamlined bakelite radio has a classic design; I never get tired of looking at it.

 

Bendix 0526A (1946) This radio has a bakelite cabinet fully enclosing the chassis with a nice asymmetrical shape. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Bendix 55P2 (1949) Shaped like a toaster, this radio has an integral hand-hold at the top rear.

 

Clarion (1940s?) A brown bakelite radio, three knobs, probably from the late 40s, with a nice wrap-around grille.

 

Coronado 43-8160 "Jewel" (1947) A tiny (about 8 inches wide) painted bakelite set. I like the concentricity (if that's a word) of the design...even with the paint chips.

 

Coronado 43-8190 (1947) An interesting radio with an odd shape and swirled plastic trim. Cabinet repainted in original color. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Delco R-1230A (1947) This ivory painted bakelite radio has the famous "ribbon candy" grille design.

 

Delco R-1231A (1948) This is a brown bakelite version of the "ribbon candy" grille design. The dial is a little different from the ivory painted model R-1230A.

 

Fada 790 (1949) This bakelite Fada has AM/FM and a metal lattice grille.

 

Farnsworth GT-050 (1948) Bakelite "bullet" shaped radio. The knobs on this radio are made from highly-swirled plastic. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Firestone 4-A-26 "Newscaster" (1948) This Firestone has been repainted; the original ivory paint was so badly chipped, it looked like a Dalmatian. The original instructions are still in their packet, attached to the inside of the back.

 

Firestone S-7402-5 (1940) The original chipped paint on this radio is approaching the "Dalmatian" stage. The owner rescued this radio from a trash dumpster. It is complete, though, and should make a good candidate for restoration. Contributed by Howard T. Perry.

 

General Electric 114W (1946) This GE radio is made of ivory plastic.

 

Reverse: Lyric 546T (1946) This ivory painted bakelite radio has an interesting grille design and a full bakelite back.

 

Majestic 5A410 (1946) An ivory painted bakelite radio with a very streamlined design, right down to the bullet-shaped knobs. Here's some information in case you need to reproduce the dial of this radio.

 

Motorola 58R11 (1948) Another small set. I don't know why I like this one, but I do. This set is less than 8 inches wide and the knobs are made from a swirled plastic. I'm guessing on the model; it could also be a 58R11A from 1949.

 

Philco 49-503 "Transitone" (1949) A very stylish radio. Plastic cabinet with a "flying wedge" grille design.

 

Philco 49-901 (1949) An interesting design, from both aesthetic and functional viewpoints. There is one large, ribbed control cylinder. Rotating it turns the radio on and off and adjusts the volume; pushing it down changes the station to one of six presets. These presets are defined with six separate tuning knobs on the underside of the radio. As each channel is selected, the pilot light changes color (purple, orange, green, red, blue, and white). This radio is sometimes listed as the "Secretary" in collector books. A clever, cool design in a great green and gold color scheme.

 

Philco "Transitone" (1942?) A typical radio design of this period. Probably a model 42-PT4.

 

Package: RCA 8-X-541 (1949) This otherwise run-of-the-mill radio is unique because it was found still sealed in its original package! This radio came with an instruction sheet and a promotional booklet explaining the RCA "Golden Throat" system. Contributed by John Klier.

 

Sentinel 194UTW (1940) A great little bakelite radio with a nice dial and handle. The knobs are probably not original.

 

Setchell-Carlson 427 (1947) A large "frog-eye" radio, brown bakelite. The chassis is mounted upside-down inside the cabinet. Uses 115v AC/DC power.

 

Setchell-Carlson 437 (1948) A large version of the "frog-eye" radio. Gray-blue in color, with deep red knobs and grille. The chassis in this large (12 inches wide) set is mounted upside-down inside the cabinet. A 32 volt, DC only set.

 

Silvertone 7024 (1947?) Nice bakelite radio with a "candy cane" design for the clear plastic dial marking strip. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Silvertone 9000 (1949) This small radio from Sears has a clean design and a stylized "S" on the tuning knob.

 

Sonora WJU-253 (1948) Less than eight inches wide, this post-war set has a very organic design; nearly every surface of this small radio has a curve to it. The date is a guess.

 

Tele-Tone 135 (1947) A small bakelite radio, repainted in original color. Contributed item.

 

Truetone D2615 (1946) A smartly styled radio, repainted in original color. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

 

Unknown (1940s?) The manufacturer's label has worn off this little set. It's about 7¾ inches wide, 5½ inches tall, and 5 inches deep. It uses four tubes: 12A8, 50L6, 12SQ7, and 35Z5. Any ideas?

 

Zenith 6D015Z "Consoltone" (1946) Bakelite radio with a flip-up handle and symmetric styling. Contributed by Mike Anderson.

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