[Ampico-kid]

Hi;
Yes Philco's "Mystery Control" was quite an amazing system. Attached are two photos of my unit with the remote control sitting on top. Also on top is the "recording microphone" for this set. This was Philco's model 41-616 from 1941 and was their primo piece. It included the Mystery Control, Home recording unit, and their "Beam of Light" phonograph playback system. It also had an automatic self sorting record changer, which meant you could place 10" and 12" records together in the same stack and the changer would detect the size and adjust the arm drop position accordingly.

The Mystery Control is a real marvel to behold. With this particular set you can change preset radio stations, change the function to play phonograph records, reject records, mute all sounds, adjust the volume louder, softer, or turn the set off. This can be done from a location anywhere up to about 35 feet away from the console. There is a fellow who has made a battery holder case that is an exact replica of the original battery for the remote. You can place modern batteries inside of this case and insert it into the remote as the original battery would have been mounted. It looks completely authentic and it works great and seems to last a long time.

The Beam of Light phonograph system is a whole other topic and is also quite an amazing Philco creation.

Cost on the Mystery Control systems is not as expensive as you might expect, although I think it would be quite rare to find one in working condition. It took me the better part of a year to get this console with all of it's various components working fully. The Mystery Control system was a real challenge since there are so many nuances and tricks to bring it back. But it was a fun and interesting challege all the way. It would appear that the remote control "box" is almost as expensive, if not more so, than the radio receiver that goes with it, and it seems quite rare to find a radio console and remote being sold together. Most folks don't even know what the remote is. I've seen it listed as a small radio receiver and even a wireless phone.

Anyway, just wanted to chime in with my two cents when I saw your post about Philco's "Mystery Control".

Bob.