The Echophone model S-4 cathedral

[decojoe67]

This was a revised version of THE earliest cathedral produced by the company, the very similar model "C". That primitive "bread-board" style chassis set was manufactured in late 1929-early 1930 in Los Angeles. By mid-year manufacturing moved to Chicago and the set was made with a more conventional chassis and slightly revised cabinet with the model numbers S-3 and S-4. The next year the highly desirable repwood gothic grilled models were manufactured. Soon they were bought-out by Hallicrafters and their golden era was over.
This set had a rather poor cabinet refresh and I completely refinished it with a correct "toasted" edged look. It has a lit drum dial and only a volume control in front. The on/off toggle switch is oddly mounted on the back of the chassis and is factory correct. Pretty good 6-tube performance. It was nicknamed the "Bantam".

[Electronic M]

Interesting history lesson. Would have never known Halicrafters bought them.
I think I recaped one for someone a few years ago.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Interesting history lesson. Would have never known Halicrafters bought them.
I think I recaped one for someone a few years ago.

Yes. I was surprised too. It seems Echophone was just another one those casualties of the early days of radio. I think they thought that by rushing a midget/compact set onto the market first would've netted them a fortune. Although the model C seemed to sell fairly well, within a year when the big manufacturers introduced their versions, the company took a nosedive. I believe first Western Television bought the company and moved production to Chicago. It seems that's when the last of the classic gothic Echophone's were manufactured. In about 1934 Hallicrafters bought-out the company and the sets produced into the post-war era were nondescript plain-Jane sets.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Yes. I was surprised too. It seems Echophone was just another one those casualties of the early days of radio. I think they thought that by rushing a midget/compact set onto the market first would've netted them a fortune. Although the model C seemed to sell fairly well, within a year when the big manufacturers introduced their versions, the company took a nosedive. I believe first Western Television bought the company and moved production to Chicago. It seems that's when the last of the classic gothic Echophone's were manufactured. In about 1934 Hallicrafters bought-out the company and the sets produced into the post-war era were nondescript plain-Jane sets.

Hallicrafters bought out Echophone for the RCA license.
Also, it was at the beginning of the Depression and even more established firms didn't survive and they were absorbed by the larger firms.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Hallicrafters bought out Echophone for the RCA license.
Also, it was at the beginning of the Depression and even more established firms didn't survive and they were absorbed by the larger firms.

Yes, I believe it allowed for Hallicrafters to go into production, but the Echophone name was shelved at that point. It came back, in the early post war years, but that seemed to be short-lived.
There's some companies that are very hard to follow because there was so much buying, selling, regrouping, and relocating.