The Smiling Hippo...
 

...Got one of these, a Philco model # 49-900-121, AKA "The Smiling Hippo". Of course, it don't work, but cosmetically, it's superb. Should be a good performer, as it has 6 tubes, which means an RF stage. Kind of a neat little set, pickle-shaped dial. After I put Ze Elbow Grease to it, the bakelite oughta GLOW... (grin)-S.

a Philco Hippo eh? I hear good things about them, and they do look neat. Does that use octals or those goofy Philco loctal tubes?

Goofy loctals. An answer to a question nobody asked...

Where do you find that stuff, Sandy? Those "hippos" are cool!! IIRC, Philco developed loctals for possible military applications. Lock the tube into the socket instead of using hold-down clamp thingys. I have quite a stash of loctals in my tube inventory, since my RME-45 is chuck full of 'em!

I always thought the loctals were developed for use in car radios.

nice radio, I've never heard of them called hippos before, it does kinds look like one, logan

Well, I yanked the AC cord off it-Was broken & had wires showing where it went into the chassis. Typically, a lot of these old guys need their cords replaced...They get dry-rotted & aren't safe. I figger this l'il feller dates from 1948-49. The Loctals were sposed to stay "in" better than regular old tubes, but there was one rattlin' around inside this l'il fella when I opened him up...Wasn't broken or nothin', just worked loose, I guess. Typical dirt/dust on the inside, but I'm not gonna take the chassis out-the funky dial has part of the tuning mechanism attached to it, & to the case, & I don't wanna bust something...I don't think you can skip down to the local hardware store & order parts for these anymore, like you might could have in 1950...I think "Philco" is nothing more than a name that is owned by some faceless conglomerate in China, that dumps cheaply made junk over here now.

I keep looking for the pics...:dunno:

Wow, whatta riot...
Is this what it looks like??

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1213922474

Yep. That kinda looks like it-except mine has no phono, & is natural bakelite-dark mud brown.

Well, for once it's not BLACK plastic crap...

I thought that might be the case when I found other pics, but this one had the nice open mouth and little tusky looking things I just had to post it :D

This more like it???

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1213922989

THAT'S IT !! (grin)

I love it, can I come over and see it in person?

I think the Philco name is still owned by Phillips actually. They probably use it on that retro garbage, like the Crosley nameplate gets abused.

Zenith name and logo on cheap replicas? I wouldn't be surprised.
 

Now that the Zenith Radio Corporation is history, I wouldn't be surprised if some day some Japanese or Korean electronics firm would start using the lightning-bolt Z logo, and the Zenith name itself, on replica radios, phonographs, etc.--if they haven't started doing so already. Depends on whether the Zenith name and logo are in the public domain or are still owned by LG.

Magnavox is now a division of Philips, and has been for some time. Their 1990s televisions used to have the Philips-Magnavox branding on them; I had a "Magnavox" branded VCR in the late 1980s-'90s, but I'm not sure whether or not Philips had bought them out by then. I do know that most if not all of today's "Magnavox" branded VCRs, however, are rebadged Funai junk that won't last longer than a year, if that long, and if you're lucky. I don't know about Magnavox-branded DVD/VHS players, but I'd guess they are built by Funai as well, with cheap plastic parts in the drive mechanisms, like everything else these days. :no:

Philips bought Magnavox no later than '81. Maybe late '70's. I read somewhere where it might have happened as early as '75. We had an early 80's 19" Magnavox TV that was actually a NAP set. Your Magnavox VCR from the late '80's was probably built by Panasonic. We had a mid '80's Magnavox / Panasonic VCR and that thing was very well built. To my knowledge, all of their VCR's since the mid '90's have been built by Funai and I know the current DVD/VCR units are built by Funai. These are total pieces of garbage and I've gotten so I won't even pull the top off of one to try to repair it.

Philco info
 

More stuff than you really wanna know.... check it out

http://philcoradio.com/

btw: might wanna swap out the filter caps so it doesn't blow up.:yes:

John L.

Muchas Gracias for the Philco link ! Yep, mine'll undoubtedly need new caps-Found out the "Hard Way" the cord was no good...(grin)

Talk about a perfect nickname - Smiling Hippo. That totally nails it.

Pretty cool looking radio, my friend. Congrats.