My wife "got it" the first time she turned on my first tabletop restoration. The switch went CLUNK and she said "WOW! It's real!"
Here's part of a sheet I wrote to accompany a gallery display of antique radios I did for a community radio station's 30th anniversary:
The Lure of Antique Radios
These machines are the remnants of a society that valued things. Things that could last, that were repairable, with owners who treasured them. They weren’t made, or bought, to throw out in a few years or when they broke.
The lure of glowing vacuum tubes brings back memories of our youth, our parents, our grandparents. Radio design in the Golden Age (1920-1950) reflected industrial design and technology of the time. These radios were designed by the same engineers who made the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the automobile, the great trains and airplanes. Their designs combine form, function and beauty, and the result is a timeless allure.
Vacuum tube radios often perform better than modern equivalents. Radio stations were fewer and farther away in those days, and receivers were more sensitive. Worldwide broadcasts on shortwave frequencies were very popular listening in the 1930s as the US came out of the isolationist 20s and began to pay attention to the brewing conflicts in Europe and Asia. Even a simple 5-tube radio can pick up the high-powered clear-channel AM stations in Chicago, Dallas, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Detroit or Denver on a clear night.
Wood cabinets – walnut, mahogany, and others - were dominant through the 20s and 30s. Plastics such as Bakelite, beetle plastic, plaskon, and the beautiful translucent Catalin began to take over around WWII, especially for table sets. These plastics are all but extinct today.
The radio was the center of the household. These were the days before television, and most news and entertainment came into the household via the radio. Radios were furniture, an essential piece of the living room, kitchen, den.
Who owned these radios? What did they listen to? The Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, WWII, the Cold War. The Jazz Era, the big bands, rhythm & blues, the beginnings of Rock ‘n Roll. If only they could talk…
