Mid-Century '50 Motorola radio

[decojoe67]

I just acquired this really mint 1950 Motorola 5X12U radio in ivory. It's all original except for a complete chassis restoration. I like the soft ivory color and satin-silver dial ring and bend rod stand. The concave grill has a nice sparkle too and the looped hairpin pointers is so '50's. I actually like these better than similar Zenith's. Motorola's version is lighter and cleaner looking.

[SpaceAge]

Looking good. Motorola TVs and radios from the 50s... there's something about them, they just have more "character" than the competition of the time (IMO).

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by SpaceAge

Looking good. Motorola TVs and radios from the 50s... there's something about them, they just have more "character" than the competition of the time (IMO).

The lesser brands often had more appeal. It's like the tops brands (RCA, Philco, GE) didn't need to waste a lot of time on styling, while the competitors had to. I a collector that likes names for some reason. I just like the name "Motorola"! LOL. That actually started from them first producing car radios, hence, "Motor" and then old stand-by "ola".

[Electronic M]

Some of the major brands did try to have radical modern styling. 30's and 40's Philco sets tended to have fairly out there modern styling, though it most of their 50s offerings I've seen seemed kinda bland.

[Blast]

That's a very attractive model.

Here's me and my Mom in 1956 with her 1952 Motorola.

Mom always listened to the radio in the kitchen. She also had a Firestone mid-40's AM radio as a backup. When one of them went down it went to the shop and the other backup came out of the closet.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Blast

That's a very attractive model.

Here's me and my Mom in 1956 with her 1952 Motorola.

Mom always listened to the radio in the kitchen. She also had a Firestone mid-40's AM radio as a backup. When one of them went down it went to the shop and the other backup came out of the closet.

Thank you, and thanks for the great picture. Connecting these old sets with a memory, or better yet, photos makes them so much more special.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

The lesser brands often had more appeal. It's like the tops brands (RCA, Philco, GE) didn't need to waste a lot of time on styling, while the competitors had to. I a collector that likes names for some reason. I just like the name "Motorola"! LOL. That actually started from them first producing car radios, hence, "Motor" and then old stand-by "ola".

Motorola never made the cheapie four tube radio like Admiral, GE, Westinghouse and others using the Autodyne convertor and one IF transformer. They were OK for local reception, but even distant 50KW stations were hard to receive. Some owners didn't care because they only listened to the locals anyway.