Borkman Radio Corporation

[MichaelA]

Hi All,

Could anyone give me any information on the Borkman Radio Corp. of Salt Lake City? I have a dual horn speaker case made by them, or at least using their Velvet drivers and am seeking info on when it might have been produced, impedance, etc. I suspect it is out of the '20s.

Thanks,
Michael

[Nick_the_'Nole]

All the few pieces of Borkman stuff I've ever seen was out of the mid-late '20s. I'm not familiar with a dual horn radio speaker of any sort, maybe a picture would help identify exactly what you have, but regardless it's probably a high impedance driver in the range of 1500-2000 ohms... It would only realistically be usable with the battery radios of the same era, although to test if it works I have driven similar things from the line-out of a preamp or CD player or the like... Just a precautionary warning in case you're tempted, do not hook it up to a regular amplifier.

[Sandy G]

My "Grinder's" doesn't list Borkman-either they weren't in business very long or produced few pieces. There were literally hundreds of little outfits that went into the business of making majical boxes that talked in the '20s-and just as soon died out. Sounds to me like you got something there, kiddo ! <grin> -Sandy G.

[MichaelA]

I have a mid-twenties King Mfg. battery radio that is in need of a speaker. This should work for that, right?

I will take some pictures of the speaker tomorrow and see if I can figure out how to post them here. It has two curved horns that are probably paper maiche or some such with metal throat attachments. There is no crossover but one horn is longer than the other so I suppose there was some sort of acoustic division of the signal. It is in a wooden case with fretwork and cloth front and stands on cabriole legs.

What other pieces have you seen? Radios or speakers?

Too cool, Thanks,

Michael

[MichaelA]

Here are some pics, I hope.

Michael