June 1931

Philco for 1931 (introduced June 1931)

Overview

The Philco line was great­ly expand­ed for 1931-32 and now includ­ed two bat­tery mod­els, two DC-only mod­els, and quite a few AC mod­els from 7 to 11 tubes includ­ing two radio-phono­graphs and even a chair­side model.

Ini­tial­ly, all of the new Philco mod­els were super­hetero­dynes except for the TRF Mod­el 46, which was a DC-only set. (Inci­den­tal­ly, the 46 Baby Grand was the only mod­el car­ried over from March 1931.)

Four new Philco cab­i­nets (112 low­boy, 112 high­boy, 212 radio-phono­graph, and 370 Lazy­boy) were designed by the famous indus­tri­al design­er, Nor­man Bel Ged­des. These cab­i­nets car­ried a spe­cial decal inside with a styl­ized NBG on the left side, and which stat­ed, "This cab­i­net designed by Nor­man Bel Geddes."

Model Index

The fol­low­ing March 1931 mod­el remained in the Philco line­up: 46 Baby Grand. All oth­er Jan­u­ary-March 1931 mod­els were discontinued.

Click on a thumb­nail to see infor­ma­tion and pho­tos for each model:

35 Baby Grand	35 High­boy	46 Baby Grand	46 High­boy	70 Baby Grand	70 Low­boy	70 High­boy
90 Baby Grand	90 Low­boy	90 High­boy	112 Low­boy	112 High­boy	212 Radio-Phono­graph	270 Radio-Phono­graph
370 Lazy­boy

Models

Model 35 Baby Grand

Designed for oper­a­tion where AC or DC cur­rent was not avail­able, such as farms and rur­al areas, the Mod­el 35 is the bat­tery-oper­at­ed ver­sion of the AC Mod­el 70. It uses the super­hetero­dyne cir­cuit. It may be dis­tin­guished from Mod­el 70 in that it uses screws with rosettes to hold its heavy per­ma­nent mag­net speak­er in place.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 288,620 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­el 70 Baby Grand as well as March 1931 Mod­els 21 & 46 Baby Grands, and ear­ly Fall 1931 Mod­el 50 Baby Grand)

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Model 35 Highboy

A bat­tery-oper­at­ed chas­sis in a fur­ni­ture cab­i­net that is iden­ti­cal in appear­ance to the Mod­el 70 Highboy.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 120,220 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­els 46 & 70 Highboys)

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Model 46 Baby Grand

Con­tin­ued in pro­duc­tion from March 1931, Mod­el 46 was designed to oper­ate on 110 volts, direct cur­rent (DC) only.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $60.95

Num­ber made: 288,620 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­els 35 & 70 Baby Grands as well as March 1931 Mod­el 21 Baby Grand, and ear­ly Fall 1931 Mod­el 50 Baby Grand)

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Model 46 Highboy

A new High­boy fur­ni­ture cab­i­net for the Mod­el 46.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $76.75

Num­ber made: 120,220 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­els 35 & 70 Highboys)

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Model 70 Baby Grand

The sev­en-tube AC ver­sion of this clas­sic receiv­er. It is most often found in wal­nut, although mahogany ver­sions also exist.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $49.95

Num­ber made: 288,620 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­el 35 Baby Grand as well as March 1930 Mod­els 21 & 46 Baby Grands, and ear­ly Fall 1931 Mod­el 50 Baby Grand)

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Model 70 Lowboy

This par­tic­u­lar mod­el was not a strong sell­er, and is dif­fi­cult to find today.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $59.17

Num­ber made: 4,900

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Model 70 Highboy

A very com­mon and eas­i­ly found Philco.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $65.75

Num­ber made: 120,220 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Mod­els 35 & 46 Highboys)

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Model 90 Baby Grand

This is the one. It has been referred to as "the epit­o­me of antique radios." The clas­sic styling has made this set and its small­er look-alikes, Mod­els 21, 35, 46 and 70 Baby Grands, high­ly sought after for decades now.

Note that ear­ly ver­sions had plain­er bot­tom mold­ing, and a 3/8" thick front pan­el. Lat­er ver­sions have fanci­er bot­tom mold­ing and a 1/4" thick front panel.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $69.50

Num­ber made: 106,050

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Model 90 Lowboy

A good-look­ing low­boy cab­i­net hous­ing the 9-tube Mod­el 90.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $89.75

Num­ber made: 105,740

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Model 90 Highboy

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $109.75

Num­ber made: 20,890

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Model 112 Lowboy

One of four Philco cab­i­nets designed by Nor­man Bel Ged­des. All four fea­ture the half-round bead­ing along the top edges and a spe­cial styl­ized "P" grille cloth (which, unfor­tu­nate­ly, is not being reproduced).

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $149.50

Num­ber made: 28,857

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Model 112 Highboy

Anoth­er Bel Ged­des cab­i­net, this one has slid­ing doors which reveal the set's dial, con­trols, and speak­er grille.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $169.50

Num­ber made: 12,043

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Model 212 Radio-Phonograph

A large, ornate radio-phono­graph com­bi­na­tion which was also designed by Bel Ged­des. Like the August 1930 Con­cert Grand, this mod­el also had a front pan­el cov­ered in a dec­o­ra­tive cloth. And like the 211 radio-phono­graph of Jan­u­ary 1931, this mod­el also fea­tured a Cape­hart auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $295

Num­ber made: 1,900

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Model 270 Radio-Phonograph

A more com­pact, more afford­able, radio-phono­graph; incor­po­rat­ing a sin­gle-play 78 rpm record play­er and a Mod­el 70 chassis.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $110

Num­ber made: 5,605

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Model 370 Lazyboy

The fourth of the Bel Ged­des cab­i­nets for 1931, and a radio which intro­duced a new type of cab­i­net style - the Chair­side. It was designed to be placed next to a chair, with its con­trols eas­i­ly reached from top.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $69.50

Num­ber made: 16,285 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of June 1932 Mod­el 71LZ Lazyboy)

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