1948 (June 1947)

Mod­el 48-1200 was a portable sin­gle-play phono­graph, with no radio. It oper­at­ed the same as mod­els 48-1201 and 48-1260; open a door, slide a record in, close the door and the record would then play auto­mat­i­cal­ly - and stop auto­mat­i­cal­ly at the end of the record.

This set was "portable" only to the extent that it had a han­dle on the door - it required 115 volts, 60 cycle AC to operate.

The lit­tle knob shown at upper right of the front pan­el was actu­al­ly at top cen­ter of the front pan­el on pro­duc­tion models.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $49.95

Num­ber made: 31,420

Electric (AC & AC-DC) Models

Model 48-460

This mod­el was a recy­cled 1946-47 mod­el 46-420. These sets, includ­ing the 1949 ver­sion (Mod­el 49-900) have all gained cult sta­tus among some col­lec­tors and have been named "The Hippo".

The 48-460 uses 6 tubes and receives the AM band.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $34.95

Num­ber made: 56,461

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Model 48-460-I

Mod­el 48-460-I, in an ivory paint­ed Bake­lite cab­i­net, is oth­er­wise iden­ti­cal to Mod­el 48-460 above.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $37.50

Num­ber made: 57,120

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Model 48-461

Mod­el 48-461 uses 6 tubes and receives AM only. The entire cab­i­net is fin­ished in "Philcote" (photofin­ish), a process meant to repli­cate the look of expen­sive veneers on very plain, white wood.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $34.95

Num­ber made: 44,633

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Model 48-464

This large Bake­lite radio is a 6-tube set, designed to receive AM and short­wave broadcasts.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $49.95

Num­ber made: 16,251

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Model 48-472

In 1945, the FCC moved FM from the 42-50 mc band to the 88-106 mc spec­trum (lat­er expand­ed to 88-108 mc). Radios capa­ble of receiv­ing the new FM band were avail­able, but expen­sive. Mod­el 48-472 was Philco's entry-lev­el AM-FM radio, and it wasn't cheap!

It used 7 tubes.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $79.95

Num­ber made: 12,102

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Model 48-472-I

Mod­el 48-472-I fea­tures an ivory paint­ed Bake­lite cab­i­net, but is oth­er­wise iden­ti­cal with Mod­el 48-472 above.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $84.50

Num­ber made: 3,714

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Model 48-475

Mod­el 48-475 is a very large table mod­el radio and fea­tures a very unusu­al design. With its 8 tubes, it received both AM and FM broad­casts and even includ­ed push­but­tons which could be pre­set to favorite AM (only) stations.

A fair­ly expen­sive radio, it did not sell very well. The more expen­sive 48-482 actu­al­ly did bet­ter; out­selling the 475 by bet­ter than 5 to 1.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $129.95

Num­ber made: 4,977

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Model 48-482

Mod­el 48-482 was the King of Philco table Mod­els for 1948. A very large radio (20 inch­es wide and a foot tall), it could receive AM, FM and short wave with its 9 tubes.

Despite its high price, it sold fair­ly well.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $149.95

Num­ber made: 25,908

Radio-Phonograph Models

Model 48-1201

The mod­el 48-1201 "Bing Cros­by Spe­cial" was the 1948 ver­sion of the extreme­ly pop­u­lar 1946-47 mod­el 46-1201. 5 tubes, AM only.

Most 1948 mod­els have a round brass medal­lion in place of the PHILCO decal; the medal­lion is embossed with the PHILCO trademark.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $69.95

Num­ber made: 30,463

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Model 48-1253

Mod­el 48-1253 fea­tured AM recep­tion and an auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $99.95

Num­ber made: 43,932

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Model 48-1256

Mod­el 48-1256 used 6 tubes and includ­ed an auto­mat­ic record chang­er. It received the AM band only. It was avail­able in either Wal­nut or Mahogany.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $124.95 (wal­nut), $129.95 (mahogany)

Num­ber made: 18,723 (wal­nut), 28,003 (mahogany)

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Model 48-1260

Mod­el 48-1260 was Philco's entry-lev­el con­sole for the 1948 sea­son. It fea­tured AM recep­tion and a sin­gle-play phono­graph that oper­at­ed like the table Mod­el 48-1201, shown above; and the portable 48-1200.

This set was avail­able in either Mahogany or Blonde.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $129.95 (mahogany), $134.95 (blonde)

Num­ber made: 22,897 (mahogany), 1,927 (blonde)

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Model 48-1262

Mod­el 48-1262 was a 6-tube, AM-only receiv­er and includ­ed an auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $159.95

Num­ber made: 48,314

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Model 48-1263

Mod­el 48-1263, yet anoth­er AM-only con­sole with phono­graph, had a con­trol pan­el which could be eas­i­ly viewed from above, mak­ing it con­ve­nient for the own­er to oper­ate from a stand­ing posi­tion. 8 tubes.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $199.95

Num­ber made: 11,672

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Model 48-1264

Mod­el 48-1264 was Philco's low­est priced con­sole radio-phono­graph to include FM as well as AM cov­er­age. It used 9 tubes and a drop-pan­el door to reveal its record changer.

These were avail­able in Wal­nut and Blonde.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $259.50 (wal­nut), $265.50 (blonde)

Num­ber made: 20,815 (wal­nut), 2,142 (blonde)

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Model 48-1266

Mod­el 48-1266 includ­ed AM, SW and FM recep­tion and used 9 tubes. The top doors could be opened and slid into the cab­i­net, out of view. The bot­tom door drops down to reveal the phonograph.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $329.50

Num­ber made: 4,951

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Model 48-1270

Mod­el 48-1270, a 13-tube radio-phono­graph, fea­tured AM, SW and FM recep­tion and a "Dynam­ic" (mag­net­ic) phono­graph car­tridge which was also used on Philco's more expen­sive radio-phono models.

This set was avail­able in Wal­nut, Mahogany and Bleached Mahogany.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $359.50 (wal­nut), $369.50 (mahogany or bleached mahogany)

Num­ber made: 6,614 (wal­nut), 7,436 (mahogany), 1,989 (bleached mahogany)

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Model 48-1274

Mod­el 48-1274 "Hep­ple­white" is rem­i­nis­cent of some of Philco's high­er-end 1942 radio-phono­graphs in style. And this was no acci­dent - this, too, was a high-end, very expen­sive set. It fea­tured AM, SW and FM recep­tion, 16 tubes push­ing 15 watts though a coax­i­al speak­er (a small tweet­er mount­ed in front of a large woofer).

For the first time in ten years, the term High Fideli­ty reap­peared on a Philco radio; on this set and its sis­ter mod­el 48-1276. How­ev­er, the High was abbre­vi­at­ed Hi and had more to do with FM and phono­graph repro­duc­tion than AM.

This set was avail­able in both Wal­nut and Mahogany.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $575

Num­ber made: 1,140

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Model 48-1276

Mod­el 48-1276 "Sher­a­ton" was Philco's top of the line receiv­er for the 1948 sea­son. It includ­ed the same 16-tube chas­sis and the same record chang­er as the 48-1274 above, in a some­what fanci­er mahogany cabinet.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $695

Num­ber made: 1,216

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