Philco for 1950

Overview

Philco's radio line shrank to 24 mod­els for 1950. The com­pa­ny con­tin­ued to offer a vari­ety of table mod­el radios, porta­bles, and radio-phono­graph models.

Bat­tery-oper­at­ed "farm" sets were not offered by Philco in the 1950 season.

The com­pa­ny intro­duced its first mod­ern clock radio, the 50-527, which could be set to turn the radio on auto­mat­i­cal­ly ("wake to music").

Mahogany replaced wal­nut as the fin­ish of choice on wood cab­i­nets this season.

Model Index

Intro­duced Sum­mer 1949, with changes/additions made Jan­u­ary 1950

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

The 1950 Philco Line

50-520 50-522 50-524 50-526 50-527 50-620 50-621
50-920 50-921 50-922 50-925 50-926 50-1420 & 50-1421 50-1422
50-1423 50-1424 50-1718 50-1720 50-1721 50-1723 50-1724
50-1725 50-1726 50-1727

Models

The 1950 Philco Line


Model 50-520

Model 50-520 - Model 50-520 in mahogany plastic.
Model 50-520 - Model 50-520 in ivory.

These two five-tube, AM-only mod­els oper­at­ed on AC or DC cur­rent and received the AM band.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-522

Model 50-522 - Model 50-522 in mahogany plastic.
Model 50-522 - Model 50-522 in ivory.

Slight­ly larg­er than the 50-520 above, the 522 also used five tubes and received the AM band.

The cab­i­net was avail­able in mahogany or ivory (50-522-I).

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-524

Model 50-524

Elec­tron­i­cal­ly iden­ti­cal to the 50-522 above, the 524 was avail­able in a wood cab­i­net with a mahogany finish.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-526

Model 50-526

This Philco mod­el used five tubes, oper­at­ed on AC or DC cur­rent, and received the AM band only.

The cab­i­net is maroon phe­no­lic with a grille that is gold in color.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-527

Model 50-527 - Model 50-527 in brown plastic.
Model 50-527 - Model 50-527 in ivory.

Philco's first clock radios to offer a "wake to music" fea­ture, these mod­els could be set to turn them­selves off and on at a pre-pro­grammed time.

They use five tubes and receive the AM band.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-620

Model 50-620
Model 50-620 Model 50-620 - Model 50-620, three available colors: Brown, Teal Green, Maroon

This portable, basi­cal­ly unchanged from Jan­u­ary 1948, was avail­able in three colors:

It uses four tubes plus a sele­ni­um rec­ti­fi­er, and can oper­ate on AC or DC house cur­rent as well as batteries.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-621

Model 50-621 - Model 50-621, available in Brown, Spruce Green and Beige.

Anoth­er "three-way" portable (oper­ates on AC or DC cur­rent or on bat­ter­ies), this mod­el receives the AM band only. It uses five tubes plus a sele­ni­um rectifier.

The 621 was avail­able in the fol­low­ing colors:

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-920

Model 50-920
Model 50-920 Model 50-920

This AC/DC Philco uses six tubes and receives the AM band.

The cab­i­net is made of mahogany plastic.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-921

Model 50-921
Model 50-921

Sim­i­lar to the 50-920 above, the 921 is in an ivory paint­ed cabinet.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-922

Model 50-922

Yet anoth­er Philco mod­el which is elec­tron­i­cal­ly sim­i­lar to the 50-920, the 922 had a larg­er dial on its maroon plas­tic cabinet.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-925

Model 50-925
Model 50-925

Near­ly iden­ti­cal to the 1949 mod­el 49-905, the 925 used a dial scale with dif­fer­ent col­ors for the AM and FM bands.

This mod­el has six tubes plus a sele­ni­um rec­ti­fi­er, and oper­ates on AC or DC current.

The cab­i­net is made of brown plastic.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-926

Model 50-926 - Model 50-926, front. Image used with permission.
Model 50-926 - Model 50-926, top. Image used with permission. Model 50-926 - Model 50-926, side. Image used with permission. Model 50-926 - Model 50-926, back. Image used with permission. Model 50-926

Sim­i­lar to the 50-925, the 926 is anoth­er AM-FM table mod­el which uses six tubes plus a sele­ni­um rec­ti­fi­er, and also oper­ates on AC or DC current.

The cab­i­net is mahogany fin­ished wood, with leather pan­els on the top and sides.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Models 50-1420 & 50-1421

Models 50-1420 & 50-1421 - Image courtesy of Clifford R. Huff.
Models 50-1420 & 50-1421

Mod­els 50-1420 and 50-1421 are iden­ti­cal in appear­ance to one anoth­er. The 1420 was intro­duced in June 1949; the 1421 replaced the 1420 in Jan­u­ary 1950.

Both mod­els include a five-tube AM radio and a two-speed phono­graph that plays 78 rpm records auto­mat­i­cal­ly, and 33-1/3 rpm LPs man­u­al­ly using a sep­a­rate tone arm.

The cab­i­net is made of brown Bakelite.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1422

Model 50-1422

The 1422 is basi­cal­ly iden­ti­cal to the 1420 and 1421. The dif­fer­ence is the new three-speed (33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm) record chang­er used in the 1422.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1423

Model 50-1423 - Model 50-1423, closed.
Model 50-1423 - Model 50-1423, open.

Sim­i­lar elec­tron­i­cal­ly to the 1422, the 1423 is housed in a wood cab­i­net with a mahogany finish.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1424

Model 50-1424 - Model 50-1424, closed. Image courtesy of Terry Dumerauf.
Model 50-1424 - Model 50-1424, open. Image courtesy of Terry Dumerauf.

This table mod­el radio-phono­graph had a five-tube AM radio and a three-speed record chang­er, all housed in a wood cab­i­net with a mahogany finish.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1718

Model 50-1718

Philco's entry-lev­el con­sole radio-phono­graph for 1950, it includes an six tube AM radio and a three speed auto­mat­ic record changer.

The wood cab­i­net, iden­ti­cal to the 50-1720 below, has a mahogany finish.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1720

Model 50-1720 - Model 50-1720, closed.
Model 50-1720 - Model 50-1720, open. Model 50-1720

An AM-FM floor mod­el radio which uses sev­en tubes plus two sele­ni­um rec­ti­fiers, the 1720 also includes a three speed auto­mat­ic record chang­er inside its mahogany fin­ished cabinet.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1721

Model 50-1721 - Model 50-1721, closed.
Model 50-1721 - Model 50-1721, open.

This eight tube AM/FM Philco mod­el also includes a three speed auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1723

Model 50-1723 - Model 50-1723, closed.
Model 50-1723 - Model 50-1723, open.

Like the 1722, the 50-1723 uses an eight tube AM-FM radio cou­pled with a three speed auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1724

Model 50-1724 - Model 50-1724, closed.
Model 50-1724 - Model 50-1724, open.

This Philco mod­el fea­tures a mahogany cab­i­net with leather on the radio con­trol pan­el. It uses eight tubes and receives AM and FM, and can play 33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm records on its auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1725

Model 50-1725

This mod­el uses sev­en tubes plus two sele­ni­um rec­ti­fiers; receives the AM and FM bands; and can play 33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm records on its auto­mat­ic record changer.

The cab­i­net, as with all 1950 Philco con­sole radio-phono­graphs, is wood with a mahogany finish.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1726

Model 50-1726 - Model 50-1726, closed.
Model 50-1726 - Model 50-1726, open.

A larg­er Philco radio with eleven tubes is housed inside this mahogany cab­i­net along with a three speed auto­mat­ic record changer.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

Model 50-1727

Model 50-1727 - Model 50-1727, closed.
Model 50-1727 - Model 50-1727, open.

Sim­i­lar elec­tron­i­cal­ly to the 1726, the 1727 is housed in a slight­ly larg­er mahogany cabinet.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown

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