06-06-2020, 10:45 PM
Hello Ron. Nice to "see" you here. It's been a while since we corresponded.
I can tell you that yes, Philco Furniture History did and does exist. And since we last talked, I acquired a photocopy of the prewar portion of Philco Furniture History plus the 1946-47 models. I acquired this several years ago when I was looking to do a revised version of the Philco book - a project which did not work out. This was used as the foundation for the original Philco Radio Gallery that was on this site, now greatly improved and expanded. The production figures listed with each set in the Gallery were taken from Furniture History.
Furniture History, while quite comprehensive, did not cover every model or every variation. A number of what we call "Phactory Phranken-Philcos" have popped up in recent years which are not documented in Furniture History, but enough of them have been found to establish their authenticity. A model 52 grandfather clock is one example. A model 50 chassis in a model 70 Baby Grand cabinet is another. And there are others, mainly prior to 1936.
So if the Gallery does not give production figures for a pre-1948 model, Furniture History does not either.
Further complicating things, Furniture History does not distinguish between multiple Philco models that used the same cabinet - instead, they lumped the entire production of the cabinet into one figure. For the earlier models, the figures were broken down by cabinet manufacturer, but this was not done later on.
The original Furniture History book resides in the National Capital Radio & Television Museum in Maryland. It was formerly in the hands of a collector who was kind enough to make photocopies of its pages from 1928-1947 for me (of course, I paid for the photocopying and postage).
I can tell you that yes, Philco Furniture History did and does exist. And since we last talked, I acquired a photocopy of the prewar portion of Philco Furniture History plus the 1946-47 models. I acquired this several years ago when I was looking to do a revised version of the Philco book - a project which did not work out. This was used as the foundation for the original Philco Radio Gallery that was on this site, now greatly improved and expanded. The production figures listed with each set in the Gallery were taken from Furniture History.
Furniture History, while quite comprehensive, did not cover every model or every variation. A number of what we call "Phactory Phranken-Philcos" have popped up in recent years which are not documented in Furniture History, but enough of them have been found to establish their authenticity. A model 52 grandfather clock is one example. A model 50 chassis in a model 70 Baby Grand cabinet is another. And there are others, mainly prior to 1936.
So if the Gallery does not give production figures for a pre-1948 model, Furniture History does not either.
Further complicating things, Furniture History does not distinguish between multiple Philco models that used the same cabinet - instead, they lumped the entire production of the cabinet into one figure. For the earlier models, the figures were broken down by cabinet manufacturer, but this was not done later on.
The original Furniture History book resides in the National Capital Radio & Television Museum in Maryland. It was formerly in the hands of a collector who was kind enough to make photocopies of its pages from 1928-1947 for me (of course, I paid for the photocopying and postage).
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
