Decorated Radios, anyone ???

[TA Forbes]

http://cgi.ebay.com/330524249891

Although the radio in this link is not an antique, it reminded me of what the 116B I have looked like when I first got it. Covered in white house paint, face had been spray painted with gold paint. It was one of the most difficult refinishing jobs I have ever undertaken.

I have frequently gotten old radios with "colorful" grillecloth. One looked like the dumb paisley pattern shirts we used to wear back in the 60s. Another one had some kind of "colonial" print from the same timeframe. Cannons, Revolutionary War Soldiers, Tavern Signs like "Ye Olde Boars Head Tavern." It looked like the fabric people used for furniture and curtains back in the 60s and 70s. A Philco 20 deluxe I got had pink grillecloth. My WR 29 had bright red. Jeez.......

A Philco 66 I got 30 years ago had baseball card stickers all over it. My God..............

Has anyone out there in the Phorum readership had any interesting "decorations" made on radios they came across? I bet there are some great stories out there.

[Ron Ramirez]

YUCK.

<sarcasm>I'm surprised this seller didn't notice the "1776" under the dial window and claim that this was the very radio George Washington used to listen to. Other eBay sellers have made similar claims...</sarcasm>

My 650B had striped cloth for "grille cloth" when I bought it. Mostly red, I have forgotten the other color(s). It has since been refinished, and now has the proper V cloth.

I've also acquired radios with equally odd/bizarre cloth. I don't remember any other examples at present, however.

I used to own a 42-345 that had Georgia Tech stickers on it.

The very first complete radio I owned (my second radio overall, the first was a chassis and speakers to a Magnavox CR-181) was an RCA 5T1 that had been painted orange.

I've mentioned in other posts that I currently have a Zenith 10-S-153 out in the garage that has been painted an ugly shade of yellow.