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Hi everybody, I have this 1933/34 "High Boy" Philco radio with a model 19 Chassis, the problem is that I can not ID the cabinet in models that used the Model 19 Chassis. It does not even appear on the Philcoradio web site. There is no markings or labels on the cabinet, the only markings and labels are on the chassis. Was this a third party cabinet/furniture maker that then used the #19 chassis?
https://picasaweb.google.com/10186283838...directlink
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As they told you on the Alternative...oops,
Antique Radio Forum (sorry, old habits are hard to break
), that is a custom third party cabinet that was not made by Philco. There were companies in the 1930s that offered custom cabinets for your radio chassis...and this is one of them.
This cabinet is not in the Philcoradio.com Gallery because the cabinet is not an original Philco issue, and the Gallery only chronicles original Philco factory offerings.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Nonetheless, a grand cabinet, indeed!!!
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It's a beautiful cabinet. I bet it was expensive back when it was new.
The artist formerly known as Puhpow! 8)
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Ron,
Did Philco ever offer chassis for sale for a custom cabinet builders? Seems to me I remember Clint Blaise talking about Philco execs having cabinets built.
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Either Philco did sell chassis to custom cabinet builders, or else people had their chassis pulled from original cabinets and installed into custom aftermarket cabinets...or both. Probably both. Philco obviously sold chassis to the Radiobar Corporation and Columbia Mantel Company ("Singing Fireside" fake fireplaces with a Philco radio built-in), so I would not be surprised if they sold their chassis to a few other companies as well.
The problem is, unlike Zenith, there doesn't seem to be any records of Philco's activities prior to the Ford takeover. I had heard they were in the Ford archives, but the Ford archives are now part of the Benson Ford Collection at Dearborn...and looking through their online catalog...their Philco holdings seem to be limited to Philco annual reports from the 1940s and some advertising material. I hope this doesn't mean the original archives have been lost or destroyed.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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