Philco for 1932 (introduced Fall 1932)

Overview

Two Philco mod­els were replaced with new ver­sions, while ten more mod­els were added to the Philco line­up in the Fall of 1932. One became a run­away best sell­er because of its low price - Mod­el 80B.

Model Index

The fol­low­ing mod­els were dis­con­tin­ued: 36L, 43X. All oth­er June 1932 mod­els remained in the Philco lineup.

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

36L 37C 37L 43X 48B 48C 48L
71X 80B 80C 80P Portable 80 Colo­nial Clock

Models


Model 36L

Model 36L

This new low­boy cab­i­net for the bat­tery-oper­at­ed Mod­el 36 was very sim­i­lar to the June 1932 Mod­el 52L.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $69.95

Num­ber made: 300



Model 37C

One of two new bat­tery-oper­at­ed Philcos for fall 1932. This set, while sim­i­lar to Mod­el 52C, fea­tured a unique grille.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown



Model 37L

The oth­er new bat­tery set which, like the 37C, used a five-tube chassis.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 13,196 (Note: Fig­ure includes Mod­el 48L as well as June 1932 Mod­el 52L)



Model 43X

The new 43X was now in a cab­i­net which was very sim­i­lar to Mod­el 15X. It was a very poor seller.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $100

Num­ber made: 100



Model 48B

Mod­el 48, a 110 volt DC ver­sion of Mod­el 52, made its debut in the Fall of 1932. It was avail­able as a Baby Grand, a com­pact table mod­el, or as a low­boy (see below).

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 28,420 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of June 1932 Mod­el 52B)



Model 48C

A com­pact ver­sion of Mod­el 48, made to run on direct cur­rent only.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 6,200 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of June 1932 Mod­el 52C)



Model 48L

This low­boy, which was out­ward­ly iden­ti­cal to Mod­els 37L & 52L, was designed for use on 110 volts D.C. (direct cur­rent) only.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 13,196 (Note: Fig­ure includes Mod­el 37L as well as June 1932 Mod­el 52L)



Model 71X

A new "Inclined Sound­ing Board" mod­el, the 71X is iden­ti­cal in out­ward appear­ance to Mod­el 91X.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $80

Num­ber made: 7,000



Model 80B

A new "price leader" set, this lit­tle four-tube regen­er­a­tive super­hetero­dyne does not work as well as its larg­er cousins.

This radio was intend­ed to get peo­ple into the show­rooms, where it was the job of the sales­men to sell a cus­tomer "up" to a high­er-priced mod­el. As 1932 was the worst year of the depres­sion, how­ev­er, the strat­e­gy back­fired on Philco - and Mod­el 80B became a run­away success.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: $18.75

Num­ber made: 196,175 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Jan­u­ary 1933 Mod­el 81B)



Model 80C

The com­pact table mod­el ver­sion of the Mod­el 80. The cab­i­nets look some­what rough, almost "home­made" in appearance.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: Unknown



Model 80P Portable

Philco's first portable radio fea­tured black leatherette cov­er­ing and a car­ry­ing han­dle. How­ev­er, like all oth­er ver­sions of Mod­el 80, it required 110 volts, 60 cycle AC to operate.

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 1,490



Model 80 Colonial Clock

Orig­i­nal sell­ing price: Unknown

Num­ber made: 8,000 (Note: Fig­ure includes pro­duc­tion of Jan­u­ary 1932 Mod­el 551 as well as June 1932 Mod­el 52 Colo­nial Clock)


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