[GStone]

Hello, this is my first post here and I wanted to introduce myself.

My interest in vintage radios began a year or so ago when I found a Zenith 7A02 at St. Vincent de Paul for $40. It was in pretty decent shape, and although the radio was disassembled, all of the parts (I hope) were included in a plastic bag. I brought it home just because it was beautiful and would look great in the living room.

Then I decided that I needed to make a couple vintage style radio cabinets to serve as speaker cabinets in my new distillery. I figured they'd look a look better than modern cabinets, and after researching makes and models, I settled on the Baby Grand Model 90. Since these will be mounted high on the walls, I'll be making them out of MDF cut on a CNC router and painting them rather than mess with veneer.

Then just last week I nearly gave my son a heart attack when we were driving down a residential street in an older neighborhood and I suddenly yelled STOP!! BACK UP!! He thought he'd hit a child or something, but it was merely the unmistakable shape of a vintage radio console sitting at the curbside... on garbage day. Below are some pictures of the radio/phono, which I couldn't find anything on at all. There's no model sticker and no escutcheon to speak of, although the radio dial says Philco, and the radio unit itself has a Philco logo on it.

Question 1: Are there any woodworking plans available for building the Baby Grand 90 from scratch? If not, can someone tell me the height and width of the cabinet as measured from the back, not including the bottom trim?

Question 2: What the heck is this thing?

Note from site admin: Sorry, but the photos which were attached to this post are no longer available.

[Doug Houston]

At the beginning of our involvement in WW II, radio production, and car production were stopped in early February, 1942. There had been a whole year's supply of auto radios made, and now, no cars to install them in. For those people who needed a new radio, the manufacturers of radios, simply took out the power supplies that operated on n6 volts DC (the car's system), and installed a power transformer for house power. These pop up every so often, and you have found one of them. The set is a Philco aftermarket set, for universal mount in cars. It appears to have the generic cable controlled control head. Kind of spartan. There are service notes around for those radios.

The changer is a typical prewar 78 RPM V-M changer. All of these components were on hand, and there were cabinets with blank panels, as this one is, so some company; possibly Philco in this case simply pieced a phonograph combination together and in those days, somebody probably paid a good price to get it. During the war, ANY kind of working radio brought a big price, especially small table sets.

You should have been there. You missed all the fun.

[Jayce]

Hmm, I only thought Philco made two models with the car radios in them. Now this one makes for a third. Good save!

[exray]

I've never seen that one either.

Hey, where was the picture taken? Looks like the inside of a brewery

[GStone]

Thanks much for the replies.

Exray, the pics were taken in my distillery. I was distilling in Portland until last year, but decided to open up in Seattle since this is where I live. With any luck, the federal permitting will come through in time to allow me to open in June.

[TA Forbes]

I have been collecting radios since the '60s and have only seen a couple of these conversions come around. Unsure of production numbers, but after the war they were quickly discarded for the flood of post war offerings. I would imagine part of their rarity is due to them ending up on the curb on trash day, much like your's did. Nice find, definitely a keeper.

[Doug Houston]

I lived through that era. Those auto sets in console cabinets looked funny as the dickens. There were quite a few different auto sets that were sold off that way. During the war, they were the only thing you could buy if your old reliable went belly-up.

I've always had a sort of liking for the '42 Chrysler set in a chairside cabinet. I have one that hasn't been restored, and I expect that it'll sound pretty good. It's the 8 tube Philco set that Chrysler used in their cars from 1941 thru 1948. It's one of my favorite auto sets.

[GStone]

I'm curious, is there a difference in sound quality between the auto sets and the home sets?

[Doug Houston]

There are dinky home sets, and there are dinky auto sets. Neither of them sound very good. You'll find some exceptional home radios, like the Philco and RCA big tombstones of the mid to late thirties. Examples are the Philco 16, and its descendants. Philco's 38-2670 is a champion for audio.....well, everything. Then, RCA came along with their 9 and 10 tube table sets for the same years. Of course, we're talking table radios, but for main line brands, Philco and RCA could really put some sensational stuff in the stores, and they surely did!

Some of the monumental auto sets (in my opinion) are the Chrysler Philco 8 tube from 1942 thru 1948, then on thru the few years that followed. I like the Ford-Mercury 1949-53 8 tube sets, made by Bendix, Zenith, and probably Sylvania. Thet had superb audio. Going back further, the RCA sets that Buick had from 1936 thru 1942. RCA made a 5 band set for both Buick and Chevrolet in 1941 and 1942. Nine tube set; it had killer audio. I have one in my '41 Chevy convertible.

The top line set for Chevrolet in 1939 had a dash unit, with half the radio, and the IF, audio and power supply in a firewall enclosure. The dash unit had a capacitively coupled tweeter on the output. It was a Delco set. Pontiac's 1939 top line set had two parts also, but with a separate speaker, with special holes in the firewall for a bass reflector in the engine compartment; also Delco.

There are others I might cite, but I think you get the idea. There was good stuff to be had in both places.

[GStone]

Thanks for such a thorough reply!

[TA Forbes]

Definitely agree about the 37-670/38-2670 radio's quality. But for me the 116B is the best sounding table model Philco made.