12-25-2014, 12:11 PM
Since it is quite possible that I may have the only surviving 1940 model Zephyr Radiobar, I thought I’d share some photos documenting the restoration process.
When I purchased the radio at an auction, it was complete minus the glassware. Unfortunately, the cabinet had been mostly stripped of its original finish. Small flakes of finish remained and these were used as a guide to replicate the finish. I have a few black and white photos that also proved to be helpful in the restoration.
The Liquor cabinet door has the number 107 stamped on the edge and the matching number is also on the door frame so I assumed that was the serial number. All of the veneer was intact but was loose. Using a syringe with a long needle and glue, I carefully re-attached the loose veneer. There were two previous veneer patches that were horribly done using patches that were perhaps a hundred times the thickness of the original paper thin veneer. Both of these were redone using Walnut veneer of the appropriate thickness and grain. The sides of the cabinet were covered with walnut veneer. The front has bands of walnut veneer and mahogany veneer separated by a thin strip of maple veneer. The bar doors used bookmatched walnut burled veneer.
The radio is a Philco 40-165 and I believe it has been rebuilt at least twice. The speaker was the first I’ve ever encountered that was missing all of the paper components so I sent it out to Sound Remedy for rebuilding. Since it had been stripped I had to guess on the decal layout. I used all the Philco 40-165 decals along with a Radiobar /Philco decal. I have no idea if the Cabinet had the Radiobar decal but this can easily be changed if I learn otherwise. I haven’t tackled the radio yet but I’ll post those photos when I get to that part of the restoration.
At the time of the auction the common belief was that Radiobar when out of business in 1938. That worked out to my advantage since no one wanted bid on Frankenbar. I did find some info on Robert Baumbach’s website http://mulhollandpress.com/styled-2/styl...index.html and thanks to the folks at americanradiohistory.com I was able to learn a bit more. After some digging and with help from Robert Baumbach it was discovered that Radiobar was alive and well until the late 1940’s but as a very different company selling roller skates, clothes hangers, cribbage boards and bassinet’s under the brand “Multi-Kwik”.
Here are some before pictures.
ad showing Zephyr
Before front open
Front closeup
Back before
crushed antenna
bad veneer patch 1
bad veneer patch 2
More pics to follow soon.
When I purchased the radio at an auction, it was complete minus the glassware. Unfortunately, the cabinet had been mostly stripped of its original finish. Small flakes of finish remained and these were used as a guide to replicate the finish. I have a few black and white photos that also proved to be helpful in the restoration.
The Liquor cabinet door has the number 107 stamped on the edge and the matching number is also on the door frame so I assumed that was the serial number. All of the veneer was intact but was loose. Using a syringe with a long needle and glue, I carefully re-attached the loose veneer. There were two previous veneer patches that were horribly done using patches that were perhaps a hundred times the thickness of the original paper thin veneer. Both of these were redone using Walnut veneer of the appropriate thickness and grain. The sides of the cabinet were covered with walnut veneer. The front has bands of walnut veneer and mahogany veneer separated by a thin strip of maple veneer. The bar doors used bookmatched walnut burled veneer.
The radio is a Philco 40-165 and I believe it has been rebuilt at least twice. The speaker was the first I’ve ever encountered that was missing all of the paper components so I sent it out to Sound Remedy for rebuilding. Since it had been stripped I had to guess on the decal layout. I used all the Philco 40-165 decals along with a Radiobar /Philco decal. I have no idea if the Cabinet had the Radiobar decal but this can easily be changed if I learn otherwise. I haven’t tackled the radio yet but I’ll post those photos when I get to that part of the restoration.
At the time of the auction the common belief was that Radiobar when out of business in 1938. That worked out to my advantage since no one wanted bid on Frankenbar. I did find some info on Robert Baumbach’s website http://mulhollandpress.com/styled-2/styl...index.html and thanks to the folks at americanradiohistory.com I was able to learn a bit more. After some digging and with help from Robert Baumbach it was discovered that Radiobar was alive and well until the late 1940’s but as a very different company selling roller skates, clothes hangers, cribbage boards and bassinet’s under the brand “Multi-Kwik”.
Here are some before pictures.
ad showing Zephyr
Before front open
Front closeup
Back before
crushed antenna
bad veneer patch 1
bad veneer patch 2
More pics to follow soon.
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