[keith49vj3]

All, I've posted on my 1940 Radiobar before http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread...ght=zephyr but no one pointed out the obvious.  I was searching Craigslist and came across a Philco 40-507P and the cabinet is almost identical. Did Philco make and design their own cabinets?  The bottom appears to be the same as the philco with the bar added to the top.  Was this true of other Radiobars?
Thanks,
Keith

[KCMike]

Here's a quick read about Philco cabinets.
http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=15058

[klondike98]

...and here's Philcos in Radiobars.

[Ron Ramirez]

Philco generally hired outside designers to design cabinets for them. Then, sometimes Philco manufactured the cabinets but more often than not, they contracted with other furniture makers to build cabinets for them.

Yup, I see the similarity between those two, and also the 40-170CS chairside.
http://philcoradio.com/gallery/1940b.htm#c

More info on the 40-507P:
http://philcoradio.com/gallery/1940a.htm#ap

A little more info may be found here:

http://www.philcoradio.com/phorum/showth...?tid=15058

http://www.grillecloth.com/designers/industrial.php

Edit: KCMike and Bob posted while I was typing.

[Ron Ramirez]

The 40-170CS was designed by Edgar Haines.

The 40-507P was designed by a G. Patterson.

The Zephyr Radiobar was designed by...???

Interesting that the 170 and 507 share styling lines, chiefly the horizontal speaker slats, yet they were designed by different people.

[keith49vj3]

Interesting, Is it documented where the cabinets were built?  Apparently, Radiobar did make their own cabinets http://www.mulhollandpress.com/styled-2/...index.html and even made a few of them for Philco as well.
Anyone know what the dimensions are for the Philco 40-507P?  I'm guessing that the bases are nearly interchangeable. Do other Radiobar models have cabinets that are similar to the Philco cabinets of the same year?
Keith

[Arran]

Interesting, Is it documented where the cabinets were built?  Apparently, Radiobar did make their own cabinets http://www.mulhollandpress.com/styled-2/...index.html and even made a few of them for Philco as well.
Anyone know what the dimensions are for the Philco 40-507P?  I'm guessing that the bases are nearly interchangeable. Do other Radiobar models have cabinets that are similar to the Philco cabinets of the same year?
Keith

 Though no documentation has surfaced to support this, if they made cabinets for Philco then it would have been for the Western U.S market. It would not have made sense to manufacture radio cabinets in California and then to ship them to Philadelphia when there were several other cabinet companies in Pennsylvania they could have done the same job. I think that what may explain this is that Philco may have supplied plans for similar stock cabinets to Radiobar which they would then rework to accommodate their familiar  liquor cabinet designs.
  That being said I would not modify one of these Philco radio-phono combo units to make into a radiobar, if you look at their production numbers most seem to be somewhat rare. Of course if you ran into a beater where the record changer was missing, or the top thrashed, then it would not really harm anything, if the top off a Radiobar cabinet would fit dimension wise. However in either case the set would be a marriage between two different pieces and really not worth that much, unless you just want a Radiobar clone because you like to mix drinks.
Regards
Arran

[keith49vj3]

Interesting, Is it documented where the cabinets were built?  Apparently, Radiobar did make their own cabinets http://www.mulhollandpress.com/styled-2/...index.html and even made a few of them for Philco as well.
Anyone know what the dimensions are for the Philco 40-507P?  I'm guessing that the bases are nearly interchangeable. Do other Radiobar models have cabinets that are similar to the Philco cabinets of the same year?
Keith

 Though no documentation has surfaced to support this, if they made cabinets for Philco then it would have been for the Western U.S market. It would not have made sense to manufacture radio cabinets in California and then to ship them to Philadelphia when there were several other cabinet companies in Pennsylvania they could have done the same job. I think that what may explain this is that Philco may have supplied plans for similar stock cabinets to Radiobar which they would then rework to accommodate their familiar  liquor cabinet designs.
  That being said I would not modify one of these Philco radio-phono combo units to make into a radiobar, if you look at their production numbers most seem to be somewhat rare. Of course if you ran into a beater where the record changer was missing, or the top thrashed, then it would not really harm anything, if the top off a Radiobar cabinet would fit dimension wise. However in either case the set would be a marriage between two different pieces and really not worth that much, unless you just want a Radiobar clone because you like to mix drinks.
Regards
Arran

I've got three Radiobars and I'm not interested in making a replica.  I am interested in learning more about the history of these radios.  If the cabinet bases were nearly identical that would be useful information for others if they need parts for a restoration.  I do think it's safe to say the Zephyr was likely designed by Edgar Haines.
Keith

[keith49vj3]

My mistake I think it's safe to say the Zephyr was designed by G. Patterson. I had a 40-507P owner send me the dimensions of the cabinet and it's exactly the same size asthe lower part of the Zephyr. Is it safe to say that it was most likely built at the same factory as the 40-507P?
Keith

[Ron Ramirez]

Without documentation, all we can do is guess. And Philco does not include Radiobar production in Philco Furniture History as Radiobar was a separate company.

Anyway, to answer your previous questions:

Is it documented where the cabinets were built?

40-507P - 5,001 built by R. Prescott & Sons between 5/26/1939 and 10/10/1939.
40-170CS - 3,500 total; 2,500 by Watsontown Cabinet Co. and 1,000 by R. Prescott & Sons. All built between 8/9/1939 and 9/12/1939.

Anyone know what the dimensions are for the Philco 40-507P?

Height - 34", Width - 31-5/8", Depth - 17"

[Arran]

Without documentation, all we can do is guess. And Philco does not include Radiobar production in Philco Furniture History as Radiobar was a separate company.

Anyway, to answer your previous questions:

Is it documented where the cabinets were built?

40-507P - 5,001 built by R. Prescott & Sons between 5/26/1939 and 10/10/1939.
40-170CS - 3,500 total; 2,500 by Watsontown Cabinet Co. and 1,000 by R. Prescott & Sons. All built between 8/9/1939 and 9/12/1939.

Anyone know what the dimensions are for the Philco 40-507P?

Height - 34", Width - 31-5/8", Depth - 17"

Ron;
  That is very interesting, R. Prescott & Sons also manufactured the cabinet of my RCA Radiola 44 and 18, there is a plate on the inside of each cabinet at one end. R. Prescott & Sons was located in Keeseville, New York and was established in 1840 as a furniture and sash manufacturing company, which later added blinds, doors, mill, clock cases, radio and TV cabinets, and coffins too if you can believe it? (hmm, my Radiola 44's cabinet does somewhat resemble a casket, now I know why.) It would make sense that Philco would outsource cabinet manufacturing to a firm in New York state since it's right next door to Pennsylvania, especially such a well established one that did have some experience in manufacturing radio cabinets already.
Regards
Arran

[klondike98]

A Radiola 60 I did also had a Prescott cabinet.