[PTurney]

Hi,

Some time ago a relative found me a Philco bullet model 37-610 at a sale. Upon inspecting it later, I noted that it did not have the Deco inlaid lines on the front:- http://www.tuberadioland.com/philco-37-6...mainl.html

It's also missing its dial glass and part of the knob, though I do have these parts that I've found since.

I've seen very few of these without the lines & have been uncertain as to their authenticity. Now one has shown up on Ebay:-
http://cgi.ebay.com/6596526279

Is there a story here somewhere regarding this as a variation?

Paul

[Doug Houston]

Looked at the ebay set. It's glaringly a strip 'n slobber refinish. I don't believe that these models ever had Di-Noc (printed grain) finishes, but we have to wonder if the black stripes may have been printed on the panels. I'll have to check on mine, but I've always thought that the black stripes were inlays. I have both the '36 and the '37 sets.

Another possibility is that on early cabinets, the stripes WERE inlays, and they might have done a run of cabinets with either printed stripes or none at all. Since the original finish is gone from this cabinet, that information is lost.

[Ron Ramirez]

I think I would have to agree with Doug here. Although that decal looks as if it might be original, the bottom trim should be toned a much darker brown; and it isn't on this set.

Some years ago, someone was selling a very good reproduction of the 1932-36 PHILCO decal. I once had a few of those, and they looked just like the originals, unlike what you can get today. The decal on this set could be one of those repros, placed on an older, poor refinish, for all we know.

I looked in my copy of Furniture History, and it is silent on the stripes/no stripes issue. It only mentions that the 1937 version was available in maple as well as walnut; the vast majority (28,100) were walnut as opposed to 3,000 in maple.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Doug is right on the money regarding the stripes being printed later on, although I seem to recall the 1936 model did have inlaid stripes?