[MrFixr55]

Arran, I restored 2 Canadian battery-crank telephones for a friend a while ago, a Northern Electric (Canadian version of Western Electric) and a CITCO phone.  The Northern Electric was completely hacked, but for the CIT unit, I left all original wiring in place, repaired the original carbon mic, added a modern network coil and DPDT microswitches to the switchhook, leaving all original stuff in place, and a switch to either put the ringer on the phone line or connect it to the crank.  All of this was easily removable to return to original condition.

You are so right, there was a large movement for rural electrification, starting with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and other Roosevelt Admin Depression Era projects.  Same with the phone system.  However, in my research on the CITCO, I found much information, including the fact that crank phones and party lines existed in rural Canada into the 60s and 70s.

Tube portables were built well into the late 1950s / early 60s in the US, but not 1.5V / 90V farm sets, essentially the same thing, just with a cabinet and a bigger (but not by much) speaker, as the power output of these 1.4V tubes (and the 3Q4) varied between 50 and 200 mW.

It is very interesting to note the variety of technologies used in farm sets.  Their use may have depended on the region.  Mechanized farms had a source of 6 Volt power, so 6 Volt farm sets which were very closely related to Auto sets in design and performance were popular.  Windmills such as the "WinCharger" were available.  Other farms that had 30 Volt or 32 Volt DC power plants for lighting used radios designed for 32V DC.  I would have to think that the battery sets were used on farms with little or no mechanization.  My 2 RCA 2V / 135 V radios could be used with disposable "Air Cell "or rechargeable lead acid "A batteries and 3 45V disposable B batteries, or could be used with a vibrator power supply and 6 V battery (2V for the filaments, 4V for the Vibrator B supply).  In this case, the vibrator supply could be bought and added if the farmer bought cars and tractors these radios had an 8" speaker and put out 2W of audio power.  Zenith sold sets that had 6VDC / 115VAC supplies for farms where electrification was anticipated.

Funny, I never found a farm Set that originated on Long Island.  I grew up with long Island, which was heavy with potato and duck farms until the 1940s where the "golden nematode", a potato parasite, and suburban sprawl (google "Levittown" killed potato and tomato farming.  I was born in 1955 as was my childhood home in East Northport, NY, the entire neighborhood of 10s of thousands of homes and several schools being built in the 1950s through the 1970s of the Rotcamp, Silberstein, Marmon and several other farms.  The lack of farm sets here was likely due to the fact that, in addition to the farming industries, Long Island was the "playground" of the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Morgans, Theordore Roosevelt, etc. and was also home to Sperry, Grumman, Fairchild Republic, Curtis, Hazeltine and other aviation and defense contractors.  The Long Island Lighting Company was founded in 1911 to consolidate several already existing town-based electrical companies.  the Long island Railroad was founded in 1834.  It is likely that thi dual-use of Long Island that allowed for electrification before the radio age.