[thirtiesradio]

Both Zenith and Philco made fine sets. One thing I hear often, but will never believe is the Waltons TV show is mostly responsible for the Zenith craze. The motor drive, robot dial, as well as other features all in a table top set make the Walton radio a very attractive package... if in a TV show or not. The 9 and 12 tube Waltons are fine performers as well and a pleasure to tune. I'd like the Zenith sets even if John Boy never had one. I collect many brands of radios and most have their good and bad.

Zenith had many sets with doors. They had some of the finest cabinetry ever made for a radio chassis. The 40A, Spanish deluxe, Chinese deluxe, English deluxe, 563, 16EP, 37A, 54 and many others all had doors and arguably the finest cabinets ever produced by any radio company. Some may be guady but seeing them in person you quickly realize the quality that went into the early Zenith sets. Zenith had some of the finest sets available and didn't lower the quality of their cabinets until after 1935. I'd say their electronics peaked that same year with the Stratosphere and the 835 table top set.

Comparing top of the line table sets like the 1937 Philco 37-670B with the Zenith 10-S-130, I find the 10-S-130 much more stylish. It was originally 84.95 compaired to Philco's 99.50 price. I do have both sets and although the Philco is not restored I'm guessing it will be a better performer. I do find the big dial on the 10-S-130 to be nice while tuning and the sensitivity and selectivity are as good as one needs. RCA, Patterson, GE, Pilot, Atwater Kent and others made incredible performing, highly engineered radios. Performance in a set is great but what about the 99% of the time that the radio is not playing? Although I perfer the great performing sets, there is nothing like a great looking set that performs well.

I think Philco really hit it big with the 37 and 38 automatic tuning sets. Great styling and attractive, large and busy dials.
With everything said, and as much as I like the Zenith line of radios I'd pick the 37-116X over most 15 tube Zeniths. The 116 has great styling and performance will be top notch. Just buy what you prefer as they are both fine radios.

One other thing is the Midwest sets. I don't care about the bloated tube count stigma when a radio looks as good as many of their sets do. I don't own one but have listened to at least a half dozen. They are great performers and the sound that comes from a correctly restored Midwest console is hard to beat. They have a very clear and deep sound that is hard to explain. And look at the 1935 and 1937 Midwest console dials

[Conelrad]

Well said!

Dennis

[Paul Philco322]

Not to go off topic here but when Ron mentions the "Walton" Zenith I can't but help thinking....1. What would be the chances a rural farm in the 30's in WV would have "Hi Line" power 2. Given that the Walton's probably did not have an electric line to their home wouldn't be more likely that it would have been a "Walton" Silvertone Farm Set? They would have likely been Sears and Roebuck catalog customers, I often wonder how much $ a "Walton" 6 tube farm set would bring?

Just thinkin' (a dangerous thing).

Paul

[Phlogiston]

Kind of moot.

The "Waltons" show was set years before the "Waltons" radio was ever made. They should have had a AK Model 20C and a pile of batteries.

[TA Forbes]

Or two tin cans and a piece of string.

[Arran]

There was a battery model in the Walton style cabinet, somebody on the other forum found one for a good price, substantially less then an equivalent AC model. I think that when the Waltons TV show began the setting was rural Virginia in 1934 or 35, so a 1938 model anything was definitely an anachronism. That being said I don't share the admiration for shutter dial brand Z sets that "The Crowd" seems to, while the mechanism is somewhat appealing it's still a face painted tin dial like dozens of cheap sets have.
I don't really find the motor mechanism that much of a draw either, other manufacturers had motorized tuning setups that had actual presets on them and would reverse as needed depending on what preset was pushed. Brand Z used a switch activated by a spring loaded switch connected to the tuning knob, you pressed the knob until you reached the station you wanted. When it got to the end of dial travel you had to push a lever to reverse the mechanism.
I think a lot of the appeal has to do with the fact that brand Z was the last one standing among U.S consumer electronics manufacturers, most of the other makes like Philco and RCA became orphans decades earlier.
Regards
Arran

[BrendaAnnD]

While "The Walton's" was chock full of anachronisms, nothing would have kept them, based upon basic setup of the series, from having a mains powered radio.

The family business was a sawmill, which was electric powered. The farm was a side thing for extra income. The home wasn't so rural, it was at the base of the mountain.


"1. What would be the chances a rural farm in the 30's in WV would have "Hi Line" power 2. Given that the Walton's probably did not have an electric line to their home wouldn't be more likely that it would have been a "Walton" Silvertone Farm Set?"

[Ron Ramirez]

The 1971 TV movie that inspired the series, "The Homecoming - A Christmas Story," was set in 1933. The brand Z tombstone was in the movie along with all of the young actors/actresses that played the Walton children. (All of the adults were played by different people save for Ellen Corby as Grandma, who stayed on for a good part of the series.)

Amazing, isn't it? A 1938 radio in 1933 Virginia (not West Virginia).

[thirtiesradio]

The Walton farm radio is a 7 tube 7-J-232. There is a switch on the rear to switch it between 6 volts DC, and AC line current. The 7 tube waltons don't have the tuning eye or motor drive like the 9 and 12 tube versions. The radio performs as well on 6 volts as it does on AC current....plus you get to hear the Buzz of the vibrator when running it off a battery. The circuit was very well designed as it performs well for a 6 volt radio. It's a big radio too, as large as the 16B sets at 22" high. But the 16B kills all the Walton sets with it's stellar performance and 10" speaker. Actually, the only 1930's tabletop Zenith I've found that performs as well as the 16B (or 116) is the 1935 835. The 1934 Zenith 288 performs as well but the sound is not up to par with it's smaller speaker.
Many Zenith farm radios ran off batteries recharged by wind powered Winchargers. They were a clever setup and saved you from hauling your battery in for a 2 day recharge. The Waltons were lucky to have AC current as most farms still had battery power in the early 30's.
Yes...I've often wondered how the Walton family bought their 38 Zenith so many years before anyone else could. Someone at Zenith must have liked them

[Phlogiston]

The 7-S-232 does have the eye tube. The 7-J-232 does not.