Where to find antique (1920's) AM Radio Info?
 

I just picked up an antique (early 1920's, I believe) radio at an estate
sale, and am planning to sell it, along with the big horn speaker that
was with it. Unfortunately, the receiver has no ID plates or info
anywhere that I can find as to the manufacturer or any kind of model
number.

Is there a web site with pictures of old antique AM radios that I can go
to and try to compare what I have?

Also, there were three - Radiola III radios. At least they had ID tags
on them, and seem to be a fairly common radio from the same era. And an
old A****er Kent, and another radio - both missing some parts.

Thanks in advance,

Larry

Larry Johnson wrote:
I just picked up an antique (early 1920's, I believe) radio at an estate
sale, and am planning to sell it, along with the big horn speaker that
was with it. Unfortunately, the receiver has no ID plates or info
anywhere that I can find as to the manufacturer or any kind of model
number.

You might try this question over at rec.antiques.radio+phono with a link
to some pix. More often than not these unmarked sets are kits or
homebrew but ya never know. There's no easy way to ID it without pix
since so many looked close to the same.

Is there a web site with pictures of old antique AM radios that I can go
to and try to compare what I have?

There's a nice archive at www.radioattic.com but very little of this
vintage. Plus they are categorized by manufacturer's name.

Also, there were three - Radiola III radios. At least they had ID tags
on them, and seem to be a fairly common radio from the same era. And an
old A****er Kent, and another radio - both missing some parts.

Yes, Radiola IIIs are quite common but pricey nonetheless. How much
were they asking?

Adios,
Bill

I would suggest posting this on the

alt.antiques.radio+phono newsgroup also.... These guys can sniff out the
make and model of just about any radio....

if you can, you should also post pics on

alt.binaries.pictures.radio


bob in phx

I bought the Radiolas as part of the estate sale. Everything I didn't
take was going to the dumpster. The widow just wanted out of everything,
she even let the house go for about 1/2 of what it was worth! She really
didn't care (she & her husband were separated for about 20 years, and
she just wanted to go back to her home about 300 miles away - she's in
her mid-80's.)
Thanks for the info,
Larry


--exray-- wrote:

Larry Johnson wrote:
I just picked up an antique (early 1920's, I believe) radio at an estate
sale, and am planning to sell it, along with the big horn speaker that
was with it. Unfortunately, the receiver has no ID plates or info
anywhere that I can find as to the manufacturer or any kind of model
number.

You might try this question over at rec.antiques.radio+phono with a link
to some pix. More often than not these unmarked sets are kits or
homebrew but ya never know. There's no easy way to ID it without pix
since so many looked close to the same.

Is there a web site with pictures of old antique AM radios that I can go
to and try to compare what I have?

There's a nice archive at www.radioattic.com but very little of this
vintage. Plus they are categorized by manufacturer's name.

Also, there were three - Radiola III radios. At least they had ID tags
on them, and seem to be a fairly common radio from the same era. And an
old A****er Kent, and another radio - both missing some parts.

Yes, Radiola IIIs are quite common but pricey nonetheless. How much
were they asking?

Adios,
Bill

Larry Johnson wrote:
I bought the Radiolas as part of the estate sale. Everything I didn't
take was going to the dumpster. The widow just wanted out of everything,
she even let the house go for about 1/2 of what it was worth! She really
didn't care (she & her husband were separated for about 20 years, and
she just wanted to go back to her home about 300 miles away - she's in
her mid-80's.)
Thanks for the info,
Larry

Whew, I'm glad you said mid-80s...it was sounding like my ex-wife and I
thought maybe her new hubbie might have croaked. She dumped most of my
stuff but there's still a few unaccounted-for items :-(
As for the dumpster part...I had a friend that sent me a photo of some
old 20s radio junk a friend of his was getting ready to toss. I "asked"
for the Grebe CR-3 Special and it now sits in a place of honor in my
shack instead of the landfill.

-Bill