You know that stereotypical look of old fashion radios? Did that style have a name? - Jinx
What about the ones with the giant horn on top, that looked like a Victrola?
I think those were just called Radio Sets.
No, those were called ‘Victrola’'s
However, a cathedral with a squared-off top is called a tombstone. There were also longer-than-they-were-tall table models and great big floor model consoles.
All the above were housed in veneered wood cabinets. Plastic radios also existed in smaller sizes. These are known by the tradenames of the plastics, such as the brown or white Bakelite and Plaskon, and the much-prized colored Catalin.
Do you have a cite? Are you sure you’r enot confused with a Victorla record player? The horn (speaker) was attached directly to the needle/tone arm.
- Jinx
I’m sure I’ve seen pictures of old radios that had big horn speakers similar to a Victrola phonograph as described above, but I don’t think they were called Victrolas. The earliest radios from the beginning of the broadcast era, required headphones; the Victrola-speaker equipped models were the first ones that didn’t.
One of the best examples of radios that used the Victrola type horns are the Atwater-Kent “breadboards” - for an example, take a look at:
I’ve seen the styling of old-fashioned radios generally referred to as Art Deco; I’m not sure if it’s correct to use this term in that context, but lots of people do.
Semi-Hijack—
There are reproduction copies of all of these.
I own 2.
Wooden speaker cabinets really do give great sound.
To repeat and reinforce what Spectre said, Victrolas were the first widely available phonographs that did not have the giant horn on top.
I have a great big floor console-type model at home (no picture, but I could take one if someone’s interested). The inner workings are totally shot, but it just looks so neat that I keep it around. Someday, I plan to gut it, buy a modern radio, and fit it into the cabinet so I have a working model. Won’t that just be the most?
Hell no.
Restore it!
You can buy the necessary tubes online.
Once restored, it can be sold for much money. And remember-
No it won’t.
Contact Jonathon Winter of the American Museum of Radio. He can tell you how to either restore it yourself, or point you in the direction of a professional restorer.
Besides, he’s one hell of a nice guy and fun to talk to about radios.
But RCA – back before they bought Victor and got into the Victrola business! – did make something called a Radiola. And early Radiolas, like a lot of other first-generation speaker equipped radios, had horns.
