A lot of Hams who love this Hobby go overboard as to the History involved in these Radios.
Some Manufacturers even went as far as hiring fine wood craftsmen from Europe to build cabinets that were as unique as the Chassis the Radio itself was.
EH Scott and Zenith were among some of the high end Units ,at a time there was no Television , Family's would gather to listen to everything from the news to the shows being broadcast for entertainment.
A Radio then was not only a piece of Furniture ,but a prized possession, Most all of them produced were Short Wave receivers then.
In a time of doing without and giving their all ,people would do without during WW2 to save up and buy a Radio.
Zenith was back ordered for 6 weeks delivery , some company's even would take the radios they were building for the auto industry and put the radio into a cabinet. Like Philco, they had the radios ,but Detroit wasn't building the cars anymore.
This is a Scott Philharmonic.
This is the consumer chassis offered by them with the chrome covers and base ,it was the same receiver they were selling to the US ,Navy back in 1941
Its dial was unique ,it was designed a a fully functional Short wave Tuner , it worked better back then than most radios did all the way into the 60s.
It also had a feature called a tuning eye ,this one has two.
It emitted a green glow that would fade or brighten telling you the signal strength of a station ,or it would flicker on an emergency transmission broadcast.
This was the Era that cemented the fame of the Zenith Black Dial , the common Mans home receiver ,it cost $28.00 back then depending on the wood selection.
This is Americana guys , Real American love for its industry's and workers.
We need to remember our roots , and things like these Radios, when America meant not only Freedom ,but pride in the things that freedom could produce.
These gave freedom a voice.
