Hi there,

This is my first post so be patient... I have been cleaning up my mother in law's house and found a couple of items of interest. I would like to know something about them and if they hold any value to collectors.

Item 1.
Freestanding upright radio
Please refer to photos. (hopefully posted soon)
There does not seem to be any branding on the furninture piece.
900cm high
700cm wide
320cm deep
The dial is approx 250mm across
4 knobs (one is missing)
One side of the dial has the word broadcast and the other side has the word shortwave on it.
The serial number is F51686

Item 2.
HMV Record player and radio in one piece.
It has a lid which opens where you access the radio and record player
The cabinet has a small door on the left side which operns and can be used to store records in.
I can't find a serial number on the back of the item.



I am sorry If I have not included much information, I have no idea about radios and I don't know if they even work. It would be nice to know that if there are collectors out there who may be interested in purchasing these as they are sitting in the house and have not been used for many years and a shame to see them not being loved anymore.

hope someone may be able to help.

cheers,
Marisa.

G'day Marisa,

Welcome to the Vintage Radio forums.

Your console radio is from 1939. Often there was little clue as to who made them. Going by the gold paint and the valve layout plate I'd hazard a guess and say the chassis is by Breville. This is by no means a certainty though.

Ricketts & Thorpe and Beale were amongst several companies that specialised in making radio cabinets for no-namers and smaller manufacturers.

The HMV radiogram is a classic from around 1950. Quite a few manufacturers made radiograms in the same style. Some had their equipment arranged like yours and others placed it the other way with the radio's dial glass on the left and the record changer on the right.

Notice how there's a transition from octal valves (like the one at bottom right near the power transformer) to the baseless minature valves elsewhere on the chassis. Notice also how some of the smaller valves fit into a socket whose hole was made to suit the older, larger valves. This was commonplace during the changeover to smaller valves around 1949/1950 so the manufacturers could save some money on retooling their sheet metal presses. I've no idea of the model number though.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

"I have no idea about radios and I don't know if they even work. It would be nice to know that if there are collectors out there who may be interested in purchasing these as they are sitting in the house and have not been used for many years and a shame to see them not being loved anymore"

Thanks for wanting to have your radios to find new loving homes.

They will not be in working condition, as some of the parts are way beyond their life expectancy. Not the tubes, but the capacitors. But collectors know this, and we routinely replace the bad caps.

You could surf ebay under "valve radios" to see if you can find similar radios, and what the completed auctions sold for. Be aware that the bigger the radio is, the harder and expensive the shipping becomes, and that would detract from the auction price, especially if someone overseas is interested. Hopefully someone local who owns a pickup truck would want them.

Photos uploaded.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I would like to know something about them and if they hold any value to collectors.

These older big units are not particularly popular, although radiograms which are deemed attractive as pieces of furniture can fetch good money, especially those with cabinets in the Danish style. And there's the problem of transporting them, so they are pickup-only and that limits the buying field straight away.

If you intend to list them on eBay, start with a low bid or reserve. I've seen many of these where the seller starts them at $100 and they don't attract a single bid.

I have no idea about radios and I don't know if they even work.

It's good that you haven't tried to power them up as doing so on a set that hasn't been used for a long time can result in damage being done to components, some of which are very hard -- if not impossible -- to source nowadays.

If you intend to list them on eBay, start with a low bid or reserve. I've seen many of these where the seller starts them at $100 and they don't attract a single bid.

I am not sure whether it is the carbon tax or what but there's not a lot of activity on Ebay at the moment, radio-wise. People just don't seem to be buying.

The most expensive radio I've seen go off this year is the blue Astor Mickey from last night, fetching just over $3,000.00. I've received some good prices for some of the radios I've sold - that is to say that investment-wise, I have made a profit on them but they didn't realise their true value.

Perhaps the subject of the value of radios could be a fresh discussion at some stage soon.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I haven't been watching radio prices generally, but I do like to watch radiograms out of interest. It's got so that I can usually guess correctly which will sell and which won't, although there are some surprises.

Overall, we may be in a slump. These things can tend to go in cycles.

Thank you very much for the information so far, it's great to find out how old these items are. This is very helpful and I can provide information to the family so we can discuss what to do with them. My mother and father in law purchased their house in 1973 and it had some furniture in it, these items being some of them. Because they did not buy them, they did not know anything about them. This forum is great to find out information from people who know about the subject.

thanks for your help,
Marisa.