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Old 11-06-2013, 01:41 PM
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radiotvnut radiotvnut is offline
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'40's Trav-Ler radio/phono combo

Here's a late '40's lower end 4-tube Trav-Ler AM radio/single play 78 rpm record player that I'm trying to identify. It's weird that it says "Trav-Ler" inside the lid; but, the dial says "Aldens" (which, I think was a department store brand) on the dial. Looking at this set, it doesn't look like a frankenset. The model tag on my unit is torn and all I can make out is the first digit; which, is a 5. Looking on nostalgiaair, I found a model 5044 with a schematic that could pass for my unit; but, there is no picture.

A friend bought this unit at an auction about two years ago, we did some horse trading and it's now mine, and the people running the sale told him that this unit came out of Matty Hersee Hospital. I'm sure most of you probably don't know the history behind this local landmark; but, the current hospital was built in 1923 and was a charity hospital that was in operation until 1989. The building has been sitting vacant since and several years ago, the local community college bought the property and their original plan was to renovate it. However, they recently announced that the building would be demolished; which, saddens me because it will be another local landmark that will be gone forever. If anyone is interested, here is are some pictures of the hospital (not my pictures):

http://www.nathanculpepper.com/AShut...1217&k=3PNQJ5v

Anyway, back to the record player. When I got it, the speaker and speaker mounting board was missing; but, the rest of the chassis looked untouched. I'm not too worried about the speaker issue because I think I can easily construct another mounting board. I've done some work on the chassis; but, still have more to do and I haven't started on the phonograph. The cabinet is in pretty good shape, except for some scratches on the lid. The tonearm has, as you might expect, a crystal cartridge that tracks at 78 grams (1 gram/RPM).

I don't know of any way to actually prove that this record player came out of that hospital; but, I can certainly see someone who possibly worked at that hospital or who might have been a student there having something small like this unit in the hospital, as I doubt there was much room for anything bigger.





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Old 11-06-2013, 01:52 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Trav'ler made many of the radios for Aldens.
Either the set went out of the factory that way or someone did a chassis swap. Anyway, they're one and the same.
It's probably a four tube set.
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Old 11-06-2013, 02:05 PM
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It is a four tube set.
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Old 11-06-2013, 05:01 PM
W3XWT W3XWT is offline
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Aldens was a mail-order place sort of like Spiegel, but seemed to draw much of its business from the rural parts of the south. My grandparents in South Carolina did a lot of business with them for ages...
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