decojoe67
03-30-2018, 02:51 PM
There are some sets you just can't pass on when they cross your path. This a 1941 (I first mistakenly ID'd as a '39) Majestic 7T11 6-tube radio with tone control. The set was made at the peak of the streamline-modern craze and is a good example. It's a good player too!
decojoe67
03-30-2018, 03:32 PM
That's sharp!
Thanks. It needed work, so I was able to get it for a decent price. I love the "chunky" look and feel of these pre-war deco bakelites.
old_tv_nut
03-30-2018, 04:54 PM
Three knobs / Tone control?
decojoe67
03-30-2018, 05:20 PM
Three knobs / Tone control?
Yes. A high and low switch. These pre-war bakelites were superior to the post-war models. They're the only one's that get my attention.
Dave A
03-30-2018, 06:59 PM
I had one of these and I traded it for a RCA TM21D color monitor...working. Everyone was happy...still.
decojoe67
03-30-2018, 10:48 PM
I had one of these and I traded it for a RCA TM21D color monitor...working. Everyone was happy...still.
I'm surprised you have no regrets about trading an old art-deco radio for a modern monitor! :scratch2:
Electronic M
03-30-2018, 11:30 PM
I'm surprised you have no regrets about trading an old art-deco radio for a modern monitor! :scratch2:
One of these monitors http://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_tm-21b.html I'd gladly trade that radio for. There is probably not another model of TV/monitor using a round screen color CRT so over engineered for performance as that.
There are millions of AA5s out there, many have very cool looking deco cabinets...One can go to 100 radio/TV swap meets and find 5000 deco AA5s, but not one TM-21...I appreciate looks the same as I do engineering, but categorical scarcity (and engineering interest) puts some things in other leagues.
decojoe67
03-31-2018, 06:37 AM
One of these monitors http://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_tm-21b.html I'd gladly trade that radio for. There is probably not another model of TV/monitor using a round screen color CRT so over engineered for performance as that.
There are millions of AA5s out there, many have very cool looking deco cabinets...One can go to 100 radio/TV swap meets and find 5000 deco AA5s, but not one TM-21...I appreciate looks the same as I do engineering, but categorical scarcity (and engineering interest) puts some things in other leagues.
Ah! Okay. Knowledge is power. I had no idea it was something that rare. Very interesting piece. I'm a big TV history buff and can sure appreciate that piece.
Thanks MadMan for your comment.
decojoe67
04-05-2018, 09:44 AM
A member on ARF confirmed that the design is the famous industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes first venture into bakelite radios. It was the original "3-ribbed" model, but we can attribute the later "4-ribbed" model, which is just a slight revision of it, to him.