Natalie Kalmus "Combination"

[Dave A]

New to this site, but ancient at collecting big mahogany monsters. In this case, I went blonde with a Natalie Kalmus "Combination" TV/Radio/Phono. It came out of Chicagoland from the son of the original owner. I am waiting for my brother to deliver it here near Philadelphia in October. I'll figure out where to fit this monster in with the other sets later. I just had to have it. I have only seen one other, remarkably here in Philadelphia as the set came from LA.

For those who may not know, Natalie Kalmus was the scorned ex-wife of Herb Kalmus, the inventor of Technicolor. You can see her name in many famous Technicolor films of the late 30's and 40's. There is a good account of her in the 50th anniversary book about the "Wizard of Oz". It looks like when her divorce gravy train ran out, she sold her name for these sets.

The set came with a brochure for the other Kalmus models which were some of the best of the worst of the "Moderne" era. The brochure waxes on and on about the styling and says nothing about the innards. There is a truely bizzare looking set called the "Student Prince" and two other models. This one is the only combination set.

It does come with the ceramic plant pot that inserts in the top on the right for the discriminating viewer and gardner. The sales receipt with it shows a list price of $699.95 in late 1952, but was knocked down with a "discount" of $206.45. Perhaps a trade-in?

The big question is who made the set? I have heard it was from Hoffman but can't confirm it. And who did the AM/FM? The photo came from the seller. I'll try to post other photos as soon as I have figured out how to post multiple photos.

Analog forever!

Dave A