Midwest 17-39 Console Radio

[Sandy G]

E.H. had a model-actually THREE models- that made the 33-tube Plilo look cheap 'n' nasty- the Quaranta series, which checked in w/40, 48, or even 60 little glowing firebottles. They were sold to thirties luminaires like W.C. Fields, & I think bandleader Paul Whiteman had one. A few of the 40 & 48 tube sets have survived-at nearly $10K a pop, when a Ford cost $650-700, & a lot of people considered themselves lucky to have bread 'n' butter on the table-Not too many Quarantas were sold in the 1st place. I don't know if any of the 60 tube wonders have survived-Imagine running up on one at an estate sale somewhere, or in the back of a moldy Aunty-Kue shop....

[skodajag]

Good Afternoon from England

Yours looks a very interesting set. Only a few weeks ago I bought a Midwest Royale 24 tube console radio here in England. Given its year - 1935 - it performs very well indeed. In fact, feeding a modern signal through the pickup socket gives a remarkable quality of sound. I still can't find out whether this set was actually exported to the UK or whether this one found its way here with one of its owners. On the one hand the mains transformer is wound for our UK voltage (240), but the chassis plate indicates that it needs 110V. Either the transformer was rewound at some stage, or they just didn't bother to change the plate. I'd be interested to hear from anyone else with experience of this set.

Lastly, Is that some kind of automatic tuning on the back of the tuning condensor on your set?

regards, Jonathan