The Brunswick was an incredible VRPS auction win because it was obtained inexpensively due to its condition. The cabinet of the Brunswick was falling apart; the front, body, and base were all separating. However, a little glue, several clamps, and some patience fixed up this beauty in a jiffy. The original finish was in good shape and did not require refinishing, but some wood oil was applied to the case to prevent the wood from drying out and cracking. The 5-tube T.R.F. (Tuned Radio Frequency) radio needed careful aligning, but worked superbly afterwards.
Philco 50 "Baby Grand" 1931
Band: AM Tube Lineup: 24, 24, 24, 47, 80
Why did I buy a Philco 50? There were certainly much nicer Philco cathedrals in 1931, especially the model 70 that is considered the epitome of all radios. I bought this model because I had in possession its successor, the Philco 51 (below), and it is nice to observe the design differences between the two. The 50 uses a T.R.F. circuit that works quite well and the radio originally sold for $36.50 in late 1931.
Philco 51 1932
Band: AM Tube Lineup: 24, 35, 24, 47, 80
The Philco 51 succeeded the 50 with some significant changes. Besides the small changes in the cabinet design, the electronics underwent a radical transformation from a T.R.F. circuit to a superheterodyne circuit. The superheterodyne, or "superhet" for short, has better selectivity than the T.R.F. circuit. Nonetheless, the radio came in my possession in need of restoration. After replacing all the missing tubes on the chassis, recapping and aligning, the radio plays well. The 51 originally sold for $39.50 in early 1932.
This lovely RCA cathedral turned up in a VRPS auction wrapped in plastic shrink wrap, which is likely the reason I got it for a great deal. The cabinet was nearly flawless and all the original veneer and finish was intact! The only cabinet repairs the radio needed was a whole new plywood base, which was not that difficult to make. The electronics were recapped and the tubes just needed some cleaning. The knobs are reproductions but they look good.
The Crosley cathedral was purchased at a private auction. The speaker cutouts were missing some layers of veneer and some wood. Fortunately, the original paint was black so any piece of veneer could be used to reconstruct the cutouts. The cabinet was also missing the right base trim, which was recreated using a variety of tools from a router to a Dremel. The trim also was also originally black so any type of wood could be used. The electronics simply needed recapping and alignments. The dial, unfortunately, was broken in several pieces and some pieces were missing. An excellent reproduction dial was obtained from Rock Sea Enterprises.
Climax 457 "Jewell" & "Gem" 1935
Band: AM Tube Lineup: 57, 58, 47, 80
These two small 4-tube cathedral radios have very similar cosmetic appearances and chassis layouts, but the manufacturer and model numbers are obscure. The escutcheon of the left and right radios reads "Jewell" and "Gem" respectively. The Jewell is the only one with a manufacture tag on the chassis that states CRTC model AC. CRTC stands for Climax Radio & Television Co. but the model AC is nowhere to be found in any records I checked. After watching several eBay auctions, I have chronicled several other small 4-tube cathedrals with similar chassis layouts and appearances. These cathedrals appeared under different brands, including Radio King and Regal, but many had CRTC on the manufacture tags. After some poking around, the model 457 turns out to be the only model with the particular 4-tube lineup. The Jewell, however, may have been an undocumented revision because the 57 and 58 are incompatable with the socket and wiring. Also the Jewell came in my possession with all the tubes missing so a 6A7 and 75 was used and the radio worked amazingly well. The circuitry in both radios are not quite similar; the Gem is a T.R.F. like the model 457, but the Jewell circuitry is quite a feat because only one tube is dedicated for tuning in a station possibly regeneratively.
Found at a VRPS swap meet, the Philco 37-60 was my first cathedral radio. The face of the cabinet was in pretty bad shape because of the dreaded "photo finish" technique Philco used, which was unknown to me at the time. Special papers with wood patterns were slapped on the cheap wood front panels of these cathedrals to make the wood appear expensive. The paper finish was beyond hope but best efforts were put into replicating the gold-black vertical lines and the two-tone colors. The chassis was missing all the tubes, and the 5Y4 rectifier was difficult to acquire so the rectifier tube socket was rewired for a 5Y3 rectifier. The 37-60 originally sold for $33.50 in 1937.
