A way-out console!

[Firedome]

This is evidently an original from the 1940s from a famous designer, far-out!

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/fuo ... 02978.html

[Firedome]

Why is the 1956 Zenith not posted under... ummm Zenith?

Never heard of this designer, but it's mono, probably not a new creation.

[TC Chris]

Looks like maybe the designer forgot the relationship between form and function. Is it a chairside?

That thought sent me down the rabbit hole to get some info on my only chairside console, a Philco Model 370 from 1931. It was designed by Norman Bel Geddes, a famous industrial designer of the day. How do I know? A Philco decal proudly tells me so! There was a thing for famous designers in the mid-20th century. The online sources say this was the first chairside. See a picture here.

https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/NBGPublic ... cfm?id=176

and here.

https://attic.city/item/hZz/restored-19 ... go/deco2go

The Philco is a superhet. I should move it up in the queue.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

Yes Norman Bel Geddes was right up there with Raymond Loewy as one of the most famous designers of the time.

Chair-side radios made a lot of sense in the days before remotes!

[Conelrad]

It looks like a regular period console that got scrambled up in a transporter accident...

[William]

I like that Philco, Chris. Where on earth did you ever find it?

Bill

[TC Chris]

Pretty sure it was a yard sale item. It was working when I found it, probably around 1980. It would have been almost 50 then. Not bad. Likely humming pretty badly if I plugged it in now!

Chris Campbell