They called it a Philco cathedral radio. A wooden table top model about two feet tall with scrolling cut outs over the five-inch speaker and it weighed about 25-pounds. It was called such because of its arching top something like a church cathedral. Below was an analog dial pointing from 550 kilohertz’s to 1550 KHZ AM. Down below was two round knobs. One to switch the radio on and off and to adjust the volume. And the second knob used to tune the dial to the frequency you wish to listen to. It had crystalline vacuumed tubes in the back which lighted up like a Christmas tree and put out significant heat. However this one was sitting on my dad’s work bench out in the garage. This relic had lost some of its finish and luster being exposed to uncontrolled heat and humidity.
This particular Philco radio was bought shortly after my parents moved from dust bowl Oklahoma back in 1941 to southern California at about the time World War II began. And was often listened to in order to hear the latest war news and if any enemy boats or planes were spotted off the California coast. If something suspicious was spotted at night a total black out was called for by broadcast radio. All lights were to be turned off or heavy shades were to be drawn.
Never the less, just a few months earlier my parents were living in southern rural Oklahoma in an almost ‘third-world’ existence. No electricity or running water. The only radio near them was at a neighbor’s house about a mile down the road. A radio powered by a car battery. If the president were to speak on the radio, someone would have to drive down to my folks house and alert them of a presidential address. An address such as one of Roosevelt’s fire side chats. “Good evening America.”
Chuck the Blogger Guy 