Balestra Barber Shop, Collectible Toys, Coin Op, Primitives, and Antiques-Online Only
Lot 508:
Description
A mid-century novelty vacuum tube radio manufactured by the Guild Radio and Television Company of Inglewood, California, designated as Model No. 484 and marketed as The Spice Chest. The unit is a one-piece cabinet designed in the Colonial Revival style to resemble a traditional Early American spice chest. The cabinet is constructed from honey-toned wood with a scalloped gallery top and a clear finish. The front features two louvered doors with vertical wooden pulls that open to reveal the radio’s control face and speaker. The internal speaker is covered with a tapestry grille cloth depicting a Colonial-era rural scene with horse-drawn carriages and farm buildings. The control panel is finished in a dark faux-patina metal with gold-toned scrollwork and contains three wooden knobs for Volume, Tuning, and a combined Bass/Treble control, alongside a horizontal slide-rule tuning dial for AM frequencies. The base of the unit includes two small functional drawers with round wooden knobs. The rear features a metal identification plate providing technical specifications, including its status as a superheterodyne receiver and a tube location diagram for tube types 12BE6, 12BA6, 12AV6 or 12AT6, and 50C5. The apparatus is licensed by the Radio Corporation of America and Hazeltine Research, Inc.
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