First Car radios-history and development of early Car Radios |
Ernst Erb
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History and development of early Car Radios
The very first broadcast receivers and early radios, that is to say sets of the early 1920s, almost always consisted of a box for the radio, one for the speaker and several batteries, sometimes in the form of accumulators containing liquid acids. Also required was a wire antenna of substantial length. All together, the components weighed a loaded suitcase. Nevertheless, one soon packed all into a wooden "suitcase" in order to be mobile.
It can justifiably be argued that these and the "Transitone" (not TH-1 !) from 1927 are the first mass-produced car radios. The year and date for the first production run of a "real car radio" remains still a bit of a mystery considering what's known about the subject at this time. However, it's safe to claim that the product "car radio" came into existence latest in 1927. See also the patent of William M. Heina from 1926 / 1927 on the Transitone page.
Without me asking, Alfred Zeeb, a member from Canada, made this translation of my article in German where also has been added a few more pictures. Thank you fro your great contribution, Alfred! I hope I did not spoil it by a few alterations/addings. Added 2008 + April 30, 201221. by EE: Information about "Radio World" 1922 and broadcast 1912/1913 plus details about Transitone. Attachments:
This article was edited 30.Apr.12 12:05 by Ernst Erb . |
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Ernst Erb
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Michael Lamm, Publisher, Lamm-Morada Inc., California, USA, has sent some paper clips about car radios to me. He gave me the permission to scan and publish them. Here I can present one of those - maybe some other later or in an other form (size). Thank you, Michael, for this very kind offer as a guest. |
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Maitiu Standun
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Reply | You aren't logged in. (Guest) 3 hello ernest ,many thanks for your very interesting article on early car radios, also i see a vincent de french has kindly offered to translate from the french ,hope he can also translate a n english version , as the potential of info on french sets would then be limitless, and there is a vast amount of interest in french sets and their particular design approach ,many thanks ernest , and fondest regards maitiu. | |||
Mike Phelan
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Hello everyone As far as I can find, the first production to have a fitted radio in 1923 was the Springfield (USA) using a domestic radio that was adapted for a car. The first purpose made car radio was Paul Galvin's Motorola in 1929, then the first English production car with a fitted radio was the Hillman Melody Minx in 1934.
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Konrad Birkner † 12.08.2014
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Jonathan Hill (Radio! Radio!) mentions the Britsh version of the Philco Transitone, which now already featured AGC. This "European" version was released in 1932. RadioRadio diplays in fig.282 (p.105) the installation of such a radio in a 1932 Vauxhall. At that time an estimated 100,000 car radios were already in use in the USA. |
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Ernst Erb
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You can find some more early pictures about car radios in the text in German. 20396 from 108176
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Alessandro De Poi
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In Italy we had first examples in the early 30s from major makers of the time, although there was an early example already in 1928 made by Botner laboratories:
(Photo taken from "La Radio, storia di sessant'anni, 1924/1984", ERI/Edizioni RAI - thanks to Emilio Ciardiello) In Radiomuseum, the earliest documented Italian car radios were Safar Autoradio (1933/34), Superla Autoradio (1934/35), Allocchio Bacchini Autonola I (1935), CGE B52 Auto (1935/36). Interest in car radio has grown soon after, also thanks to the "Regio Automobil Club d'Italia" (Automobile club of Italian Monarchy, later called Automobil Club d'Italia - ACI, still existing nowadays). In 1937, the Automobile club issued a competition to choose the best autoradio, calling the major radio maker to show their production. Prize-winner of the contest was Magnadyne RACI, followed by Condor CR5, Irradio Autoradio and Sliar Savoia - as we show in this image (by courtesy of P.Giusti):
At that year, most of the main Italian makers had a car radio in their catalogue. Few companies, which were specialized in car radio, have been established in this period (like Condor and, later, Autovox) According to another Italian article dated 1939, statistics from US Department of Agriculture were reporting 1.269.000 car radio being installed in American car. This article was edited 25.Mar.13 20:55 by Alessandro De Poi . 35974 from 108176
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Alan Scott Douglas † 16.11.15
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This is still the most complete book on the subject. Don Matteson, who was curator of radio at the Henry Ford Museum, spent years collecting information and interviewing people, for this 298-page book. He has photos of the 1904 de Forest auto, Alfred Grebe's 1919 installation, the 1921 Detroit Police Dept. radio cruiser, and others. After 1930 he covers essentially every production model. He is careful not to take manufacturers' later claims at face value, so you won't find any "first production model" identified. Because it all depends on definitions, and no one knows how many were actually made by any of these companies. 36047 from 108176
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