BD197 "Mae West" Ch= BD

. The Emerson BD-197 (BD197) got the nickname "Mae West". EE: According to Richard Arnold, USA, this unusual cabinet design of Mae West is the result of an Russian immigrant, Count Alexis de Sakknoffsky (1906-1964). The cabinet was made by the Ingraham Radio Cabinet Company, Bristol, Connecticut for Emerson Radio & Phono Corporation. The BD-197 Mae West uses 5 tubes plus a ballast tube (3CR-241).

On the front of the cabinet between the conical dial face and speaker grille are two small lights. The one on the left is blue and indicates use of the shortwave band. The other is red and indicates use of the broadcast band. The radio's tuning ranges are 540-1730 Kc for the broadcast band and 5.6-18.0 Mc for shortwave.

According to Rider, all BD chassis having numbers above 1,580,950 had a production change. One was a 4-point tone control.

The dial-scale pointer is fixed into the plastic cover at the 6 o'clock position, and the dial scales move behind it. The center spiral tips that are over the conical cones are plastic, as are the larger rings located at the back of the cones.
The grille cloth over the speaker area is a gold color and is formed into a cone. It is not stiff, but pliable.

Concentric rings are formed into the two-layers of fabric of the speaker cover.