These consoles should have had a different dial design to go with their cabinets - a much too expensive quest for Zenith when each year they made entire line design changes. The other three (3) more expensive cabinets were very Victorian in style and really didn't present well with the robot dial. It is the most distinctively Deco in design and in my opinion the best utilization of the robot dial to cabinet combination of the series.
The first mentioned above is the least expensive cabinet of all four, costing, in 1938, $185.00. With its twelve (12) inch dynamic audio speaker with adjustable bass baffle to compliment the receiver it was available in four different cabinet designs. This set was also the second model down from the 25-tube 1000Z Stratosphere in the 1938 line. All of the 15 tube sets can tune from 540kc to 44,870kc." The additional "ultra" band, as signified by the "U" in the model number, also adds a fourth shutter dial. The entire line of 15 tube models tuned 4 bands instead of the 3 offered in the 9 and 12-tube models. According to The Old Radio Zone, the Supreme Authority on Zenith: ". This set is all original with the original grill cloth, a very fortunate circumstance, because it was used only on Zenith 15 tube consoles and is not reproduced today. Usually, each year the radio industry as a whole came out with new models.Īs you can see, my Zenith 1938 model 15U269 console is a real beauty. What a wonderful engineering feat! The patent for this new dial was issued to Zenith in 1937 and these sets were only produced for the one year - 1938. It is quite an interesting design where the various short wave bands are opened up by moving a lever below the tuning knob that causes the dial face to open like camera irises or shutters. Some collectors refer to this model as the shutter dial. These Zenith sets have always intrigued me with their great Deco look with the big black motorized robot dials. Let's consider the Zeniths of 1938 for a moment. After discovering the big "Z" logo and the quality that went into these sets, I was hooked and never looked back. With their beautiful and varied cabinet designs and high quality electronics these sets have become treasured collectibles by all who love Vintage radios.Īs my interest in old radios and collecting started to explode in the late 1980s, I purchased and sold many different models from numerous manufacturers but for one reason or another always seemed to return to Zenith as my personal favorite. Of all radio manufacturers during the fabulous Art Deco design years of the 1930s and 1940s, one company that has always shone brightly is the Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago. THE 1938 ZENITH 15U269 CONSOLE - DECO TO THE MAX We are pleased to show the photo and to reprint his essay: One of our readers sent in this photo and an essay about his radio. WAVES LLC is THE (and I mean THE) store for old radios, microphones and advertising materials.
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Thanks for tuning in! Feel free to Contact Me if you have questions or want to share photographs and radio stories with the rest of the readers. In addition to radio stuff, we have a Vintage Television Page, a Calendar of Swing Dancing in DC, a Directory of Vintage Clothing Stores and a Guide to 1940s Collectibles. Call Letters for Swing Era Radio Stations.Parental Controls and "TV Ears", 1938 style.Meck Model 5E7X2 Table Radio "Trailblazer".Signal Electronics Model 341T "Empresss".Farnsworth Model EK-263 Console Radio-Phono.Porto Products Model SR-600 "The Smokerette".General television Model 588 Table Radio.Crosley Model 547 Table Radio "The Fiver Quicktune".Crosley Model 11-107-U Table Radio "The Decorator".General Marshall's Silvertone Model 6365.RCA Model 8X71 Table Radio "Golden Throat".Philco Model 37-60B Table Radio "Beehive".General Marshall's Philco Model 48-1256.Philco 39-116 Console - the First Wireless Remote.General Electric 749 and 752 Radio-Phono Console.General Electric Model F-40 Table Radio.Zenith 9H081 and 9H881 - Pull-Out Controls.Zenith 15U269 Console "Deco to the Max".
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