Early to Mid 20th Century Decorative Arts Auction
Thursday, 5 - Thursday, 12 October 2023
Philco 444 "People's Set" Radio (1936)
Current Bid $280 (20 bids, reserve met)
This lot is now closed 12 Oct 6:56 PM (NZST)
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Lot Details
Philco 444 "People's Set" Radio (1936) Superb period art deco form finished in an ebony Bakelite. Everything about this design is distinctive, from the modernistic dial to the clean, dramatic cabinet lines. Some people claim the cabinet was influenced by the engine cover of the Volkswagen Beetle, but both designs were simply more a product of contemporary trends. Measuring 400mm high by 335mm wide by 250mm deep. The Bakelite cabinet in excellent order. Being sold untested with plug removed though all valves appear to be present. The BBC's charter was renewed for the first time in 1936. In the previous year, Lord Ullswater had been appointed to lead a review of broadcasting, to make recommendations about the future direction and management of the Corporation. In the report, criticism was directed at British radio manufacturers for their failure to produce a set which was truly affordable to the majority of people, despite the expansion of radio production in the first part of the decade. The Philco 'People's Set' was a reply to this criticism, although retailing at a price of £6 6s (over £300 in 2015) it was still quite expensive. The design is modestly reminiscent of contemporary streamlined trends, while its general shape references upright 'cathedral'-style sets which were popular in the late-1920s and early-1930s. The set is important as it represents a point when radio was becoming more accessible as a truly mass medium, for entertainment, for education and for information.
