Tuning In for Catalin Radios

Escaping the Great Depression, and with another world war looming, Americans were looking for something to make their days cheery and bright in the late 1930s. They found it with Catalin radios. Catalin is an early, clear plastic made from phenol formaldehyde resins developed by the American Catalin Corporation in the 1930s. Catalin could be […]

A Bakelite Radio Once Owned by the Shirelles? Prove It.

Q: I am excited to ask you about my Bakelite radio. Although it looks like an ordinary worn radio from the early 1940s, it happens to have come from the home of the Shirelles – the historic girls singing group of the 1960s. This is the radio that the girls sat around the kitchen table […]

GE Radio Phonograph

Q: I’m trying to find information about this 1950s upright GE record player cabinet. It’s Model G 502 h and has several patent numbers on the back. After hours of searching, I can’t find anything about it. Can you help? A: General Electric made these stereo radio/phonographs at their plant in Decatur, Illinois. The company […]