Radio 1940 onwards

Sold for £150

'Emersonette' 540A 1947. A true midget, was advertised at the time as the 'world's smallest AC/DC superhet'. Very neat little set, excellent condition and works very well, MW only and 110v but again has a plug-in converter included. These little American sets are amazingly good performers for their size, and these sets are quite desirable even in the USA, although brown bakelite is the most common variant. A great little set in superb condition.
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Sold for £150

1946. Neat little set, a big midget if you see what I mean. American of course, so it is MW only and 110v, but there is a new unused 110v plug-in converter included. (Cost £20.) Excellent condition, looks all original, no damage and works very well, inbuilt aerial. Nice little set, attractive brown bakelite cabinet with green dial, in top condition.
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Sold for £195

1945. The wartime AD94, specially introduced to meet wartime conditions, had a short wave band in place of Long Wave. When Daventry re-opened after the war Murphy quickly adapted the AD94 for LW, re-naming it the SAD94L. First class example of this set, no damage or anything horrid, overhauled and ready to use. Attractive bakelite cabinet, reliable chassis, not too big, quite rare,
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Sold for £65

1949. This sort of radio would ordinarily go in the Bargain Basement, but this is an absolutely superb example which shows how good these high quality sets are, and how they are under-valued. Gleaming original finish, has been overhauled - looks and works like new. 3 bandspread SW bands. Great value.
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Sold for £1000

Superbly rare and delightful item. Probably the best example in existance, this rare set is in pristine condition, in original carton with guarantee and instruction leaflet. Even has the original batteries! Hard to value this- whatever I ask, it will probably sell immediately.
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Sold for £95

c.1948. A proper Pilot set, not the Premier kit based on Pilot cabinets. Absolutely first class example, no visible problems and looks as if the chassis has had an excellent restoration. Works well. A 3 band 5 valve set, smaller than a DAC90 but bigger than a midget. Classic 40s set.
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Sold for £50

I have never noticed this before, but the Ivalek 50s crystal set is an almost exact copy of the Arvin midget set,except it is even more midget! These sets were virtually toys, but presumably work- the later ones use a crystal diode, but this earlier example has an old style crystal detector. (Red control.) With a new Ivalek crystal in box. Condition is as new
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Sold for £40

c.1949. An unusual item, never seen one of these before. An export model, has 3 bands and a 78 only deck with standard Garrard needle pick up. The chassis looks conventional but not one I recognise, has a large mains transformer mounted separately. The dial shows many Continental stations and it still has the original instruction paper label under the control knobs, which is in English and French. The whole unit has a quality feel to it and it 'nearly works', ie the radio works but the dial cord is broken so it won't tune, the record deck works but is very low output.
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Sold for £85

Possibly the best one I have ever seen. Made from left-over Pilot Little Maestro bits and ex WD surplus, these were available as a kit or pre-assembled from Premier Radio Ltd. by mail order. Maybe this was pre-assembled, or built by someone who knew what they were doing, but it is not the usual cobbled together box of bits. Firstly, it is in virtually mint condition, with original back etc. Secondly, it has a transformer for the heaters, so no bits of old fire element or crumbly line cords. Uses sensible valves, 6V6 output etc, not a mixture of odd radar valves that nobody wanted. Works very well.
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Sold for £50

1952. Pye made a number of good multi-band sets in the late 40s and early 50s. Some were very sophisticated, with RF amplifiers and other features, others were more a basic domestic radio with good SW coverage- (this one has 9 bands). This model is one of the latter, unusual in that it is housed in a bakelite cabinet with a real 50s feel to it. Robin Day designed some cabinets for Pye- might this be one? The thing about this set is the superb condition, and it works well.
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Sold for £125

1945. Called the 'Little Jewel', but commonly called the 'Refrigerator', this is an American set which manages to cram 5 octal valves into a small cabinet, only about 9" high. Has a handle which folds out from the top. Quite cute, 110V and MW only of course, but will work from a plug-in converter. The sides are pained bakelite, the rest metal. Overhauled, clean and tidy. Put it in the kitchen with your 'toaster'!
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Sold for £50

Model 60, c.1948. 3 band 5 valve superhet in pleasantly styled bakelite cabinet, substantially made (probably by Plessey.) These sets were built to a good standard, as repairs were part of the contract and meant lost revenue. Clean, no cracks or damage, working.
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Sold for £95

c.1948. Chubby bakelite set, 3 band, excellent condition complete with instruction card. Not a small set, well made, conventional AC octal valve superhet, works well, overhauled.
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Sold for £75

Well known set made from 1950 onwards. First class condition except for a very small hairline crack about 1" long in the top, otherwise superb and working.
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Sold for £35

Compact early 50s set with wavechange switch at the back, good condition and working.
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Sold for £95

1949. A very nice clean example, sprayed green bakelite (not cracked). Not a fantastic performer (3 valve reflex circuit) but unusual styling and quite collectable. Has probably been resprayed but is the right colour, working.
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Sold for £120

1947 midget set in white bakelite cabinet. Lovely example. no cracks or damage, original knobs, very nice little set, 8ins. wide. Working order, overhauled.
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Sold for £220

1949-50. Very stylish, unusual shaped semi-midget radio from France. Unique shape, brown bakelite with mirror scale, 3 band, uses miniature valves. Working and free from cracks.These are a classic radio, rare in the UK and very delicate, so hard to find in as good condition as this one.
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Sold for £85

1960s 'amateur' communications receiver. Many radio 'Hams' in the 60s would have happily swapped their ex- WD or home built rig for one of these- the latest Japanese communications receiver, designed specially for amateur band DX and for use with a matching transmitter. It boasts continuous tuning from 0.55 to 30 Mc/s, bandspread on the amateur bands with piezo filters for selectivity. It does work well and seems to be sensitive on all bands. It has an 'S' meter, BFO and speaker or 'phones outputs. In a good clean cabinet, with original handbook.
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Sold for £75

1970s high quality portable multi-band receiver. Covers LW/MW/FM plus 10 double conversion SW bands- all bandspreads of course. It has variable selectivity,BFO, signal meter- all the facilities of a communications receiver, with good quality audio. Mains/battery. Works well, (band switch noisy), should have a cover over the front but generally very good condition.
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Sold for £195

1945. A great design in bakelite, and a practical set to use as it is a conventional 3 band octal valve superhet, works well, cabinet, dial, back etc are all correct and original. A very nice example of this classic set which we have not had for a while.
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Sold for £95

These were advertised in the 50s, mainly aimed at boys who wanted a radio but could not afford the batteries, never mind the set. A circular plastic moulding about 4"dia., it is very similar to sets made in the 20s. It says 'with permanent detector' on the box, but it has a cat's whisker- maybe like the more common 'radio' model, some had a germanium diode and some an open detector. As new in original box.
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Sold for £150

1955. This is a well known set, the classic 'toaster', but this is the FM version, now quite rare and certainly in this condition. Very clean, no cracks or marks and working, this is just like you want to find one, but seldom do.
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Sold for £120

Basic 3 valve midget set, (about 10"high) made by Hale Electric Ltd., (Etronic) using a bakelite cabinet with ivory details. very prone to damage, but this is an excellent example throughout. It is in brown bakelite, but there are traces of green paint visible which show it was probably originally sprayed in this colour- Ivory was also available as a spray finish. There is always a problem with refinishing these painted cabinets, in that everyone will assume that the cabinet has been repaired. It also looks better in the bakelite finish.
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Sold for £120

1946. Transportable LW/MW mains set, another unusual cabinet design for Murphy by A.F. Thwaites. Maroon bakelite cabinet with clear plastic cover over the gold dial, the splined ends of the circular top being the control knobs. Very nice clean example, working and free from cracks or damage.
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Sold for £85

c.1956. One of the '3D sound' 4 speaker sets which began to be imported in the mid-50s. This model was totally 'Anglicised', the full name being the 'Hastings 2035 WD/GB'. The high gloss finish and brassy details are impossible to restore, so only very well preserved examples are worth looking at. This is a very nice clean example, very good cabinet, and it works well on all bands.
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Sold for £65

c. 1947, bakelite cabinet 3 band AC/DC superhet. C series Octal valves. Very clean, working, no damage on cabinet. Nice lttle set.
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Sold for £75

1940 Murphy 'Stationmaster'model A92. High performance set with RF amplifier and bandspread SW bands. Lovely clean example, light oak finish, original cloth, bakelite trim. It works very well, has been overhauled. These sets were used by the BBC for monitoring overseas SW programmes.
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Sold for £150

Lovely little post-war Maestro in mint colour and mint condition! Sparkles like anew, painted finish which I think is original but virtually perfect. Working, such a great looking set! PROVISIONALLY SOLD
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Sold for £295

The well known 'Toaster'- but in the very rare pale turquoise blue. These are very rare and most are damaged. This one is pristine, you won't see better, overhauled and working.
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Sold for £850

The M78F is one of those legendary sets that most collectors have heard of but never seen. Made of Perspex, this tiny portable was issued in 1948 but proved very unreliable and the legend is that the public objected to the similarity of the Pye logo (used since 1929) to the Japanese flag, so soon after the end of the war and news was coming in of the horrors of the POW camps. Whatever the truth, they are rare and very delicate. this one is in the green and cream colour scheme and is in fine condition.
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Sold for £150

1951. Known as the 'Dynamic', but called the 'Bullseye' by US collectors. Very American 'Dashboard' style bakelite cabinet, in spreayed pale green finish. Absolutely original looking and in excellent condition, working (110v).
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Sold for £120

Larger version of the 'Little Maestro', 3 band AC superhet in bakelite cabinet. Very good clean set, no cracks, handle (fragile) OK, overhauled and working.
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Sold for £150

Immediate post-war version of the AD94 of 1940. This model has LW instead of the SW band of the AD94, designed for wartime conditions.
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Sold for £40

KB 'Minuet' Compact, stylish set in plastic cabinet, clean original condition, working.
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Sold for £50

GEC BC4655 1946. AC/DC version of the BC4750. Uses a barretter, (spare one included- rare item!) Very good clean condition, working.
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Sold for £750

Ekco A22 1946. Brown bakelite. Superb example of this popular set. The cloth, back, dial etc. are all original and in very good condition. There are no cracks, chips, stress marks etc. in the cabinet and it is overhauled and working well.
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Sold for £50

HMV1121 c.1950. These are a well designed and made set, 4 band with glass scales arranged like a Venetian blind, in front of the speaker. It works very well, and this is a good clean original example of the model.
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Sold for £65

Pye PE 80 'Cambridge International' 1953. Top quality set in the Pye range, -8 valves, push-pull audio, variable selectivity, 11 bands (9SW), RF stage- better spec. than many 'communication' receivers. Lovely clean original condition, working.
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