1929 Atwater Kent Model 55C

Click on the TrueSpeech logo to hear this radio!

If I never had another console, this would probably be the one that I would keep. This somewhat overexposed photo (we're working on it!) shows the TRF set in a custom Red Lion cabinet; it's the summit in Middle Art Deco radio design, that's for sure.

It came to us after having barely survived a tip-over onto a concrete driveway, and a subsequent case of mistaken identity by a German Shepard; the shep thought it was a fire hydrant, and blessed it as his. It was a formidable challenge to restore, but, hey, that's what it's all about.

Yes, that's gold leaf around the arch, and in the little diamonds that make up part of the trim strips on the sides (barely visible at this resolution). I couldn't believe it either, as most of the photos I have of this set from that era don't seem to indicate this. Extensive microscopic detective work on the wood revealed that, much to our surprise, that was the way it had been done at the Red Lion cabinet factory! As far as I know, this is unique to this series of set. If anyone out there has another 55C with this kind of trim, let me know!

This set has one of the first electro-dynamic speakers ever made; the technology was very young, and so the biggest claim it could give was much greater volume than anything previously made. The quality, though, still had a long way to go. But again, this was 1929, the heyday of high-rollers...

Until October of that year...

General Specifications
Design Type Tuning Range Number of Tubes Weight Power Consumption Original Selling Price Permanent Collection
TRF .540-1500 Khz Seven 110 Pounds 65 Watts (approx) unknown Yes

Tube Complement and Types (Balloon)
Rectifier RF Stage Detector Audio Stages
280 224's (2) 227 227 (1), 245 (2)

© 1996-2008 by Lin Robertson at Moonlight Systems
All Rights Reserved
(Click here for Copyright info)

Thoughts? Comments? Brickbats? Send me some e-mail!