Radio

This Philco cathedral-style tabletop radio is a classic design from the golden age of radio in the 1930s. The manufacturer's name on the bottom offers a glimpse of the world to come: the Philco Radio Company had adopted a new name - Philco Radio and Television Company - as early as 1935, long before the post-World War II era when television would first become widely available to consumers. Realizing that the medium of radio broadcasting would form the basis for television technology, Philco, one of the largest radio manufacturers in the country, had actively participated in developing television since the late 1920s. By the time NBC aired the nation's first television broadcast from the New York World's Fair in 1939, experimental broadcast stations had already sprung up in the country's major cities, with several established by Philco in its native Philadelphia. Despite the public's eager anticipation of TV, radio still dominated the American airwaves, with 44 million sets nationwide. Nearly 90%of American households owned at least one radio, and the average listener tuned in for about five hours every day. Despite major design innovations and new plastic materials, the wooden cathedral style still represented the typical set in America in the 1930s, when it crackled warmly next to the family hearth.