Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Remembering the Atwater Kent radio

I was looking at pictures of Atwater Kent radios and believe the one we had could have been Model 21C.  It had beautiful cabinetry.  It would have been worth a goodly sum of money if it were available today and in as good condition as it was when I was a small child.  

Atwater Kent was the leading manufacturer of radios for several years in the 1920's.  Manufacturing ended when banks failed, unions caused trouble, and the demand for luxury radios dwindled as the economy became bad.

When the radio quit working, we made no effort to get it fixed or replace it.  The closing of the banks in 1932 changed our lives drastically.  When I heard other kids talk about programs they listened to, like Amos and Andy, I wished for a radio and it didn't help when Daddy would comment, "well, we had a radio when
very few people had them."  We finally got a small radio for about 20 dollars.

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