Another radio from my childhood...this one an Airline.

Found a picture of it here:

http://oldradioarchives.com/radio.php?radio=235

It was an AM/Shortwave set. I remember it was a wooden case, with glued cloth covering, and the back opened up and had a place in it for a battery. Monkey Wards' answer to the Zenith Trans Oceanic? It really did "boom" pretty good for such a small speaker. I remember this radio got knocked around a LOT, but kept pluggin' away. This what what we'd take outside in the evenings when the mosquitoes weren't too bad.

Anybody got any info about what year this was made? I'd place my first memories of it in about 1963 or 64, and it had already been in the family for awhile, I think, so it was at least made before then. Did some other company make these for Wards?

Lost this one when the folks sold it at a garage sale in the late 70s. Add one to the wish list ;-)

It was made in 1955 with a leatherette case according to Bunis collector's guide. I don't know who made them for Wards.

Thanks for that info, DA. That sounds about right, as far as the date. That radio was already starting to get some wear and tear by the time I first became aware of it...I'm pretty sure it had a "pull up" metal rod antenna that eventually got broken off. And I guess it must have been "leatherette" as far as the glued-on fabric...I just remember it was a brownish-tan, and it tended to get scraped up a lot. It was a pretty big set, for being "portable". Those control knobs were probably 1 1/2", to give some sense of perspective.

Just thought I'd see if anyone else ever had one or heard one. I'm actually surprised that I was able to find a picture of one at all.

Like I said, one to add to the "want list" along with the 8-S-463.

Wow...what a difference a couple of dashes make. Did another google, this time adding dashes to the model number, and came up with this much better picture of the thing...man, oh man...this brings back some memories!

http://radio.macinmind.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=397

That's a different looking portable beebs, hopefully you'll eventually find one.

Often a civilian (non-collector) will call me about a radio's value that was in their family. When they ask me what they should do with it I often reply they should keep it and get it restored. That usually isn't the answer they want to hear; they just want to get rid of a family heirloom and get some fast cash. Never mind that the radio in question unselfishly entertained and kept family members informed with news/weather reports for years.

That's why I appreciate someone trying to find a radio from their past and envious of some who still have one of their first radios.

Happy Hunting beebs!

John

beebs wrote:Wow...what a difference a couple of dashes make. Did another google, this time adding dashes to the model number, and came up with this much better picture of the thing...man, oh man...this brings back some memories!

http://radio.macinmind.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=397

That's for sure! I did the same thing just before reading your post and was about to give you two links. Well, you found one on your own, but here's another one with a great picture of the radio and some specs:

http://www.radionewjerusalem.com/Radio/Showroom.html

I searched Google images for GSL 1079-A, which gave different results than GSL1079-A.
Maybe you'll find one on eBay. You might be able to buy the one in the picture for $65. There's an inquiry link below the specs.

Wow! The knobs look wrong, but that's indeed the ol' box. Many thanks for the heads-up. It really didn't hit me about the "dash" thing in Google until then...got lots more to go on now!

Eliot Ness wrote:That's a different looking portable beebs, hopefully you'll eventually find one.

Often a civilian (non-collector) will call me about a radio's value that was in their family. When they ask me what they should do with it I often reply they should keep it and get it restored. That usually isn't the answer they want to hear; they just want to get rid of a family heirloom and get some fast cash. Never mind that the radio in question unselfishly entertained and kept family members informed with news/weather reports for years.

That's why I appreciate someone trying to find a radio from their past and envious of some who still have one of their first radios.

Happy Hunting beebs!

John

Thanks John!

beebs wrote:Wow! The knobs look wrong, but that's indeed the ol' box. Many thanks for the heads-up. It really didn't hit me about the "dash" thing in Google until then...got lots more to go on now!

You might be able to get the correct knobs from Dave Frush.

DA wrote:You might be able to get the correct knobs from Dave Frush.

Thanks for that, as well. I've sent an inquiry email about the radio, so we'll see if it's still available.

Just found one that sold earlier this month on eBay...looked really good, and went for just over $25. Good to know these old babies are still out there! Some great pics on this listing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-Airline-Oceanic-Tube-Radio-Model-GSL-1079A_W0QQitemZ140297645362QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item140297645362&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Nice set of pictures. Good for comparison with another one that may come along.

Looks like I'll be getting the Airline. The guy selling seems very nice, and is going to tweak the alignment/etc. before he sends it. I'll post some pics when it gets here.