Radio today (Apr-Dec 1939)

■ the generation of interference voltages, actually increased it in some cases. For apparatus whose radio noise voltage cannot be satisfactorily curtailed by its construction, some type of filter can generally be applied with benefit. The most common is the lowimpedance shunt filter. Commutatortype motors and contact make-andbreak apparatus such as the interrupter motor can be effectively silenced by this method. Colored Families Like Radio After a swing through the South covering Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, Vic Mucher, sales manager for Clarostat Mfg. Co., Inc., reports on a little discussed angle of radio ownership. "I was particularly impressed with the radio sets in use among colored folks. Practically every colored household today has a radio set, which is precisely as it should be. Those poor folks struggle hard to buy an inexpensive set, no matter how long drawn out the small weekly payments may be. I was impressed by at least one colored serviceman who sells sets and services them for thousands of colored customers. Eadio has become an every-day commodity among our colored citizens, and that means a big market for sets, servicing and parts." New Cabinet Designs Due to Women The radio industry has advanced another far-reaching step towards fine furniture design, giving radio its proper and important place as harmonious furniture in the American living-room, declares Ben Nash, famous industrial designer and consultant for Philco. "Radio makers are being drawn further away from the bulky 'borax' lines which, for so long, have kept console radios from universal acceptance in homes of better taste. A new gracefulness and simplicity in line is coming into acceptance as radio-furniture takes on increasing importance. "Horizontal better," says Nash "The industry having gone through the cycle of flaunting big mechanicallooking contraptions on the outside surface of cabinets, is giving greater consideration to the furniture aspects of radio. The operating devices are being skillfully blended into the piece of radio furniture, with the controls appropriately related in the body of the cabinet, as is the case with the piano. "For many years radio seemed unable to shake off the design influence of the old phonograph cabinet in its Ben Abrams, Emerson president, launches new broadcast series over Mutual chain featuring Elliott Roosevelt. upright proportions and in its bulk." But now better furniture for radio involves design along horizontal lines rather than vertical, as in the past. This affords greater harmony with other living-room furniture which is generally horizontal in nature. One indication of the changing trend, he reports, is that the finest walnut woods are being treated with more conservative veneers. This is especially true in the case of the larger console models which must fit into a conservative room setting and actually live in the home. The other type of radio style embraces the small incidental radio which can use a maximum amount of decorative interest and flash to make an appeal in sell ing and lend a touch of color in a room, without dominating it. Women are behind this change in radio design. Nash declares Philco's continuous consumer research has demonstrated that women have had the greatest influence in bringing about this trend ; it has also discovered that they are exceedingly receptive to it. "There is but one conclusion," Nash remarked, "and that is: "Women are determined to get what they want in radio cabinets, and they are now well on their way toward getting it." 10,000 Play as One Via Radio Audience participation offers another reason for radio buying. No less than 10,000 music lovers now play instruments at home, synchronizing their playing with great orchestras, says Ernest La Prade, NBC director of music research. And the audience is growing every day. Until recently most of these people were musical hermits, but through radio they have become parts of a nationwide ensemble. They play with Toscannini and his NBC Symphony or other famous musical groups. Of interest to radio dealers looking for a good selling point is Mr. La Prade's belief that "audience participation is still in its infancy. We have had orchestral and choral participation, but as yet none for band music, chamber music or opera. I think we may look forward to supplementary courses in ear-training, sight reading and solfege." Larry E. Gubb, Philco's president, D. J. MacKillop, manager Philco's Southern Division, and James T. Buckley, new President of Philadelphia Storage Battery Co., chat about the new 1940 Philco radio receivers, which are all wired for television sound. JULY, 7939 7 7