Radio today (Jan-Mar 1939)

PUSH THOSE PORTABLES Something new for a radio-jaded public — where to sell 'em and how For a selling "shot-in-the-arm" try the portables in 1939. That's the word going around. And it's based on solid facts, for the self-contained receivers, needing no antenna or electrical connection, have been a sales sensation. For the coming season, they're going to go even faster. So fast they'll make the well-known hot cake look as slow as a Floradora girl in a streamlined night-club chorus. Smart radio dealers are thinking up new ways to sell these sets to cash in on their wide possibilities. Sixteen manufacturers are turning out portables at an average retail cost of $30, including batteries. They weigh about 15 or 17 pounds (although some are as light as 12) and are ideal for traveling. New, efficient tubes, better batteries give them another strong sales point. In fact, the juice providers will usually last long for the entire summer without a replacement. Plenty of prospects There are plenty of prospects for these small, compact jobs. One man who has sold 260 sets in the last several months told us he found vaudeville, night club and other actors anxious to buy a portable for use backstage in their dressing-rooms or while traveling. Salesmen on the road are other candidates for a sale. They are ideal for camping trips, for use at the beach, and in this weather, PORTABLE PROSPECTS Traveling salesmen, executives Actors, entertainers for dressing rooms and trips Business men for part-time office use Campers, picnic fans, vacationers Skiiers and other outdoor sports followers Servicemen, dealers to locate interference PORTABLE PLACES Motorboats, sailboats, canoes, yachts Autos and trailers, hotels, overnight camps Football, baseball games, races, beaches Sleigh rides, bicycles, motorcycles while skiing is so popular, they can be sold to the outdoor fans. In Seattle, Philco dealers got together on a newspaper advertisement and pushed the "Pal" portable radio as just the thing for the skiiers. In New York City, where a Xmas sell-out made them almost impossible to get, Alfred Tuffery of Wurlitzer's took a portable to a nearby restaurant for an office party. Guests were attracted and amazed when the portable turned out tunes with no electrical or aerial connections. Another merchandiser, J. M. A. McGuire, sent lads through the street with the tiny sets. On each receiver was a placard with McGuire's address, and while being carried, the sets played. Where permanent installations are not wanted, the new portables can be sold for trailers, motorboats, automobiles, hotels, overnight camps. They are ideal, too, for places where no power supply is available such as sailboats, canoes, football and baseball games, bicycles, motorcycles, on sleds. Another use for them is as interference locators for dealers and servicemen. The business man, too, is a prospect, as he can often use a portable in his office, bringing it there to tune in on some special newscast or other important event. Racetracks followers also are buying them to get results at one track while visiting another. Most dealers are featuring the portables in their window and floor displays as well as in direct-mail and newspaper advertising. Neat in appearance, covered with sturdy wearresisting fabric or leather, the portables almost sell themselves. For 1939 they're going to be an important sales factor. Listed to date as making portable receivers are Philco, RCA, Westinghouse, Sentinel, Mission Bell, Wells Gardner, Continental, Belmont, Howard, Crosley, Emerson, Fada, Dewald, Pilot, Warwick, and Espey. NO S.R.O. ON THE RADIO "S.R.O." signs may be up at the Metropolitan opera, but for the radio listeners there's always a seat in Box 44. That's the theme of a new promotion brochure released by NBC's E. P. H. James. Which would seem like a good selling point for radio dealers. Just think of the millions represented in the Metropolitan Opera's shows and audience. Yet any music lover, no matter what his economic status, may have a front-row seat — if he buys a radio receiver. SMART, COMPACT, LIGHT WEIGHT, CONVENIENT -DESCRIBES THESE NEW PORTABLE RECEIVERS % $ ESPEY WESTINGHOUSE MISSION BELL RCA VICTOR ST**^!