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Philadelphia, 1925. Frank Aiken and Atwater Kent at the new Atwater Kent radio factory. View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.
In 1984 I married a (not so young) lady from Adamant, Vermont. Down a dirt road from her parents' house was Kent Corners, home of the original farmstead of Atwater Kent. A mile or so away was Maple Corners, where we had our wedding reception in the grange hall. Just up the hill by dirt road (all dirt, around there) was the Old West Church, built in 1824. Over the altar is still an inscription, "Remove not the ancient monument thy fathers have set".
Too bad the marriage only lasted four years.
Working one of these beasts was quite a chore.
http://www.ka7oei.com/ak20c.html
There are a lot of things we take for granted in modern radios.
The radio on the table is the model 20 Compact, No. 7570, put into production in March 1925. Nearly a quarter of a million were made before production ended in 1927. One of my favorite sets.
Was this Frank Aiken the Irish politician or somebody else?
[Frank Aiken was chief engineer at Atwater Kent. - Dave]
The Atwater Kent radio was a quality set in the mid to late 1920's. My mother's family bought one in 1926 and still had it during WW2, when I would listen to it. Its power supply had been modified by then, and it lasted until 1949, when a 13 inch GE television set replaced it in the living room and it went to the garage.
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