A table radio is a small, self-contained radio receiver used as an entertainment device. Most such receivers are limited to radio functions, though some have compact disc or

audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...

players and clock radio functions built in; some models also include

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

functionality. Though generally compact in design, table radios are not necessarily intended to be portable in the manner of a boom box. Many can run on battery power, however, making them useful as emergency radios. Some with CD functionality traditionally have top loading CD players but more recently can have front loading CD players.

History

Although some households owned one or more sophisticated table radios or console models with

and radio-

phonograph A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

combinations as early as the 1920s, table radios offered in various cabinet materials and designs at an assortment of prices from $10 to over $100 proliferated in the 1930s. They were characterized by relatively high fidelity sound, as well as large cabinets typically made of wood and metal, with some made from various colors of

bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...

and catalin plastic resins. During those years, listening to the radio was considered a family activity. Some of the more well known examples from this period are Philco cathedral models 70 and 90. During the 1940s, table model radios were considered the backbone of the radio manufacturing industry. Volume increased after World War II, and accounted for almost two thirds of all sets produced in the US in 1946. More compact table radios with both vacuum tube and transistor technology became available in the 1950s, and smaller table radios such as clock radios became dominant during this period. The use of plastic cabinets also became widespread. Lower performance standards resulted in declining sound quality, especially in early all-transistor sets. The popularity of television led to the table radio's decline as the primary means to receive news and entertainment in a communal or family setting, and their increasing use in individual or personal settings. High performance table radios such as the KLH Model Eight were introduced in the 1960s, and followed in the late 1990s and early 2000s by table radios that offered AM/FM stereo reception and CD player functions, such as the Kloss Model 88 and Bose Wave radio.

References

Receiver (radio)
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History

See also

References