1945 5P113 Belmont Boulevard
Belmont Radio Corp., Chicago
6 1/4 x 3 x 11/16 inches / 159 x 76 x 17.5 mm
Brass and aluminum cabinet with leatherette covering
Five subminiature tubes (2x 2E32, 2E36, 2E42, 2G22), superheterodyne circuit
Two AA cells, one 22.5 volt battery
The Belmont Boulevard was the world's first "pocket" radio — pretty much everything else there is to be said about this historic radio has been said in Michael Schiffer's great and classic book, The Portable Radio in American Life (pp.161-165). A brief synopsis of what he wrote:
Raytheon Corporation bought Belmont Radio Corp. in mid-1945, and Belmont's first task was to produce a shirt pocket radio employing the subminiature tubes that Raytheon had developed and perfected before and during World War II — the radio was not to be a toy but a true superheterodyne radio, employing five tubes in its circuit (all were RF and IF tubes here, no audio tubes — the Boulevard used an earphone rather than a speaker). Production began in late 1945, with a full-page ad in the December 1945 issue of Life magazine announcing its arrival. And despite its sophisticated circuit and handsome housing, the Belmont Boulevard sold only around 5000 units, making it today a radio not only of great historical interest but also quite a rarity for collectors.
(One thing I'm proud to add is that the Boulevard shown here formerly belonged to Michael Schiffer and is the one that appears on page 163 in his book, The Portable Radio in American Life.)
The Boulevard's cabinet is entirely metal, a mix of brass and aluminum pieces — the main body of the cabinet is aluminum, overlaid with a brown leatherette covering, and the top and bottom pieces are made of brass. There's about a 1/4-inch overlap inside between the main aluminum housing and the brass pieces. So where's the antenna? Without a schematic, all I can guess is it's either the earphone wire or the cabinet itself.
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