1938 Emerson AB178 Radio
Emerson Radio Corp. was incorporated in 1915 as Emerson Phonograph Co. by an early recording engineer and executive, Victor Hugo Emerson, who was at one time employed by Columbia Records.
The first factories were opened in Chicago and Boston, in 1920. Although Emerson introduced the first radio-phonograph combination sold in the United States, the company remained in obscurity until 1932, when, during the Great Depression, it introduced the “peewee” radio. The AB178 is a 14 tube superhet with broadcast (AM), shortwave and police wave bands.
This radio was missing the speaker and it had an ugly, non-original grille cloth. Both had to be replaced as well as all the capacitors and some of the coils.
A new speaker board had to be cut to accommodate the new, smaller speaker.
The chassis and all the hardware was cleaned and polished and a new coat of shellac was applied.