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 The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

or audio cassette players and

clock radio An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...

functions built in; some models also include shortwave or satellite radio functionality. Though generally compact in design, table radios are not necessarily intended to be portable in the manner of a

boom box A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...

. 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 shortwave and radio- phonograph 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 and

catalin Catalin is a brand name for a thermosetting polymer developed and trademarked in 1927 by the American Catalin Corporation of New York City, when the patent on Bakelite expired that year. A phenol formaldehyde resin, it can be worked with files, ...

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 Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and accounted for almost two thirds of all sets produced in the US in 1946. More compact table radios with both

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...

and

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...

technology became available in the 1950s, and smaller table radios such as

s 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 Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

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 A CD player is an electronic device that plays audio compact discs, which are a digital optical disc data storage format. CD players were first sold to consumers in 1982. CDs typically contain recordings of audio material such as music or audio ...

functions, such as the Kloss Model 88 and Bose Wave radio.

References

Receiver (radio)
{{Radio-comm-stub

History

See also

References