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"The Courthouse", Canada's Iconic Catalin Radio from 1940, in Green - Butterscotch, Mint Serviced and Working. Red and Yellow Versions also available
In a Nutshell
It's like a firestorm - this is a zoom of the right side of this beautiful green catalin radio with breathtaking swirls allover. It has no chips, cracks, discolorations, scratches whatsoever and works fine
Introduction:
Of the five prewar plastics catalin, beetle, urea, plaskon and bakelite, catalin is the "gem of plastics", followed by beetle, a beautiful special type of plaskon. Radios made from catalin are fetching by far the highest prices, because this material is most subject to material shrinking, causing many of their cabinets having developed cracks, especially when (non-shrinking) chassis' have been screwed too tightly to the cabinets. Catalin is the only material, that could be made in all colours, mostly with two or three of them mixed into swirling patterns (pict.156) and often translucent, as is the case for this radio (pict. 9).
The American Catalin Corporation, following a German recipee, began producing catalin casts in 1927, the very same year that Dr. Leo Baekeland's bakelite patent expired, in New York. Production was suspended in 1942. Catalin was introduced for radio cabinets in the 1930's in order to make radios cheaper than wooden radios, and more attractive than bakelite radios. Typical prices for a bakelite, catalin, or wood radio were $10, $40, and $100, respectively. Today a blue Fada Bullet radio is in the price guides for $5000 and fetches on eBay $3000, a little green Motorola Circle Grille radio was sold for $18'000 a few years ago at an auction in New York. Catalin was also used for vintage fashion accessories and fine, expensive jewelry.
The Canadian Addison made two catalin models, the 5F ("Courthouse") and the 2A ("Waterfall"). Both of these models were also made in other materials such as styrene, plaskon, bakelite, and even wood, and are icons of Canadian commodity design.
Additional information:
ref. 1. http://www.catalinradio.com/gallery
ref. 2. http://celluloidforever.com/BakeliteandCatalin.html
About my radio:
The marbled green with butterscotch trims version of this radio is the most common among its colour variants. My radio has extremely vibrant and dramatic swirls throughout all its surfaces, except the front. It features a rare colour anomaly: the back edge is yellow throughout (pict.s 4, 9, 16). The radio is in mint and original condition, having no chips, scratches, cracks, or discolorations whatsoever. I polished the cabinet slightly, removing the thin alcohol layer deposited over time (see techies below). The dial glass is new but indistinguishable from an original and in perfect shape. I meanwhile got an original one, that could be re-replaced, if wanted. The chassis has been thoroughly cleaned and in-depth serviced. All moving parts have been treated with contact spray. The filter capacitors have been replaced and housed in the original multicap shell (pict.s 27, 28), all tubes have been made in Canada (pict.26). The radio plays loud and clear on AM/BC, where it has good sensitivity and selectivity over the whole band spread, and receives on short-wave. Please
e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.
For the techies only:
Catalin, like bakelite is a phenol formaldehyde resin, but unlike bakelite does not use fillers and is cast at much lower temperatures and not under pressure, thus allowing a full colour spectrum. Objects from catalin can be easily recognized by their thicker wall thickness, and from their colour transformations with increasing age. Catalin with time (a few years only!) and under the influence of UV light, develops a very thin surface layer of phenyl alcohol, which is brown and can be easily removed with practically any plastic cleaner. Common wisdom is: try it, and you will be amazed by the result, but never ever try it without extensive testing on a butterscotch coloured object, since it will turn it back into its original white alabaster look, which is disliked by most collectors.
Here are the specifications:
Technical Description of Item |
| Manufacturer |
Addison Industries Ltd., Toronto, Canada |
| Model |
5F, chassis R5A3 |
| Type |
5-tube AM/BC and SW Superheterodyne Receiver |
| Production Year |
1940 |
| Serial Number |
69748 |
| Cabinet |
Green - yellow swirled catalin, 5 butterscotch catalin bars on speaker grille |
| Dial |
Illuminated reverse painted glass |
| Knobs |
3 butterscotch pinwheel catalin knobs |
| Frequency Range |
AM 550-1600 kHz, SW 6-15 MHz |
| Controls |
Volume - on/off, tuning, band switch |
| Tube line-up |
35Z5(Rect), 12SA7(RF), 12SK7(IF), 12SQ7(Det.), 50L6(Audio) |
| Size (WxDxH) |
12" x 7" x 8¾" |
| Weight |
8 lbs = 3.6 kg |
| Comment |
Like new condition, serviced and perfectly working |
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