Department store radios

[Andrewausfa]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

I've seen their labels on quite a few Roberts radios, often as I recall with a Harrods serial number as well as that of the manufacturer, but I can't remember coming across them on anyone else's sets - has anybody here seen other examples? Seems odd if they only ever sold Roberts, who between the mid '30s and about 1970 only made portables though some of their valve models were mains-only.

Paul

Dynatron! Harrods definitely sold Dynatron radiograms.

[electronicskip]

Was Elizabethan a Woolworth or Argos brand name back in the 70s?
I am probably wrong but?

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Andrewausfa

Dynatron! Harrods definitely sold Dynatron radiograms.

Yes but Dynatron wasn't an exclusive brand to Harrods.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by electronicskip

Was Elizabethan a Woolworth or Argos brand name back in the 70s?
I am probably wrong but?

I think Elizabethan goes back a long way, certainly pre-dating Argos.

[PaulR]

Yes I think it was an older brand than that. I seem to remember a friend having an Elizabethan record player in the 1960s.

[electronicskip]

Actually its just come to me..
Winfield was the Woolworth brand , they sold portable TVs Vacuum cleaners Audio tapes , cassette recorders, and a load of other stuff, even Xmas lights under the Winfield name.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by electronicskip

Winfield was the Woolworth brand

I think Vesta was a house brand of theirs too - not sure how wide the product range was or how long it lasted, I only remember such items as Empire-made torches and small radios from the '60s-'70s.

Paul

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Andrewausfa

Talking of Tandy/Radio Shack, I have a Realistic stereo receiver that seems to have been made by Fostex in Japan, more widely known perhaps for their recording products. A really solidly made item, no real signs of being built down to a price.

Yes, Memorex was at one time a Tandy/Radio-Shack brand, generally used on cassette tapes.

"Is it Live, or is it Memorex"? as the ads said.

They were also big makers of the old 'open reel' 9-track computer tapes and tape-drives.

Memorex [as Memorex-Telex] - I remember doing battle with several of their 'plug-compatible' IBM 3270-style terminal-controllers over the years....

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorex


Tandy/Radio Shack had a number of 'house' brands - Clarinette, Micronta, Road Patrol, Science Fair, Archer. I had a pair of their little "Minimus 10" bookshelf-speakers back in my days as a student. Diecast-aluminium cases - they sounded rather good for something so small!

[TonyDuell]

Harrods certaiinly sold NordMende TVs/VCRs (when that name was the up-market brand of Tompson CSF) and I think also B&O and Loewe-Opta. But these were the normal models with the normal names on then. I don't ever recall seeing a 'Harrods' nameplate on anything.

As an aside, my late parents bought a NordMende colour TV in Harrods sale and strangely (but usefully) the salesman handed us the service manual with the set.

[G6Tanuki]

Does anyone remember Timothy Whites? They were a sort-of odd mix of chemists-and-hardware-stores, later taken over by Boots.

They did sell radios: I remember my parents going on holiday and forgetting to take their usual portable radio with them: to their horror they discovered there was no radio in the bedroom of the cottage they'd rented. A trip to the nearest town and they bought a small nondescript radio from Timothy Whites.

I think it was branded "Tudor". My brother took it away with him when he went to University later that year.

[ms660]

I remember Timothy Whites, not for selling radios though....

Lawrence.

[PaulR]

I think you are right regarding the Tudor brand at Timothy Whites. They sold all sorts of things as well as being a chemists. I might be mistaken but I seem to remember them selling plug in telephones which had a round plug on them. I don't know how many they sold as they would have been illegal and nobody had a socket to fit

[clockman]

Hi i am now playing a Patsy Cline tape on a vintage Boots CR375 tape player and it sound great

[Richard_FM]

I remember my parents buying our first barbecue from Timothy Whites in Stockport, along with supplies of charcoal.

[electronicskip]

John Lewis certainly sold own brand washing machines but did they ever sell brown goods under the John Lewis name?

[Nickthedentist]

See post 2

[electronicskip]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

See post 2

Cheers, missed that one , so they did /do?

[Paul_RK]

I don't think the Jonell brand lasted into the transistor era, but radios branded as John Lewis are available now, and have been for a few years at least.

Paul

[clockman]

I have a nice looking Defiant A1 that i have restored from scrap Sold by the Co -Op CWS Manchester Stores it has the same circuit as the Pilot Little Maestro T105 and works well .

[Tractionist]

Very obviously most [if not all] Department Stores didn't make their own radios and TV's etc. - but another interesting thread may also be about who made what for who? 'The Setmakers' covers quite a bit of this ground/subject and it is well known that Ekco made sets for Radio Rentals - but who else did? Then there were the various retailers one-off promotions too.

Many years ago I read a BVWS article about the restoration of 'The Kensitas Set' - this being a radio 'awarded' to consumers of a certain number of [a popular brand of] cigarettes at the time i.e. via the collection of coupons. I'm not sure if anyone determined who actually manufactured this particular set - but I don't doubt that many others jumped on the same or similar bandwagons too. (Even today several organisations extend the offer to 'win a digital radio' - such is the allure of these enduring devices.)