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Hi Everyone!
We were told that someone might be able to help us learn more about this Grimes radio we have… We have searched and searched the internet and can’t find any examples of this model and are praying someone might know something about it and if it is worth restoring…
All the very best,
Andrew & Amber
Victoria, BC
250-884-2625
Grimes in Kitchener became Phonola then Dominion Electrohome. Their radios may be listed under Phonola or Grimes Phonola. The last patent date on your radio is 1926, that is probably the age of your radio. The Radio College of Canada (RCC) listings I have start in 1927 and do not show your radio.
Perhaps someone with earlier data may be able to help.
Ed.
I have a lead on a similar radio patent 1920-1938
Wondering if it’s worth picking up and what a resasonable price would be. I actually forgot to take a pic of the units exterior like a dummy
Included the inside text and plaque
Any help would be appreciatedAttachments:
Your Grimes radio is a 1941-42 model. Made by Dominion Electrohome and the RCC schematic is listed under Phonola DataSheet 142.
Since my area of interest is radios of the 20’s I cannot state a value.
Ed.
1930-32…. SCHEMATIC COULD BE CLOSE TO THE MODEL YOU HAVE …. it is a series 10 so a 9 is close ….. using the tubes you can see if it matches your model … any old radio is worth restoring , this one you have is very interesting ……If it were mine I would be proud to have it in my collection…….Frank
Based on the tube layout Jim posted in his April 2018 posting the radio is 1941-42. Not the series 10 that Jim and Amber posted in Feb 2013 at the beginning of this thread.
Ed.I did see the made by dominion electrohome phonola
Markings as well as the bit about KitchenerI’m actually looking to see if I purchase it (asking is $100) if there would be any profit left in it for me to resell it has had the inside repaired but apparently it went again and the top was refinished which I wasn’t impressed with looks like he sanded it and varnished it, but to me it looks like you should stain it to match the base before varnish
poor quality refinishing will reduce the value especially if they used polyurathane. most radios were not stainred but factories used a lot of heavy lacquer based toners they hide the wood grain quite a bit and that isn’t really good practice in fine furniture but remember they were made on production lines so I would consider them a lot like 1930’s era mass production furniture.
since toners are easy to wash off they arent’ so damaging as things like polyurathane or stain which cant’ easily be undone.If you pick it up for 100 and put 100 dollars worth of parts into it and spend a few weeks at it youll probably get 200 for it and that’s cheap entertainment but if you are doing it for profit.. Its usually a tough go. If you want to to make money on restoration the only way is to find someone who has a radio and has had it in the family a while and wants it to work, then you may charge some extra for labor but it’s a tough business to make a profit in which is why there aren’t a lot of people doing it as a business and a lot more doing it as a labor of love. a job at Mcdonalds pays better unless you are a pretty worthy bench tech. . If you can sell in antique stores and such you can charge more but then there is some overhead usually. All that said 100 is probably close to fair in my opinion with little real knowledge of that model.. Its probably quite rare, You dont; see many with a “peaked roof” but rare doesn’t’ always equate to a high value. I suspect some may pay a bit more but I don’t think buying it as an invesment is necessarily wise. That said you might see it go for double on ebay or something and you can try to flip it that way if you’d like to take the chance.. I doubt it would go much lower but to profit you need to make it worth your time.. I’ts a nice radio and worth the time but time you enjoy wasting isn’t wasted time. Many spend hundreds on a weekend fishing trip , catch one fish and call the trip a success, that’s economics 101 😉 your largest market is probably other restorers that would like something new and interesting to spend time on.. most restorers dont; really get excited by ones that run well or at least won;t pay a lot more ,, but the condition of the cabinet and presence of the correct knobs and all the parts is important. because it’s a cathedral its probably worth double the valus of some boring tabletop.. thats just my honest take on it and you may well indeed be able to do some restoration and show a profit. It depends a lot on the venue. The loss of Am stations that play actual music is not helping the values.. If its catalin or something famous lie a sparton sled or an atwater kent breadboard, now those may be examples of higher value radios and the prices on those could be high but most of the common stuff isn’t seeing huge prices. Maybe we will see an era where antiques become valuable again but it is a weak market so far as I see. Others may have different opinions.
the knob above the station dial , is it original? it looks a bit like a knob off an RCA with some other knob surrounding it.. maybe the outer is a vernier knob. You’d need to find pics of others that are similar to know if they are the right knobs. some radios of the era used materials that broke down over time and then you see them with wood or bakelite knobs that were used to complete it but may not actually be correct and I cant’ say for sure , maybe others can. zenith used knobs of that general shape and they can be rare knobs If that’s what it is.. I think that’s an outer from a G E or RCA or maybe a rogers.. and the inner was one of the knobs but that outer should be used with an inner that would be small serrated and round in shape. most radios of that era didnt’ have backs and that back looks original, so does the cloth. Because the model is rarely seem people probably wouldn’t be likely to tell if it is the wrong knobs but a serious collector might care.
Phil
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