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McIntosh Portable AM/LW Radio Circa late 40s, early 50s?

TSmith8605 said:
Don't think so. Just possible you mis-remember Magnavox as McIntosh after all these years.
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Impossible. The radio had a McIntosh logo. Not Magnavox. But I can see why you mentioned that.

I wish I had snapped a (FILM) picture at the time. But I didn't think the radio would go missing in the decades that followed.
 
radioactive said:
Perhaps Midland.they made portable radios back then.
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No. It was a McIntosh logo radio that looked right out of the late 40s, early 50s. Again, it was a wooden box covered with green and cream cloth. Green on the back/bottom, cream in front for speaker. Just an AM/LW radio. Nothing fancy. Big for a portable radio, but that was what it was in that era. Probably 10" wide, 8" high and 3" deep. A few push buttons for LW or AM radio. McIntosh 3D logo.
 
In the 65 years since my first portable radio, over three decades as a Ham, 60 years of SWL and BCB DXing, I have never seen or heard of a McIntosh radio.

I, too, think that the thing was "badge engineered", if the recollection of the logo after all these years is still accurate.
 
BillyBatts said:
Again, it was a wooden box covered with green and cream cloth. Green on the back/bottom, cream in front for speaker. A few push buttons for LW or AM radio. McIntosh 3D logo.
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When I was fifteen in the early 60's my grandfather and I built a new cabinet for a table top AM tube radio I used in my basement. My guess is that the same thing happened here but, as suggested earlier, the owner stuck a Mcintosh speaker logo on it for fun. I have have heard of stories where car owners would go to a junkyard to get an MB S560 rear logo and stick it on their car.
 
Pio1980 said:
Can you find a logo online that looks just like what you recall?
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Simple. Any McIntosh logo. It was McIntosh. Of that there is no doubt. I was not a kid at the time, I was in my mid to late 20s. I grew up near the McIntosh Labs facility, and I had a relative that worked there.

This one is as close as any. I'm fairly certain that the logo on the radio was silver. It was a "badge" decal. But professionally done. I do know that you can badge engineer something like this, but WHY? What would the reason be? This thing sounded spectacular for the size because it was wooden with a decent sized speaker. But it LOOKED like an OLD radio. Who in the world would find a McIntosh badge decal, and professionally mount it on the radio? I wouldn't.

ps_mcintosh_logo.png
 
RickB said:
In the 65 years since my first portable radio, over three decades as a Ham, 60 years of SWL and BCB DXing, I have never seen or heard of a McIntosh radio.

I, too, think that the thing was "badge engineered", if the recollection of the logo after all these years is still accurate.
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Perhaps. But again, why? The only thing that would lend more credence to this would be that when I had this radio, I lived in upstate NY near McIntosh Labs. I suppose some employee there could have done this for fun. And the radio ended up with me. It sure sounded amazing. And that logo was affixed professionally. It looked genuine to me. But anything is possible I suppose.
 
BillyBatts said:
Perhaps. But again, why? The only thing that would lend more credence to this would be that when I had this radio, I lived in upstate NY near McIntosh Labs. I suppose some employee there could have done this for fun. And the radio ended up with me. It sure sounded amazing. And that logo was affixed professionally. It looked genuine to me. But anything is possible I suppose.
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Possibly the most plausible explanation, it could have been a one-off project by an employee.
 
McIntosh is something to strive for.
Always has been something that the average working grunt had to work hard for.
Naturally, as humans, we like the easy way out. Buying a legit McIntosh would have cost a fortune, and their radios require you buy an amp and speakers, which Also cost lots of dough.
Today we have websites that Chronicle every nut bolt and cufflinks set that came out of Binghamton. We now have the ability for anyone with internet to look up weather or not a product is McIntosh or not.
From the 40s up to about 1995 you had to know things to know McIntosh to know their product line. You may have the product literature or a catalog to go by but only if you own a copy. Now the internet can answer these questions for you in seconds.
Someone put a McIntosh badge on someone elses radio.
Sort of the way people can buy an Orsefon 275 from alibabbi and affix a real McIntosh logo in place of "orsefon 275"

If you have the ability to drill 3 holes theres not a lot you can't add a "McIntosh" logo to.
My opinion; McIntosh logos on generic equipment is about as tacky as contact cement. It redefines the horizon of takiness.
 
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