05-07-2011, 10:38 AM
Joe's recent posting of the 1940 Ferguson radio that he recently acquired caused me to reflect on what - to me - was a sad state of affairs in the British radio industry post WW2. Vintage radio restoration seems to be characterised by the ubiquitous Bush DAC90A, and though I have a few, I'm not a great lover of them because they are a constant reminder of an era of grim post-war austerity, Their dim dial lights and (to my eyes), sombre, cheerless appearance evokes memories of ration books, 'black market spivs', shortages, queues, make do and mend, British Restaurants, force-fed cod liver oil, virol, dried egg powder, school dinners, waking up to frosted window panes, and all of the other things that characterised the growing up years of my generation, but we knew no better. Perhaps unfair to heap all of that on the poor old DAC90A, given that during and after the war until about 1952 we didn't even have a free-standing radio but a rented wall-mounted Rediffusion cable distribution speaker, with Home, Light and (from 1948), Third programmes, the latter of which few listened to as it was too 'highbrow'. In 1952, when I was 13, we got a DAC90A, which was given to the dustbin men in 1959, when I guess it must have needed yet another UL41. That was the point at which we reverted to Rediffusion, and a B&W TV, which had radio channels too, so the DAC90A was redundant.
I don't want to sound as though I'm 'dissing' the DAC90A out of hand - I think it was probably the best that Bush could do back then, when reverting to peace-time production, but for me, it isn't so much an icon of the 1950s, as a grim reminder of a bleak era, during which - as I recall - (perhaps with rose-tinted specs) despite the deprivations, everyone seemed rather more cheeful and happy with their lot than is the case in today's time of plenty. At least we didn't have to worry about blackout or air-raid sirens or nights in the air-raid shelters any more!
IMHO, there are few noteworthy British sets built after the war, (though let's not forget Eddystone and a few Ekos and Murphys, and a few nice 'woodies'). Yet paradoxically it was probably because many British factories hadn’t suffered the devastation that Germany and Holland did during the war. British factories simply switched back to peacetime production using machinery which was clapped out due to the war effort, operated by employees who often thought despite Britain being bankrupt, that the world owed them a living in a 'land fit for heroes' managed by bosses who weren't really up to the task. Conversely, German factories were flattened, and what machinery was still intact, was confiscated by the Allied countries as 'wartime reparation'. The meant that Germany and Holland had to rise from the ashes, starting from scratch with new factories and machinery and highly motivated employees intent on putting the country back on its feet, who collaborated with managers rather than having combative labour relations that beset British industry. The results were plain to see by the mid 1950s - Grundig, Telefunken, Saba, Siemens, and in Holland, Philips - the large 'hi-fi' sets with piano key switching, flywheel tuning, magic eyes, up to six speakers, and so on. Not to everyone's taste, but for those who could afford them, they took pride of place in the home. But then even in the 1930s, German sets were eyecatching, such as this delightful SABA 330WLH from 1935:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TvhYSwyUvg&feature=related
Lowe Opta Atlas – 1955/6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dhYUVnZrKk&feature=related
Saba Stereo Automatic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yum2ox-gb9o&feature=related
I can't actually think of any British post-war sets that came even close to those beauties and similar oferings from Germany and Holland, though admittedly 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and some may think these sets a monstrous eyesore). What did we have on offer? DAC90As! The British radio industry seemed to go backwards rather than forwards after the war, then before too long, radio went into decline and TV took over. The rest is history. Same fate befell the strike-bound British car industry, shipbuilding, steel, and so on, throughout the post-war era, handing it on a plate to Germany, Japan, Korea, China etc. Or so it seems to me. If you drive a car made in Britain, it will most likely be a foreign make, and the 'in-car entertainment system' won't be British either.
When I say ‘Britain was bankrupt’ after the war, I don’t think that many today realise just how debt ridden we were as a country. It wasn’t until 2006 that we our US war loan taken out under a 1945 agreement was finally paid off. The loan dated back to September 1945. From 1941, Britain and other allied nations had received large quantities of equipment and supplies under Franklin Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease programme. Britain received about $30 billion of goods — just over £7 billion at the prevailing exchange rate — during the war years - in effect gifts from America. But in September 1945 the US abruptly announced an end to the Lend-Lease programme, despite the need for large-scale reconstruction and with Britain on its knees economically. Basically, America wasn’t prepared to write off the loan so that Britain could create a welfare state funded by America.
The amount - together with a line of credit - was $4.34 billion with a 2% interest rate, originally intended to be paid back over 50 years beginning in 1950, so it should have been paid off by 2000, but wasn’t until six years later, when - in December 2006, a £43m remittance paid it off. Some critics, including the noted economist Lord Keynes, saw the loan as a means used by America to subjugate Britain after the war. If so, it seems to have worked! As it was, keeping up the payments was often difficult. There were six years when Britain deferred payment as a result of economic crises and pressure on the official reserves.
I mention this because it helps explain why for that latter half of the 20th Century, Britain remained under-capitalised, unproductive, had poor labour relations, and was lacking in R&D.It may explain why we are no longer seen as a manufacturing nation, and why the British radio industry went down the gurgler, along with many other manufacturing industries - cars, motorbikes, domestic appliances, industrial goods - whatever. Only today, it was annouced that the last remaining train building company in Britain has lost out to Siemens in a bid to build the Thames-Link trains.
Not trying to make any poltical points here - just trying to figure out from a socio-economic perspective, why the German (and Dutch) radio industry prospered in the 50s, and Britain seemed not to. Maybe other believe differently - that there were indeed many nice technolgically advance post war British radios. If so, I think it would take a powerful microscope to spot them! The ones that I like the best are the small 'transportable' ones - the KB 'Toaster' (FB10), Murphy 198U, and Pye R33.
Just thinking out loud , and wittering on as old buffers do - I don't mind at all if others have a different take on things!
David
I don't want to sound as though I'm 'dissing' the DAC90A out of hand - I think it was probably the best that Bush could do back then, when reverting to peace-time production, but for me, it isn't so much an icon of the 1950s, as a grim reminder of a bleak era, during which - as I recall - (perhaps with rose-tinted specs) despite the deprivations, everyone seemed rather more cheeful and happy with their lot than is the case in today's time of plenty. At least we didn't have to worry about blackout or air-raid sirens or nights in the air-raid shelters any more!
IMHO, there are few noteworthy British sets built after the war, (though let's not forget Eddystone and a few Ekos and Murphys, and a few nice 'woodies'). Yet paradoxically it was probably because many British factories hadn’t suffered the devastation that Germany and Holland did during the war. British factories simply switched back to peacetime production using machinery which was clapped out due to the war effort, operated by employees who often thought despite Britain being bankrupt, that the world owed them a living in a 'land fit for heroes' managed by bosses who weren't really up to the task. Conversely, German factories were flattened, and what machinery was still intact, was confiscated by the Allied countries as 'wartime reparation'. The meant that Germany and Holland had to rise from the ashes, starting from scratch with new factories and machinery and highly motivated employees intent on putting the country back on its feet, who collaborated with managers rather than having combative labour relations that beset British industry. The results were plain to see by the mid 1950s - Grundig, Telefunken, Saba, Siemens, and in Holland, Philips - the large 'hi-fi' sets with piano key switching, flywheel tuning, magic eyes, up to six speakers, and so on. Not to everyone's taste, but for those who could afford them, they took pride of place in the home. But then even in the 1930s, German sets were eyecatching, such as this delightful SABA 330WLH from 1935:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TvhYSwyUvg&feature=related
Lowe Opta Atlas – 1955/6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dhYUVnZrKk&feature=related
Saba Stereo Automatic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yum2ox-gb9o&feature=related
I can't actually think of any British post-war sets that came even close to those beauties and similar oferings from Germany and Holland, though admittedly 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and some may think these sets a monstrous eyesore). What did we have on offer? DAC90As! The British radio industry seemed to go backwards rather than forwards after the war, then before too long, radio went into decline and TV took over. The rest is history. Same fate befell the strike-bound British car industry, shipbuilding, steel, and so on, throughout the post-war era, handing it on a plate to Germany, Japan, Korea, China etc. Or so it seems to me. If you drive a car made in Britain, it will most likely be a foreign make, and the 'in-car entertainment system' won't be British either.
When I say ‘Britain was bankrupt’ after the war, I don’t think that many today realise just how debt ridden we were as a country. It wasn’t until 2006 that we our US war loan taken out under a 1945 agreement was finally paid off. The loan dated back to September 1945. From 1941, Britain and other allied nations had received large quantities of equipment and supplies under Franklin Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease programme. Britain received about $30 billion of goods — just over £7 billion at the prevailing exchange rate — during the war years - in effect gifts from America. But in September 1945 the US abruptly announced an end to the Lend-Lease programme, despite the need for large-scale reconstruction and with Britain on its knees economically. Basically, America wasn’t prepared to write off the loan so that Britain could create a welfare state funded by America.
The amount - together with a line of credit - was $4.34 billion with a 2% interest rate, originally intended to be paid back over 50 years beginning in 1950, so it should have been paid off by 2000, but wasn’t until six years later, when - in December 2006, a £43m remittance paid it off. Some critics, including the noted economist Lord Keynes, saw the loan as a means used by America to subjugate Britain after the war. If so, it seems to have worked! As it was, keeping up the payments was often difficult. There were six years when Britain deferred payment as a result of economic crises and pressure on the official reserves.
I mention this because it helps explain why for that latter half of the 20th Century, Britain remained under-capitalised, unproductive, had poor labour relations, and was lacking in R&D.It may explain why we are no longer seen as a manufacturing nation, and why the British radio industry went down the gurgler, along with many other manufacturing industries - cars, motorbikes, domestic appliances, industrial goods - whatever. Only today, it was annouced that the last remaining train building company in Britain has lost out to Siemens in a bid to build the Thames-Link trains.
Not trying to make any poltical points here - just trying to figure out from a socio-economic perspective, why the German (and Dutch) radio industry prospered in the 50s, and Britain seemed not to. Maybe other believe differently - that there were indeed many nice technolgically advance post war British radios. If so, I think it would take a powerful microscope to spot them! The ones that I like the best are the small 'transportable' ones - the KB 'Toaster' (FB10), Murphy 198U, and Pye R33.
Just thinking out loud , and wittering on as old buffers do - I don't mind at all if others have a different take on things!
David
