Addison Model 51

made by Addison Industries in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
serial number A1073
date - mid to late '40s?

This is an eBay purchase that has just arrived (March 2, 2001), and I haven't opened it up yet.

It appears to have served as a mouse hotel at some time, judging by the droppings that fell out of the cabinet when I unpacked it. The veneer looks in pretty good shape. The mark above the dial is just a bit of paint. I was worried that it was a cigarette burn when I looked at the seller's photo. The bottom panel and the edges of the top piece have been painted with some opaque beige/yellowish finish. Perhaps it matched the knobs once upon a time.

The light vertical lines on the knobs are merely a reflection, not a marking.

One thing that mildly disturbs me is the way the dial graphics do not seem to fit the placement of the dial pointer. I wonder if the manufacturer changed the tuning capacitor specs part way through the production year, had to lower the dial pointer, but didn't bother to have the graphics changed.

I've been told that there is no such model mentioned in the RCC Manuals as recent as 1957, which I'm sure this set pre-dates.

Here's the back. It does say "model 51".

The left end of the text box is the MOT receiving set licence warning, which dates it before 1953. (That was when the receiving set licences were discontinued.)

The octal tube set places it somewhere in the '40s, perhaps.
Technical Data
IF frequency (unknown)
Line Volts

115 V - DC or AC, 25Hz or 60 Hz
Tube complement: 35Z5, 12SA7, 12SQ7, 12SK7, 50L6
The plug looked kinda neat, but one of the prongs is loose, which I hope to be able to repair.

Back to John Rose's Vintage Radio Home