RCA 100-A Speaker
I bought this stately old speaker in a package deal along with
my Dominion Electrohome console. The two
pieces don't work together, but I knew the speaker had been sitting
in the shop for a long time, so when the owner refused to come
down on the radio's price those last couple of bucks, I said, "Throw in the speaker
and we've got a deal."
The cabinet is heavy cast metal, painted dark bronze,
with a raised floral trim surrounding the round
speaker opening. The grill cloth pattern is a classic basketweave.
This speaker is designed to sit on top of a radio, so it looks the same back
and front, with round grill openings on both faces.
Like many metal-cased speakers of this vintage, this one has
lost a couple of chips to corrosion on the top and side surfaces. I've been told that automotive
"bondo" is a good repair material.
Speakers like this hail from the transitional period between
the earliest days, when radios could only power a set of headphones,
and later times, when every set came with an onboard speaker.
This unit produced great sound when I tested it. Now, all I need
is a radio of the right vintage!
Cast on the very bottom of the front edge of the cabinet is the
legend See License Notice On Bottom. The paper label on
the bottom reads:
In connection with devices it sells, Radio Corporation of America
has rights under patents having claims [A] on the devices themselves
and [B] on combinations of the devices with other devices or elements.
As for example, in various circuits and hook-ups the sale of this device
carries a license under the patent claims of [A] but only for [1] talking machine
uses [2] radio amateur uses [3] radio experimental uses and [4] radio
broadcast reception and only where no business features are involved.
The sale does not carry a license under patent claims of [B] except only
[1] for legitimate renewals and repairs in apparatus and systems already
licensed for use under such patent claims on combinations [2] for assembling
by amateurs and experimenters, and not by other with other licensed parts or
devices or with parts or devices made by themselves, but only for their
own amateur and experimental radio uses where no business features are
involved and not for sale to or for use by others [3] for use with licensed
talking machines and licensed radio broadcast receiving devices and only
where no business features are involved. Patents 1271527 1271529 1365898 1631646
Phew! Whether or not you can follow it, this legalese is a reminder
that the early days of radio were a litigious, as well as a creative, time,
with pioneering individuals and companies often battling fiercely over
the bragging rights and profits attached to technical innovations.
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