TROY - USC TROJANS Antique Vintage Deco Wood Tube Radio

1937 TROY Radio, Model 100

The Troy Radio Manufacturing Company was created in 1933, and was named for The University of California (USC) Trojans.  They were located at 1142-1144 South Olive Street, in Los Angeles, California.  Troy was known for their strict quality control standards, and was one of the few West Coast radio manufacturers to receive the Underwriters Approval.  With the beginning of World War II, Troy ceased radio production, and as a result, very few Troy radios were produced, and today are considered quite rare and highly sought after by collectors of not only vintage radios but, also USC memorabilia collectors.  This particular radio, is a 1937 Troy Radio, Model 100.   Its’ dimensions are approximately 16” wide by 9½” deep by 9½” high.  It is a five tube radio with AM Broadcast (BC) only.  The tube compliment consists of one each of the following tubes:  80, 6A7, 6D6, 75, and 42.  It has three (factory original) knobs—one is the on/off/volume control, one is a tone control, and one is the manual tuning control.  The large circular-shaped telephone dial in the middle of the escutcheon is for selecting the station presets, which are still the original factory Los Angeles listening area station call letters.  This radio is in amazingly fine original condition.  When I purchased this radio it was in very good condition although it did not play, even though the previous owner said he was told the chassis had been restored.  Once I got it home and began working on it I discovered and decided on the following.  The cabinet was in very nice condition and so I decided it only needed a thorough cleaning both inside and out.  I believe the lacquer has been “re-flowed” at some point, and whoever did it, did a very good job.  As you can see in the photographs,  there is a very slight flaw on the top, back, left corner of the cabinet.  Because of the excellent job of the re-flowing, this area is not lifting or compromised in anyway.  It is barely noticeable when the radio is displayed and not worth the trouble of fixing.  The only other thing which the new owner may want to do is to paint the back side of the cardboard which was used to mount the grille cloth on.  This would be an easy, but unnecessary fix since it can only be seen when the radio is viewed from the back with the inside of the cabinet illuminated.  The stunning, original escutcheon is in excellent condition with just the right amount of aging/patina—especially the USC Trojan emblem.  This Trojan emblem appears on a number of Troy radios from this time period but, normally it is the more commonly seen printed image on the paper or foil dial itself.  This on the other hand is, like the entire escutcheon and telephone dial, stamped in solid brass.  The dial scale is in excellent condition and, the plastic dial cover is a new custom handmade one to match the original.  The grille cloth is a reproduction replacement that complements this radio very nicely.  Four new rubber feet identical to the original were found and installed.  As mentioned earlier, the previous owner had been told the chassis had been restored but, the radio did not work.  After six hours of meticulously cleaning every nook and cranny of this chassis (over 300 Q-Tips were used, as well as compressed air, special brushes, and a combination of cleaning solutions and preservatives), the chassis looks all most new.  I found that the electrolytics and a few of the paper capacitors had in fact been replaced several years ago and tested fine but, I decided to replace the remainder of the capacitors as well as a few out-of-tolerance resistors.  All the tubes were replaced with good strong ones, and after a few more days of work—the radio now plays fine.  You will notice there are two additional wires attached to the upper part of the chassis.  These are the original antenna and ground connection wires.  They are in very good condition and I re-soldered the connectors and polished them as well.  Connecting a long wire to this antenna connector is absolutely necessary in order to pull in stations (normal for a radio like this).  I must make mention of the telephone dial preset station selector.  This feature was fairly new to radios in 1937, and this particular radio is very complex.  Although this entire mechanical mechanism is all original, and very clean, I can not attest to its’ working condition because I did not test it myself.  It is currently set in the position for manual tuning (tuning in stations by using the actual tuning knob) which works just fine.  My many years of experience in vintage radio restoration has taught me to advise people not to use the pushbuttons (in this case the telephone dial mechanism), but rather, to use the manual tuning knob.  My reason for this is simple.  The mechanism on these earlier radios was complex and prone to breaking down.  I see no reason to risk fate by using them.  With this said, this telephone dial mechanism may function just fine but, I would still not recommend using it.  I have played this radio for up to one hour each day for the past week and have experienced no problems whatsoever.  In my eight years on Ebay and surfing the net, and countless years attending auctions and perusing flea markets, and garage sales I can honestly say that I have only come across a few Troy radios, and they were rather simple wood sets in very poor condition.  I had no idea that Troy made such a beautiful tabletop radio like this.  I was beginning to believe they only produced a straight-forward wood box design with the rather ordinary USC Trojan emblem printed on the dial face.  Never, could I have imagined a Troy radio with such a beautiful design .  I have never seen one like this before, and I may never see another one like it again.  THE FINE PRINT.  This radio is 71 years old, and is being sold “AS-IS—with no expressed or implied warranty.”  With this said, I do promise this radio is in the condition as stated in this narrative.  Normally, I do not sell nor ship my radios due to the possibility of them being damaged in shipment (not due to my packing, but rather, abuse by the shipping company).  An item like this can not be easily replaced and I would much rather it be picked up in person.  If you have concerns about this item being properly packaged, I ask that you review my 100% Positive Feedback (especially as a seller/shipper).  If requested, I will provide photographs of this radio being packed—(double-boxed with the inner box lined with custom cut foam rubber, and the outer box more than adequately filled with peanuts and of course plenty of fragile and This End Up stickers, etc.)  This radio, double-boxed weighs 22 lbs with the outer box dimensions being 24” by 24” by 19”.   This radio will be a little expensive to ship but,  this is necessary in order to take every precaution that it  makes it to its’ final destination safely.  PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN SHIPPING A RADIO SUCH AS THIS, IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT IT BE SHIPPED BY USPS PRIORITY MAIL VS. UPS (slightly more expensive but well worth it in my personal opinion).   My calculations to ship this radio to the east coast by USPS Priority Mail is approximately $80.00—by UPS Ground approximately $65.00.  I am uncertain if EBay’s shipping calculator is correct but, mandatory insurance will be required also.  Please try to keep in mind that this is not your common vintage radio which will require restoration upon arrival.  It is not a light weight plastic tube radio either.  And I am not some company that gets a discount rate when I ship an item (like Dell or Costco).  It took four hours to properly pack this radio, and I will still hold my breath until I hear from the eventual new owner that it made it to its’ destination safe and sound.  I am willing to drive up to 100 miles to deliver this radio in-person (I live in the small coastal community of Florence, Oregon)—I only ask for reimbursement for my gas, and you will be glad to know I drive a Toyota Prius which averages over 40 mpg (do the math).  A SPECIAL NOTE:  During the course of this auction, I may be out-of-town, and unavailable to answer specific questions right away.  (this is why I have gone into such great detail in this narrative).  However, I will do my best to review any email inquiries and will make every effort to respond to them (if I am able to).  PAYMENT:  I do accept Pay Pal but, I will also accept a US Postal Money Order and even a personal check (shipment can be delayed by as much as two weeks until verification that money order/check clears).  If you have any questions, you may contact me by using EBay’s “Ask the seller a question” or you may email me directly at jifaber@bmi.net   You may even call me at (541) 997-1601 (remember, I may be unavailable to respond immediately).  FYI—I do not, and never have purchased radios with the intent of reselling them.  The number of radios I own is modest because they are for my personal collection, and normally not for sale.  It takes me a very long time to restore them, and they are displayed throughout my home where I enjoy looking at, and listening to them.  I do occasionally sell one from my collection, and this is one of them.  In the eight years I have been buying and selling on Ebay, I have put up for auction less than one dozen of my radios.   I feel it is important that if you are going to purchase an item from me, you should know the type of individual are dealing with—not just some anonymous user name on the internet.  I have set a modest reserve on this radio to cover my investment, and I hope this is understood by all.  Thank you for looking at this auction.  FINALLY—PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, EMAIL OR CALL ME PRIOR TO BIDDING.