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Westinghouse
model H-126
"Little Jewel" |
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This refurb took a long time. It started In
September and ended in November. I would come home from work and do
one or two repairs a day. It's not perfect but it has a new lease on
life and will work for many more years. This "refrigerator radio"
with its six tubes is
going to help heat up the house this winter. It should be called a
"space heater radio."
When I soldered the last capacitor in place I said to Andrea, "I
hope I never see another one of these again."
On the same day I made that remark I got an email from someone I'd
never heard of.
Mike (SkyKing), I've been trying to
get in touch. I have a Little Jewel radio you can have free. If
interested email back.
Hmmm... for free? OK. I changed my mind.
Maybe it will be a wreck and I can use the handle. I wrote back and
said I would PayPal the shipping and in response got:
Mike, No shipping. I'm in
North Wales. Come pick it up anytime . <ADDRESS> <PHONE #>. Hank
So how do you like that? I have Internet and email friends
all over the world who are interested in radio but I didn't personally know a single
one of them, and here Hank lives within walking distance!
We met Hank and his wife Dot, both extremely nice people They
treated us like we were old friends. We left with an all original,
unrestored Little Jewel model H-125! |
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Looking at Hank's Little
Jewel, I discovered a piece of felt under the handle. Who
would have known? Haha, I thought it was a clump of dust and
tried to vacuum it off, but it turned from gray to brown.
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I also saw that the
little spring-loaded handle locks, as well as the metal
reinforcements around the handle sockets, were added AFTER
the "clamshells" had been painted. This is interesting,
because it would have risked scratching them at the factory.
I also found three rubber bumpers that cushion the speaker,
glued to the brass part of the case. Add that to the parts
count. Except for one vacuum tube, it is all original, and
it's going to stay that way for now.
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Actual refrigerator radios
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Philco models 42-KR5 and 42-KR3. Notice
the curved bottoms. |
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Philco 42-KR3 |
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Philco 42-KR5 |
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| The Antique Radio Forum
has more information on the "refrigerator radio" in one
place than anywhere else on earth.
Thanks goes out to member westcoastjohn who wrote, "The
real
refrigerator radio is the Philco Model 42-KR3, which is
curved to rest perfectly on top of the Philco fridge." |
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Philco Model 42-KR3 on top of a Philco refrigerator. |
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According to the Radio Attic, "They
were reportedly not sold, and only given away to new
purchasers of a Philco refrigerator; the case's unusual
concave bottom was designed specifically to sit on the top
of them."
So there you have it, the genesis of the "free refrigerator
radio" story. |
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| wiscojim wrote,
"Although it's true that the Philco was designed to ride on
top of their fridges, the only true "refrigerator radios" I
know of are the Crosley Shelvadors that had the radio built
into the refrigerator itself." |
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| The Shelvador's with
the radios are from at least 1937. Personally, I don't see
the point of putting hot vacuum tubes anywhere near a
refrigerator, let alone IN it. How did they send it out to the shop
when it broke? |
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A Crosley refrigerator radio. Small by
today's standards, but not as small as a Westinghouse Little
Jewel! |
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(Photo from Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of
Connetecut) |
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| Here is a Philips from
1957. Notice the size. If that woman stood up straight, the
top of the refrigerator would be a little over waist high.
The woman is just a drawing; they could make her any size
they wanted. The actual refrigerator is probably smaller
than it appears. 169.000 Frs in 1957 is equal to about
$1,700 US dollars in 2020. |
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| These have nothing
to do with a Westinghouse Little Jewel, other than the
"refrigerator radio" nickname, but I think it is relevant.
There WERE at least three "refrigerator radios." The Little
Jewel wasn't one of them and you didn't get one for free. Case closed.
CLACK! |
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| If you need labels you
can try these. Click on a label and it will open in a new
window. Then right-click to save them. They are not "actual
size." I used XNView to resize them while printing. XNView
is a free picture editor that allows you to customize the
print size without resizing the original image. All of the
pictures on this web site were edited with XNView. |
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| The schematic diagram can be
found |
here. |
| For more information on the
Westinghouse Little Jewel, search the |
Antique Radio Forum |
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