Continental Star-Raider RP-40

[radiofox]

Hello, Id like to introduce myself.

 

Some of you probably already know who I am My name is Steve and Ive been collecting and restoring tube electronics for most of my life.
Ive always had an interest in antique radios but I have to blame the late Doug Houston from Ortonville Michigan as well as Art Miller from Jackson Michigan for my interest in electric machines. I was a teenager when I first met them at the AWA Conference in Canandaigua NY in 1986. Since then Ive collected a fair number of interesting ones even though they seriously take up space and weigh a ton.

 

This Continental Star-Raider RP-40 is the latest machine to come into my posession. Thanks to Carlton and Thomas.
It is an interesting beast as it has been modified from the original circuit. Especially in the power supply/amplifier chassis.

 

Originally it had a pair of 81 rectifiers and a pair of 50 output tubes. The 50s were actually specified to be Cardon 585s.
also missing are two current regulators to automatically adjust to line voltage fluctuations.

 

In their place, and marked accordingly is a 5Z3 rectifier and a pair of 45 output tubes. This is certainly a downgrade, but also makes tubing it up a bit easier.

 

Looking at the power transformer, it looks to be a factory job. All voltages present appear to be correct for the tubes this particular set uses.
The radio section still has the original seven Cardon 484 triodes. So this is quite a puzzle. The 5Z3 did not become available until 1933 along with the 2A3 output triodes, so why didn't they design this particular chassis to take 2A3s instead?

 

Also, what was left of Continental Radio Corp in 1933? I cannot seem to find evidence they went under, nor any activity until Continental Radio and Television in 1935 which used the name Admiral and was located in Chicago, not Fort Wayne Indiana.

Seriously a puzzle. The possibility does exist this was modified by a radio shop, but I would expect an aftermarket power transformer under the cover such as from Stancor. The tube labels and hole covers are so well done as is the wiring underneath. It does not look like a hack job, but very professionally done.

 

Anyhow, here are photos of this beautiful machine and I hope to someday soon get to restoring it to operation. But first I seriously need to get a Stromberg Carlson 744 off the bench and out of the way. Now THAT is a seriously HEAVY machine! Also a Capehart 406D is in the queue and that must be tackled soon 😄

-Steve

[L4tD]

That's a good looking set, and appears to be a quality product.

 

The company had an interesting history, lasting until 1979, when the company was sold to sold to Rockwell International Corporation.  They are best remembered today for producing radios, phonographs and TVs under the Admiral brand.

 

Here is some information I found on radiomuseum.org:

 

"Admiral is the brand of Continental Radio & Television Corporation, 3800W. Cortland Street, Chicago, Illinois. Admiral Corporation at the same address is the marketing company for the maker.

The story goes: "A group of four investors founded Continental Radio & Television Corporation in 1934 by literally selling their belongings to raise the initial capital. The company was a success right from the start. Concentration was on quality to an inexpensive prize. In 1939 Admiral ranked number 5 in sales volume by 1939." [Bunis].

 

Below we have a bit a different story - and there are early Admiral models ...

Admiral was also successful when the movement of major sales outlets, such as Montgomery Ward and Sears, made their way into the radio sales in the end of the 30s. Continental Radio and Television Corp. made the Admiral, Globe Trotter, Radiomaster and Star Raider brands for them and some more.

Admiral radios were also exported. A catalogue in France [602-39] even lists some French models (5D33X and 952 from the 50s) but they are made in the USA. In Switzerland "Thali" published schematics for the most imported models and Admiral is one of the listed brands from the USA.

Because of quality problems and the growing competition from Japan the plants of the company had to be closed in 1979. The main losses resulted from TV sets.

A more detailled story:

Ross Siragusa founded the Admiral Corp. during the Depression and transformed it from a small radio and phonograph company into one of the leading makers of televisions, audio products and home appliances.

In 1924, Siragusa had developed an earlier company, Transformer Corp. of America, which grew quickly by selling battery chargers for radios. But by 1929, the Depression caused Siragusa's company to go out of business. Undaunted, he turned to manufacturing radios. To get some start-up cash, Siragusa sold his automobile and home furnishings, and in 1934, created a new company, the Continental Radio and Television Corp., which is known most for its brand Admiral. Growth exploded with the arrival of contracts for military electronics during World War II; afterward, Siragusa steered Admiral into television.

A pioneering TV brand, it became one of the top three in sales and was one of the first to produce color sets. In 1951, Admiral sold five million television sets, but then came a downturn. Disputes simmered over the regulatory framework for color television, and a new excise tax left manufacturers with huge inventories.

By discounting its television sets and increasing its promotion of home appliances, Admiral survived for a while. But during an industry shakeout, with profits falling, the company was sold to Rockwell International Corp., which later pulled it out of the TV business."

 

There is a nice article on Continental including a catalog showing the RP-40 here:

 

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Old-Radio-Groups/Indiana-Historical/Indiana-Historical-Radio-Society-1997-Fall.pdf

 

Edited 4 hours ago by L4tD

[radiofox]

Thank you for the nice reply and information! Ive read Michael Feldt's write up on Slagle. It follows Alan Douglas' account pretty closely.

 

Here is a write up of research I have already done on the Continental Radio Corp, Fort Wayne, Indiana, which in January 1929 was a re-organization of Slagle Radio.

Ive dug through issues of Radio Retailing for what information I can find.

 

Oct 1928 Carl Boyd joined Slagle as sales director. At that point Lavern Slagle was president and Paul Romey vice president and general manager. (Radio Retailing October 1928 page 82)

November 1928, Carl Boyd became President of Slagle while Lavern Slagle retired from the company. At reorganization announced in January, Carl remained president. (Radio Retailing November 1928 page 76 and January 1929 page 85)
Of course, the stock market crashed causing chaos and by September 1930, Continental was reorganized again with Carl still in the President position and R. J. Beatty as Chairman of the Board, however this is the last mention I can find of Carl, Continental, or Star Raider which seemed to be what the company was working on renaming itself. (Radio Retailing October 1930 page 39)

Now forward to Ross D Siragusa who was at that time the founder and in control of Transformer Corp of America (T.C.A.) which made Clarion radios.

His company (T.C.A.) went into bankruptcy in 1934. There is a mention that the company's assets including the Clarion name were sold to Michael Tauber & Company in collaboration with Harry Wolper of LeWol Mfg. (Radio Retailing April 1934 page 21)

From here on, there is NO mention of Ross Siragusa until February 1936 where it is announced that Ross has joined Continental to head the company. (Radio Retailing February 1936 page 40)

I did find an ad in October 1935 of Radio Today magazine from Continental Radio Corp using the Admiral name and connection with Radio Products Corp. However NO mention of Ross anywhere until (you guessed it) February 1936.

So, I have a couple questions.

#1. What happened to Continental Radio Corp. between September 1930 and October 1935?
Did it exist at all during this period?

#2. What exactly IS Ross D Siragusa's connection to Continental/Admiral? According to the Siragusa foundation's bio of Ross, He founded it in 1934. It also states he sold the Clarion name for $400 after founding Continental Admiral.

 

https://www.siragusa.org/about-us/our-founder/

things aren't lining up.

I'm not sure what other publication might shed some light on things. I tried Radio News to no avail and a few other magazines on WRH.com were of no help.

Nothing.

If Ross is actually the founder of Continental Admiral in 1934, how may I find confirmation???

Radio Retailing, Radio Today and Radio News are not revealing anything beyond his joining the company in February 1936.

-Steve

Edited 3 hours ago by radiofox

[L4tD]

There is a rather detailed writeup of Ross's career here:

 

https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/admiral-corp/

 

 

Briefly, the article states that after the failure of the Transformer Corp. of America in 1934, Ross raised what money he could by selling personal assets such as his car, started the Continental Radio & Television Corporation and began rather modestly building affordable radios.  Despite the company name, he didn't build any televisions until after the war.  In 1936 he purchased the trademark "Admiral" and used it for his upscale radio models.

Edited 36 minutes ago by L4tD

[radiofox]

Thank you!

I see I made a mistake, or should I say WorldRadioHistory.com made a mistake and snuck some of December 1936 into the upload of October 1935 issue of Radio Today.

So, that means I have found nothing regarding Siragusa, Continental or Admiral prior to February 1936.

 

I'm not quite so ready to take the words of historical recollections from Ross' son in 2001 without documentation of trade magazines of the day 😄

 

Interestingly enough, I found an ad for Clarion Public Address systems from Transformer Corp of America in the September 1940 issue of Radio Retailing page 60 on Wooster street NYC.

I'm assuming this is what become of the company when Ross sold TCA assets including the Clarion name as mentioned in April 1934 of Radio Retailing.

 

Again the Ross Siragusa biography states differently.

 

Anyhow, its an academic mystery I would like to solve eventually. I'm not sure what trade publication will lead me to answers, but I'm not quite ready to accept 60 year old recollections.  😉

 

With the radio at hand, I hope to reassemble and restore it. The filter choke was disassembled by the previous owner, so I need to see if it can be salvaged. If not I will source a replacement.

 

-Steve