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hannahschmit authored Dec 22, 2023
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![nr 7](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/fc0a3b82-629a-4cb5-a087-515ca71bc563)---
title: The Philips 2601
abstract: "The Philips 2601, a combination between radio and piece of furniture, is a product of the radio domestication process."
authors:
Expand All @@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ Philips 2601: “Hello. My name is Philips 2601, and this is our biography. Befo

Philips 2511: “A warm welcome from me too to our dear readers. My name is Philips 2511, and I am also a radio made by the Philips company. I was built on 16 July 1930. Let me ask you a question: up to this moment, have you wondered why my friend Philips 2601 and I share a biography? Well, you are going to find out in a moment.”

Philips 2601: “In picture Nr. 1, you can see what I look like.[1] The Philips company first created my radio type in 1930. I am a four-valve, all electric receiver with a built-in loudspeaker. As you can see, most of my exterior is dark red and black and my loudspeaker’s pattern is yellow and black. Its cover is also decorated with the logo of Philips. The stars in the logo represent the main product of the company, which were the light bulbs at that time. The waves stand for the waves of the radio, through which you can hear broadcasting and music coming out of me. If you look above the loudspeaker, you can see my buttons. Picture Nr. 3 showcases them with the fitting designations. The master switch has different tasks. It can be used for turning me on and off or for choosing the wavelengths. Another possibility is to set it on position ‘G’, then it can reproduce record music from a gramophone for example. The turning knob on the left is for tuning control, while the one on the right is for volume control. The loudspeaker filter can be useful if for example interferences, like whistling noises, are caused by two heterodyning transmitters. My whole exterior is made from a material called “Philite”. It is similar to bakelite, but the Philips company had to name it differently because of patent rights. I am 81 cm high, 53 cm long, and 30 cm wide and I have four small legs. I weigh 40 kilograms, which is a lot compared to the small radios from the 21st century. It is because of my interior that I am this heavy. In this schematic, you can see what I look like from within. I have 5 tubes, my wavebands are long- and mediumwave and I have direct amplification. My big built-in loudspeaker is also visible here. If you want to know what I sound like, scan this QR code:
Philips 2601: “In picture Nr. 1, you can see what I look like.[1] The Philips company first created my radio type in 1930. I am a four-valve, all electric receiver with a built-in loudspeaker. As you can see, most of my exterior is dark red and black and my loudspeaker’s pattern is yellow and black. Its cover is also decorated with the logo of Philips. The stars in the logo represent the main product of the company, which were the light bulbs at that time. The waves stand for the waves of the radio, through which you can hear broadcasting and music coming out of me. If you look above the loudspeaker, you can see my buttons. Picture Nr. 3 showcases them with the fitting designations.[3] The master switch has different tasks. It can be used for turning me on and off or for choosing the wavelengths. Another possibility is to set it on position ‘G’, then it can reproduce record music from a gramophone for example. The turning knob on the left is for tuning control, while the one on the right is for volume control. The loudspeaker filter can be useful if for example interferences, like whistling noises, are caused by two heterodyning transmitters. My whole exterior is made from a material called “Philite”. It is similar to bakelite, but the Philips company had to name it differently because of patent rights. I am 81 cm high, 53 cm long, and 30 cm wide and I have four small legs. I weigh 40 kilograms, which is a lot compared to the small radios from the 21st century. It is because of my interior that I am this heavy. In this schematic, you can see what I look like from within.[4] I have 5 tubes, my wavebands are long- and mediumwave and I have direct amplification. My big built-in loudspeaker is also visible here. If you want to know what I sound like, scan this QR code:
Back to my internal parts, it is the receiver inside of me that already weighs 20 kilos. This is what bonds me to my friend Philips 2511. This receiver was first used in him and then, when the Philips company wanted to create a piece of furniture out of a radio, they used his receiver, and built me with it.”

Philips 2511: “Don’t you think people are now wondering why Philips wanted to create a mixture between a radio and a piece of furniture?”

Philips 2601: “Yes, I suppose that sounds confusing.”

Philips 2511: “Before we can explain this concept of radio furniture, I am going to tell our readers what I look like. Our following explanations will then be easier to understand. The next picture shows me. As already mentioned, I was built in 1930, therefore I am older than Philips 2601. I am dark brown and black, and I look like a square box. For that reason, I received the nickname “The breadbox”. In order to be able to listen to broadcasts and music coming from me, an external loudspeaker is needed. It is sitting next to me in the photograph. As my receiver is the same as that of Philips 2601, you might have guessed that I am heavy too. I weigh 21,6 kilograms. I am 49,5 cm long, 27,5 cm high, and 23,5 cm wide. I have got two turning buttons; the volume regulator is on the left and the tuning knob is on the right. I was even the first Philips radio to have a tuning knob. The Philips company started building my model in 1928, therefore I was not the first one of my kind. All in all, my radio type was built until 1932 and sold over 120.000 times. To get an idea of what I sound like, scan this QR code:
Philips 2511: “Before we can explain this concept of radio furniture, I am going to tell our readers what I look like. Our following explanations will then be easier to understand. The next picture shows me.[5] As already mentioned, I was built in 1930, therefore I am older than Philips 2601. I am dark brown and black, and I look like a square box. For that reason, I received the nickname “The breadbox”. In order to be able to listen to broadcasts and music coming from me, an external loudspeaker is needed. It is sitting next to me in the photograph. As my receiver is the same as that of Philips 2601, you might have guessed that I am heavy too. I weigh 21,6 kilograms. I am 49,5 cm long, 27,5 cm high, and 23,5 cm wide. I have got two turning buttons; the volume regulator is on the left and the tuning knob is on the right. I was even the first Philips radio to have a tuning knob. The Philips company started building my model in 1928, therefore I was not the first one of my kind. All in all, my radio type was built until 1932 and sold over 120.000 times. To get an idea of what I sound like, scan this QR code:
*QR code of the video I made (source nr. 6 in my list on Github & Poseidon)*
Now that we have talked a lot about our appearances, we can reveal how the both of us came to exist.”

Expand All @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Philips 2511: “Those radios did not have a fixed place in the house. Each time

Philips 2601: “This means that both of us were immediate parts of the process of radio domestication. This process had also a broader societal impact. The first radio sets in the 1920s were very technical and only men operated them. Women were most often excluded from the listening experience. However, this was about to change with the shift from headphones to loudspeakers. Radios became less technical, there were less problems with interferences and tuning was improved with the wireless models. As technological problems were resolved and the radios’ exterior was adapted to the living room, women became the target audience. Since they were the most at home, radio programmes were planned according to the housewives' imagined daily routine. From being on the outskirts of the radio experience, women became the central targets of broadcasting. Radio domestication therefore had an impact on society’s gender relations.”

Philips 2511: “When the Philips company constructed both our radio types in 1928 and 1930, they made advertisements to show their potential customers which type they should buy. In this excerpt of the general radio catalog of Philips from 1931, you get an impression of how radios were praised for potential clients. Philips 2601 is referred to as a “meuble de luxe”, while I am part of the “combinaison de luxe”. In 1929, I was the most luxurious radio set available under the Philips brand name. This was highlighted by the many awards that I won. On October 29, 1928, I was voted “Best radio receiver” at the great Olympia Radio Show in London. In 1930, I won four different awards in the span of seven months: “Best radio receiver” at the great radio exhibition in Teplitz-Schönau in Czechoslovakia on February 12, the “Gran Premio” award at the great Spanish-American exhibition in Sevilla, Spain, on April 15, the highest possible award, a gold medal with diploma at the exhibition in Drammen, Norway, on July 31, and the gold medal at the annual fair in Wilna, Lithuania, on September 29. See? I was celebrated all around the world for my magnificence. I really was a luxury product and simply the best existing radio.”
Philips 2511: “When the Philips company constructed both our radio types in 1928 and 1930, they made advertisements to show their potential customers which type they should buy. In this excerpt of the general radio catalog of Philips from 1931, you get an impression of how radios were praised for potential clients. Philips 2601 is referred to as a “meuble de luxe”, while I am part of the “combinaison de luxe”.[6] In 1929, I was the most luxurious radio set available under the Philips brand name. This was highlighted by the many awards that I won. On October 29, 1928, I was voted “Best radio receiver” at the great Olympia Radio Show in London. In 1930, I won four different awards in the span of seven months: “Best radio receiver” at the great radio exhibition in Teplitz-Schönau in Czechoslovakia on February 12, the “Gran Premio” award at the great Spanish-American exhibition in Sevilla, Spain, on April 15, the highest possible award, a gold medal with diploma at the exhibition in Drammen, Norway, on July 31, and the gold medal at the annual fair in Wilna, Lithuania, on September 29. See? I was celebrated all around the world for my magnificence. I really was a luxury product and simply the best existing radio.”

Philips 2601: “Don’t get overexcited brother, we are still basically the same. However, the fact that you were one of the best radios at that time is quite astonishing considering that Philips only started building and selling radios in 1927. It was on 6 September 1927 that they presented their first radio, the Philips 2501. It was also at that time that radio builders worked on replacing the battery with electricity in the radios. This made it easier for users to install the radio because they only had to connect it to the power outlet. Philips reached its goal of an all-electric set with you, Philips 2511. The company was immensely successful with these radios because mass production allowed them to sell at acceptable prices. The designs were made by Philips’ design expert Louis Christiaan Kalff. He also invented the popular Philips logo with the waves and the stars. Philips’ radio business became rapidly huge, and they took the lead among the radio manufacturers in Europe.”

Expand All @@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ Philips 2601: “Exactly. We both therefore represent the domestication of radio


[1] ![nr 7](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/8a4efd93-b4ea-440a-8e1f-0a69f61c3923)
[3] ![image](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/752a0ac5-69c3-42ef-83d6-fbe8876c4f75)
[4] ![image](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/cef2adf3-e1d8-4401-a5f8-890679daf76a)
[5] ![image](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/817ae38c-4e50-42c5-aea8-d3007e7bb38b)
[6] ![image](https://github.com/C2DH/maison-du-son/assets/146642433/5d322f26-c0da-40fe-b0b5-abe30e2b27d6)


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