Murphy Radio 1940

The war in Europe had now been underway for many months, and it had become obvious that the conflict would last years rather than months.  This was reflected in the Murphy range for 1940.  Whereas 1939 saw many models and combinations of receivers at prices ranging between £9 and £90, the range in 1940 had far fewer models (however models from the pre-war range remained available on occasion, but supply was limited and uncertain).  Wartime shortages and the need to divert resources to the war effort had caused a marked drop in cabinet quality, the first in the Murphy Company history.  Considering the situation though the build quality of the chassis’s still remains high.  

Shown above is the A90 receiver.  Here pushbuttons are utilised for wave range selection, and short wave station selection is made easier by the separate dial at the right of the tuning scale.  The cabinet is straight sections of wood though, gone are the days of curves and high quality veneers.  The cabinet is stained a dark colour, probably to hide defects in the wood and to mask the fact the panels may not necessarily match.  The rippling of the black bakelite panel around the controls gives a preview of what was to come a few years later in the AD94 and A96 cabinets.  The A90 remained in production for several years, though the price rose from £11.0.0 in 1940 to £14.7.6 by 1943.  Purchase Tax would have been payable on top of these prices from October 1940.  Valve line-up was TH41, VP41, HL41DD, PEN45, UU6. No new models were introduced in 1941 or 1942, so next menu page is 1943.

 Full range introduced from 1940 

B93 Battery Superhet Portable £10.0.0 Fig 1
B89 Battery Superhet Table Set £7.15.0  Fig 2
B91 Battery Superhet Table Set Special SW £14.10.0 Fig 3
A90 AC Superhet Table Set £11.0.0  Fig 4
D90 DC/AC Superhet Table Set £11.10.0 Fig 4
A92 AC Superhet Table Set Special SW Performance  £15.15.0 Fig 5
A90C AC Superhet Console £18.0.0 Fig 6
A90RG AC Superhet Radiogram £26.0.0 Fig 7
D90RG DC/AC Superhet Radiogram  £27.10.0 Fig 7
AD94 AC/DC Superhet Table Set £9.10.0 Fig 8

Purchase tax became payable in October 1940, and was charged at 33 1/3 of the wholesale cost of the receiver. All the above receivers were subject to increase in price during the course of the war.

   

Continue to 1943 

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