diff --git a/_objects/philips-2511-2601.md b/_objects/philips-2511-2601.md index 53dcfc3..8037bb2 100644 --- a/_objects/philips-2511-2601.md +++ b/_objects/philips-2511-2601.md @@ -5,73 +5,40 @@ authors: - hannah-schmit --- -Object biography Philips 2511 & 2601 +Chronicles of Domestication: The Lives of Philips 2511 and Philips 2601 --- -2601: “Hello. My name is Philips 2601 and this is my biography. I am a radio and a piece of furniture in one! I was built by the Philips company in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, in 1931 or 1933. I don’t really know when exactly I was built, because nobody could find a date on one of my parts. But according to the gentleman in whose collection I live for the moment, I was definitely built in 1931 or 1933.” +Dear reader, welcome to this biography. Over the next few pages, you are going to learn about the lives of the radios Philips 2511 and Philips 2601. Both were created in the first years of the Philips company’s activity as a radio manufacturer, and both belong to the period of radio domestication. We wish you a pleasant trip to the radio past! -2511: “Helloooo.” +Philips 2601: “Hello. My name is Philips 2601, and this is our biography. Before we begin by telling you our story, let us start with a round of introductions. I am a radio and a piece of furniture in one. I was built by the Philips company in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, in 1931 or 1933. I do not exactly know when I was built, because no date was ever found on one of my parts. But according to Albert Wolter, the gentleman who collected all the radios and donated them to the “Maison du Son”, I was built in either 1931 or 1933.” -2601: “Oh yes. You are also here. I nearly forgot about you" +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.” -2511: “Wow. That is nice of you to say.” +Philips 2601: “In picture Nr. 1, you can see what I look like. 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: +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.” -2601: “I am sorry. Please introduce yourself too.” +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?” -2511: “Hi people! My name is Philips 2511, I was built on the 16th of July in 1930, and I am 2601’s predecessor. In what way, we are going to tell you in a bit.” +Philips 2601: “Yes, I suppose that sounds confusing.” -2601: “Since this is my biography, let’s talk about me first.” +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: +*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.” -2601: “Like I already told you, I was built by the Philips company in either 1931 or 1933. If you open the appendix to this audio file, you can see me in the first picture. Philips first created my radio type in 1930. My exterior is dark red and black, while the cover of my loudspeaker has got a pattern of yellow and black. This is not a good picture of me otherwise you would really see my exact colors. Therefore, I looked for another photograph of a Philips 2601. In this picture, you can clearly see what I look like. The cover of my loudspeaker is decorated with the Logo of Philips. You probably immediately recognized this symbol. The stars represent the main product of the company, which were the light bulbs and 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 my loudspeaker, you can see my buttons. The turning knob on the left is for tuning control. The other one on the right is for volume control. I also got a loudspeaker filter and a master switch. My whole exterior is made from a material called “Philite”. This is quite a funny name. This material 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 have a weight of 40 kilograms, which is a lot compared to these small radios from today. That is because of my interior that I am this heavy. Take a look at the 3rd picture in the appendix and you see how I look like from the inside. I look very complex, don’t I? Without the explanations of my owner, I wouldn’t even know myself what all of this is! In order for you to understand what where is, I’ve given you a schematic of myself. I am only giving you the most important details, since this is even too technical for me. As you can see, I have 5 tubes, my wavebands are long- and mediumwave and I’ve got direct amplification. And my big built-in loudspeaker is visible here! Here, listen to what music sounds like when it comes out of me: +Philips 2601: “Have you ever heard of the concept of domestication? This is a concept within media and communication studies that describes and analyzes processes of how media technologies are accepted, rejected, and used. It gives the framework to understand the role of technology in everyday life. But what does “domestication” mean? It designates the process of how new technologies are integrated into the structures, daily routines and values of the users and their environments. Most often, this environment is the household. The goal of domestication is for the technologies to become part of the family, to be seen as comfortable and useful tools. How about the domestication of radios? This evolution began in the middle of the 1920s. The first radios that found their way inside the home were those with headphones. Often, when the owners only had one pair of headphones, only one person could listen to the radio. And this also means that this person was physically bound to it. ” ---- - ---- - -Even though, I am at least 90 years old, I still sound good, don’t you think? Back to my internal parts, it is the actual receiver inside of me that weighs already 20 kilos. And it is this, that links me to my friend 2511 here. This receiver was first used in him and then, when Philips wanted to create a piece of furniture out of a radio, they used his receiver, and built me with it!” - -2511: “Don’t you think people are now wondering why Philips wanted to create a mixture between a radio and a piece of furniture?” - -2601: “Yes okay I can see why that would be confusing.” - -2511: “Before we can explain this concept of radio furniture, I am going to tell our listeners what I look like. Then they will better understand our following explanations.” - -2511: “So guys, if you open the appendix again, you can see me in the next picture. Like already mentioned, I was built in 1930, which means that I am older than Philips 2601. I am dark brown and black, and I look like a square box. I am a radio that needs an external loudspeaker for you to hear the voices and the music coming out of me. You can see a loudspeaker sitting on top of me in the photograph. As my receiver is the same as 2601’s, you already know that I am heavy too. I weigh 21.6 kg. I am 49.5 cm long, 27.5 cm high, and 23.5 cm wide. I’ve got two turning buttons; the volume regulator is on the left side and the tuning knob is on the right side. I even was the first Philips radio to have one tuning knob. The Philips company started building my model in 1928, so 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. Listen to what an earlier version of me from 1928 sounds like: - ---- -https://www.vintageradio.nl/radio's/philips_2511_engels.htm - ---- - -Wow that was great. Now that we’ve talked a lot about our appearances, we can finally reveal to our audience how you came to exist in the first place.” - -2601: “Have you ever heard of the concept of domestication? This is a concept within media and communication studies that describes and analyzes processes of how media technologies are accepted, rejected, and used. As Berker, Hartmann, Punie, and Ward state in the introduction to their book Domestication of Media and Technology, the development of this concept presents a theoretical framework, which considers the complexity of everyday life and technology’s place within it. So in other words, the concept of domestication gives the framework to understand the role of technology in everyday life. But what does the term “domestication” actually mean? It designates the process of how new technologies are integrated into the structures, daily routines and values of the users and their environments. Most often, this environment is the household. Domestication of a radio is like domestication of a pet; it needs to be housetrained. The goal of this is for the technologies to become part of the family, to be seen as comfortable and useful tools. This was the theoretical part, so far so good. Now, we are coming to ourselves: the domestication of radios. This evolution began in the middle of the 1920s. The first radios that found their way inside the home were those with headphones. Often, when the owners only had one pair of headphones, only one person could listen to the radio. And this also means that this person was physically bound to the radio.” - -2511: “That is so funny to imagine, people listening to the radio with headphones. We were much more modern with our loudspeakers.” - -2601: “Apparently humans today do that again, but only they listen like that to their phones. How curious. But as I was saying, the first radios, those with headphones, had no fixed place in the house. Each time someone wanted to listen to the radio, they had to built it up and afterwards dismantle it again and put it back into storage. Only at the end of the 1920s, when the first radios of your kind 2511 were created, radio domestication took really place. There were no headphones anymore, but external loudspeakers, like you have one. So, dear audience, if you want to know what these looked like, go back to 2511’s photograph. Now, the whole family could listen together. This change from headphones to loudspeaker brought with itself the fixed position of the radio in the household, which was most often in the living room. Now, the owners could listen to the radio from different rooms and while doing different things. The next step in the domestication process was to let the radio become a piece of furniture. An example of such a piece of furniture am I! Philips took a radio that already existed, in this case the 2511, and turned it into something than can be part of the furniture standing in the living room. Before, the radio occupied room that could not be used to put something else on anymore. Now, as the radio blended in in the living room, other things like decoration for example could be put on the radio. You can see what this looked like in picture nr. 5 in the appendix. Although, just to make it clear, that is not me in the photograph, this is only to illustrate the concept of domestication to you. Like I explained to you earlier, the radio becomes part of the family, and it is seen as a comfortable and useful tool.” - -2511: “This means that 2601 and I were immediate parts of the process of domestication. Now you can understand how both of us came to be built. I am part of the radios that had an external loudspeaker and first got a fixed position in the house and 2601 is the evolution of myself into a piece of furniture. Look at this advertisement, there are the both of us next to each other!” - -2601: “Yes we look real nice together. Now look at the next picture: that is me in my intended way as part of the furniture! And now while we’re at it, let’s get back to me. When the Philips company constructed my type of radio in 1930, it made advertisements to show the people which radio they should buy. Here in the next document, which is an excerpt of the general radio catalogue of Philips from 1931, you get an impression of how Philips praised their radios to potential clients. You can see me on the second page in the left-hand corner. They call me a “meuble de luxe”! I am a luxury product!” - -2511: “Actually they call more products that. Like I am part of the “combinaison de luxe”.” - -2601: “Pscht pscht. This is about me. Like already said, I was at the time of my creation sold by Philips as a luxury product. People who owned me could say that they had a luxury article in their home. I was seen as something valuable worth having inside the house. This was highlighted through the expression “Haut-Charmeur”. My loudspeaker was not a “haut-parleur” but a “haut-charmeur”! Everything coming out of me was charming people’s ears because the quality of my sound was superior to that of other radios. I was just the most modern and best radio there was.” - -2511: “This is actually true. Not that you in particular were the best, because that is something we cannot judge, but that the Philips radios in general were seen as the best on the market at the end of the 1920s to the beginning of the 1930s. Philips only started in 1927 to built and sell radios. On the 6th of September 1927, they presented their first radio, the Philips 2501. It was also in 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 myself, the 2511, in 1928. The company was very successful with these radios, since the mass production allowed them to sell at acceptable prices. The designs were made by Philips’ design expert Louis Christiaan Kalff. He was also the one to invent the Philips logo with the waves and stars, that became so well known. Philips’ radio business got very fast very big and they took the lead of the radio manufacturers in Europe.” +Philips 2511: “Those radios did not have a fixed place in the house. Each time someone wanted to listen to the radio, they had to build it up and afterwards dismantle it again and put it back into storage. Only at the end of the 1920s, when my radio type was first created, radio domestication really took place. The headphones were replaced with external loudspeakers like mine. The whole family could now listen together. This change from headphones to loudspeaker brought with itself the fixed position of the radio in the household, which was most often in the living room. Now, the owners could listen to the radio from different rooms and while doing different things. The next step in the domestication process was to let the radio become a piece of furniture, of which Philips 2601 is an example. The Philips company took a radio that already existed, in this case me, and turned it into something that could be part of the furniture standing in the living room.” -2601: “This means that you and I were built in the time when Philips became the biggest radio manufacturer. And this also means that we are part of the reason why Philips got so big!” +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.” -2511: “Yes exactly. Both of us represent therefore the domestication of radios and Philips’ radio history.” +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.” -2601: “I have now lived for 9 years in my owner’s collection. He bought me in 2014 from a collector in Dudelange. I am a real collector’s piece, since he paid 350 euros for me! And he put a lot of time in my restoration. He bought me in April 2014 and started with the radio chassis. This work was finished on the 18th of December in 2014. Next, he restored the loudspeaker and its cables, which he finished on the 28th of May in 2015. My restoration was completed on the 28th of March in 2016. It took him nearly two years to restore me! And since then, I’ve been sitting in his collection with the other radios. Even though I like it here, I am looking forward for the next step of my life, where I will be part of a museum. Yes, you heard right, I am going to be put into a real museum! Next to other radios, I will have the company of humans too. I am excited about this! I was built in the first place to function as a radio and a piece of furniture all in one and I lived in people’s living rooms. My job was this of a comfortable companion in the house. Then, I lived in the collections of radio enthusiasts among other radios where we all were much appreciated. However, I did not see a lot of people in that time. Now, I will work as an exhibit in the museum where people can learn what I am, how I came to be, and what my role in the history of radio was. Even if I don’t fulfil my original function anymore, I still look forward to my new task of teaching humans about myself.” +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.” -2511: “This was Philips 2601’s biography, and in part also mine because, well, we kind of belong together.” +Philips 2511: “Generally, Philips radios were seen as the best on the market at the end of the 1920s to the beginning of the 1930s. Consequently, this means that Philips 2601 and I were built in the time when Philips became the biggest radio manufacturer, and we were part of this success.” -2601: “Thank you for listening!” +Philips 2601: “Exactly. We both therefore represent the domestication of radios and Philips’ radio history.” -“Bye!” --- Sources (second submission):