Cunningham Tube Boxes |
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Elmer Cunningham was an early independent
tube manufacturer (noted for the AudioTron
tube) who became involved with RCA when it was formed. He was the
West Coast distributor for RCA tubes which were sold under his own name,
though they used a different type numbering scheme. Cunningham later became the president of the RCA Radiotron
Division when it was formed in 1930. The tube boxes shown above
are from the late 1920's.
Cunningham tubes continued to be sold throughout the 1930's and into the 40's, though the name appears to have disappeared after WW-II. According to an advertisement that appeared in the Jan. 1938 issue of "Radio Today" magazine, the marketing strategy at the time was to promote the Cunningham brand strictly for replacement use only. |
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Shown here are a group of mid to late 1930's Cunningham tube boxes. Note that the two boxes in the center show both RCA and Cunningham logos. Cunningham boxes featured graphics similar to contemporary RCA boxes, but instead of RCA's red, black, and white, the Cunningham boxes were orange, blue, and white. |