RCA Tube Boxes (Post 1930)

RCA "Meatball" Tube Boxes
Throughout the 1930's, 40's, and 50's, these were the most often seen RCA tube boxes.  There were a multitude of sizes and minor variations.

RCA Tubes Advertisement-Feb. 1939

The advertisement shown above from the Feb. 1939 issue of "Radio Today" illustrates the simultaneous use of two styles of RCA tube boxes, and the similar Cunningham box.  Some boxes, in fact, bore both the RCA and Cunningham logos.

RCA-Victor "Nipper" Tube Boxes

RCA Introduced this attractive and colorful tube box in 1938.  It featured the image of the "His Master's Voice" dog, Nipper, which joined the RCA kennel when RCA acquired the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929.  Most of these boxes were identical on all four sides.  The one on the right is unusual as it had advertisements for other RCA products (records, portable radios, and phonographs) on one side.  The advertisement shown below is from "Radio Retailing", May 1938.

RCA Victor Tubes Ad-May 1938

RCA 45 Tube Box

This box is something of a mystery.  It is unlike any other RCA tube box that I have seen and is more like the packaging used for light bulbs.  It was for an ST-style type 45 triode, and is from the early 1930's.  It is quite flimsy, and probably was tried and abandoned quickly as it didn't protect the tube well.

RCA "World Map" Tube Box

The rarely-seen RCA "world map" tube box introduced in 1938 is often cited as one of the most attractive ever.  The slogan "Gives Better Performance Throughout the World" runs around all four sides.  This box style was used primarily for transmitting tubes.  This example is especially interesting for the "Production Test" rubber-stamped marking on the top flap.

RCA "World Map" Top Flap

RCA World Map Box Flattened
Postwar RCA Victor Tube Boxes
Late 1940's RCA Victor Tube Boxes
New Logo RCA Tube Boxes

The "new" RCA logo appeared in the late 1960's

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