- it smells bad.
I think we can agree that if they 'splashed...' as Gary and a lot of other knowledgeable folks believe, ALL 'post-loss' radio reports are in error.
Until that fact is proven, I'm not ready to discount Betty's Notebook and her story. What 'smells' to me is all this degrading by comparing an
address in 2012 with what that neighborhood would have been like long before the Skyway, US-19 and I-275 were built. I'm not saying they were in a 'High-Class' area, but
I have no doubt that they could have had a Quality Radio.This was what
Ric posted about determining Betty's radio model:
...there is a possibility that she could have
heard AE on a Scott rather than on a Zenith.
Eric, NAS North Island, San Diego, Ca.
***************************************************************************
From Ric
Betty's father worked for the power company and, in those days, power companies were
eager to encourge consumers to buy electrical appliances to boost demand. To that
end, they had very attractive arrangements with manufacturers which made it possible
for power company employees to buy new high-end appliances at bargain prices.
Getting these fancy new products out into the neighborhoods was an effective
marketing strategy.
It is Betty's recollection that the radio was a Zenith. A key element in her memory
is a cabinet stye that provided an opening in the front of the set below the tuning
dial and knobs. She used to lie on her back with her head inside the alcove and reach
up to turn the tuning knob blindly, just cruising for something interesting. That's
the reason she can't tell us for sure just where on the dial she found Amelia.
=========================================================================
I also don't think that Ric was making anything up about Power Company 'giving' employees expensive radios, but I can see where they would have had an 'employee purchase' program with manufacturers of appliances, the $750 Stratosphere 1000 had
a "distributor's price" of $270 and the Power Company could get that price for its employees. Ric was replying to Eric's question about Betty having a Scott,
which was the radio that killed the Stratospheric.The Scott would have been a much better choice and it could have had a similar console for Betty to relax under. Its retail was under $200 and distributor costs ran 50-60% of retail in that price range and again the Power Company could have had it in the 'program'.
Unlike what Gary wrote, there were other radios available with those 'ultra short wave' bands available selling for under $200. Zenith was just one quality brand
and this is one of theirs @ $185 retail and Zenith's entire line of 15-tube models tuned 4 bands instead of the 3 offered in the 9 and 12-tube models. The additional “ultra” band, as signified by the “U” in the model number, also adds a fourth shutter to the dial. All of the 15-tube sets can tune from 540kc-44,870kc. (This "shutter" is why Gary thought that the Stratosphere in his video was the normal broadcast band only.)
There is no doubt that if I were the ghosts of those Coast Guard / Navy searchers defending why we discounted all those post-loss radio calls, I would want no one but Gary LaPook defending me.
