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Beetle Plastic Radios, Clocks and more

"Beetle Plastic" is one of the loosely tossed around adjectives given to radios with mottled cabinets.
Generally, the cabinet option originally offered as "Onyx", a marbled urea plastic, are now catagorized as "Beetle".

Some might argue some of these shouldn't be labled as beetle, and could be marbled bakelite or...?
There were hundreds of different plastic industry recipes in the 1930s and '40s with similar characteristics.
See the Radio Plastics Explained page for more info.


(Click on the thumbnails below for more info and a larger photo)

Admiral Radio 373-5R beetle thumbnail
Admiral 373-5R

1938 Admiral Radio model 398-6M, pushbuttons and brass escutcheon, beetle plastic
Admiral 398-6M

Admiral Radio model 158-5J, beetle plastic
Admiral 158-5J

Automatic Radio Corp model 440, beetle plastic
Automatic 440

Detrola Radio model 201 PeeWee export for Europe, same as Detrola model 219, beetle plastic, 1939
Detrola "Super PeeWee" 201

Emerson Radio model 511 with red plaskon cabinet with gold marbling
Emerson 511

Emerson Radio model 511 with white plaskon cabinet with gold marbling
Emerson 511

General Electric Radio model GD520 with marbled white beetle cabinet, 1939
General Electric GD520

General Electric Radio model H520 with white beetle marbled cabinet and molded back, 1939
General Electric H520

IRC International Radio Corp Kadette jewel with marbled grill
Kadette Jewel w/beetle grille

IRC International Radio Corp Kadette Jewel model 42 with marbled bakelite cabinet, 1936
Kadette Jewel

IRC International Radio Corp Kadette model K152 with peanut button marbled bakelite cabinet, 1935
Kadette K152

IRC International Radio Corp Kadette model H with green marbled beetle cabinet, 1931
Kadette (green)

IRC International Radio Corp Kadette model H with brown marbled beetle cabinet, 1931
Kadette (brown)

Truetone Radio model 278-5Q, beetle cabinet, pushbuttons, 1939
Truetone 278-5Q

RCA model 9SX black and salt and pepper beetle grille radio, 1939
RCA 9SX

Norco 158, beetle plastic, Remler Subsidiary
Norco 158 (Remler)

Sentinel Radio model 212, marbled beetle cabinet, 1941
Sentinel 212

Sentinel Radio model 195ULT with marbled beetle cabinet, 1939
Sentinel 195ULT

Silvertone Radio model 7004, marbled beetle cabinet, 1940

Silvertone 7004

Majestic Radio model 5T clock radio with white marbled beetle cabinet, 1938
Majestic 5T

AWA Radio model 33A, large bakelite with marbled beetle grille and feet, Australian
AWA 38 (Australia)
w/beetle grille and feet


Radialva AS53
(France)

Canadian General Electric Radio model C400, blue-green plaskon cabinet
General Electric C400
(Canada)

Addison Radio model 2 waterfall design, black white marbled
Addison series 2
(Canada)

Detrola 134X with a beetle dial surround
Detrola 134X
w/beetle knobs & dial bezel

General Electric H600U with a beetle cabinet
General Electric H600U

General Electric CL500 with a beetle cabinet
General Electric CL500
(Canada)

Canadian General Electric Radio red, green, black bakelite vacuum tube ash tray

Canadian General Electric Radio black, white marbled beetle vacuum tube ash tray
Canadian GE

Canadian General Electric Radio red, green, black speckled bakelite vacuum tube ash tray

Pennwood digital clock with beetle cabinet
Pennwood

Pennwood digital clock, white beetle with black marbling
Pennwood

Hammond beetle, white black clock
Hammond "Cathay"

Hammond Fantasy beetle clock, white black clock
Hammond "Fantasy"

Oxford beetle clock
Oxford

UK Smiths beetle clock
Smiths (UK)

UK Smiths beetle clock
Smiths (UK)

JSRyding E2 clock pink
J.S. Ryding E2 (Australia)



Cathedral mini thermometers
Seeburg jukebox selector box in beetle cabinet
Seeburg Jukebox Selector box




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Admiral 398-6M
Play the radio above;
(Mobile users rotate device)
Click (tap) on the radio pushbuttons to tune in short OTR program excerpts,
click one of the 3 knobs or double-click the pushbutton to PAUSE / STOP the audio.
Button 1 - The Shadow intro
Button 2 - War of the Worlds
Button 3 - Lucky Strike ad
Button 4 - Benny Goodman

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See many more colorful clocks and radios inside Classic Radio Gallery

Sparton Radio art with Strider the watchdog



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