International Radio Corp.
"Kadette"
International Radio Corp. (IRC) was started in 1931 by Charles Verschoor in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
One of their first radios was the model "Kadette", this Gothic style mantle radio,
said to be the first massed-produced plastic cased radio.
It was followed shortly after with the "Kadette Jr", the first pocket radio.
IRC continued use of the "Kadette" name,
which became the brand name labeled on all their radios that followed,
and using the cadet soldier profile as a logo.
In 1939 IRC's General Sales Manager, W. Keene Jackson, bought the radio manufacturing business
and renamed the new company, Kadette Radio Corp.
I once included the model# for this radio as a "Kadette H" following a listing in an early price guide.
Subsequent price guides from the same author removed the "H" calling it only a model "Kadette".
I cannot find where the "H" designation came from, but it is not included in any
service manual, trade magazine or shown on any example of the radio I've come across.
The Riders Radio manuals show it only as a model "Kadette", shown below.
I think this was the first radio IRC named a Kadette and then they began using it as a brand name thereafter,
and finally as the company name when Jackson took over in 1939.
It is usually found in brown and black, but colorful cabinets were also an option.
A back cover and decorative knobs matched the cabinet choice.
Marbled beetle plastic cabinets are found with varied shades
of brown and green marbling of different intensity.
(Scroll down the page to see different examples.)
They are hard to find without damage because of a heavy chassis packed inside the small cabinet,
measuring only 8.5 inches wide, 6.5 inches high and 4 inches deep.
Very scarce pastel colored cabinets have been seen in blue and green.
IRC continued with innovative designs using bold colors in their plastic radios throughout the '30s.
(Learn more about radio plastics at our "Radio Plastics Explained" page)
The "Kadette" could also be considered one of the first car radios,
with a mounting kit available for under-the-dash installation (seen below).
Its unusual 4 tube transformer-less circuit design allowed for 120-220v, 32v, 6v, AC/DC operation.
It included a KR1 mercury-vapor rectifier tube which became problematic, ending the use of this design.
(see articles about the unique circuity below)
The speaker frame was built into the metal chassis on both the "Kadette" and "Kadette Jr".
(maximize your browser window for an easier read)
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Riders Radio Manuals included only a small schematic for the "Kadette";
Another example with a replacement grille cloth;
This is a photo of the Kadette with a Pilot Duo radio found to have the exact chassis.
The similarities indicate it was likely made by IRC for the Pilot Radio Corp.
(click the photo for more info on the Pilot Duo)
Original Kadette beetle knobs for the model H
