Power Cords on Curtain Burner Tube Radios- Fire Hazard

I really have no idea, but bean counters rule the companies. Profit, profit, profit. Just like today.

Back then if they could save .10 per unit and they make 10,000 units, that was a lot of money; considering a loaf of bread was .$05 a loaf and a Coke was $.05. Gas was maybe $.10/gallon. (I can remember when it was $.17/ gallon here).

I have always wondered what the price, labor and material cost difference between the resistor cord and an actual resistor was. Would it really have been that big a spread?

There was a time when they made radios with power cords that had 3 wires in the cord, but only TWO prongs on the cord.

 Now these radios can generally be recognized by adding up the series filament string voltages. They will have a lower than normal filament voltage total.

  They made power cords with a 3rd wire in them that was a DROPPING RESISTANCE!.

 They were called " curtain burner" radios for a very good reason. The heat from the dropping resistance in the power cord could set houses on fire. Often times a radio was placed by a window and the curtain could touch the power cord. You now know why the name.

I would never try restoring one of these sets without adding a high wattage resistor of the same value as the line cord resistance, and replacing the line cord with a new one.

I have 1-2 of these sets in my collection and even have a few NOS power cords for them, but I would never try to use a NOS resistance line cord due to the hazard and age of the NOS cord.

I was really confused when I first worked on one of these sets. I had heard of the "Curtain Burner" radios, but had never seen one.  I just decided that trying to repair one of them without knowing the resistance and wattage of a dropping resistor was just way too dangerous. I just stashed them away in my storage locker. I had no schematic for the radio to determine what resistance was needed. aside from the fact that the power cord had been cut off for a VERY good reason. I did dissect the power cord and found a piece of the resistance wire inside it.

I can only venture a guess that it was cheaper for the mfgr. to put on a resistance line cord than to add another tube, socket and associated parts. I suspect these were really a bottom of the line radio, built as cheaply as possible with only 3-4 tubes.