THE GREAT MULLARD MAGIC BLOG

Don't you just love this 1922 advert for a Parliphone loudspeaker made entirely from Ebonite to encapsulate an SG Brown drive unit.  It was unusual as it was a vertical radiator and one wonders whether or not it was tuned to give a sonic stage ala Amar Bose or even OP Lowther? Some of you may wonder if Parliphone is around today or was it just a "flash in the pan" but no, 95 years later we have Parl - iPhone - a name for a range of Apple iPhone cases to fit all the way from iPhone4 to iPhone X...

After a little diversion, let's get back on track looking at the inside of valves, today we'll look at the ANODE. A valve anode typically is shaped as a hollow open topped cylinder, which surrounds a central cathode and any other electrodes. Although the cylindrical type is most commonly encountered due to it’s efficiency in both electron capture and heat dissipation, oval or flat pates may also be used. The anode’s purpose is to receive the electrons emitted from the cathode. This happens because the anode has a positive applied potential, which attracts the negatively charged electrons. Indeed, often the...

This is the third in a series of guest blog posts that I will be sharing with my readers.  A small group of us, all with different backgrounds and geographical locations, have come together in an effort to share our combined vintage knowledge with all who love the vintage/antique world as we do. Visit all of us at the Vintage & Antiques Community on G+ . I’m not sure about you, readers, but I know nothing at all about the U.S Culver glassware company. It has a very interesting history, which has been carefully researched by Pam of Whimsical Vintage on Ruby Lane.   Culver...

We have all heard of items being used for purposes they are not designed for as tools.  Heck, there is even a crow in my back garden that uses a pebble to crack open snail shells so we are not just limited to humans here. That said, problems can arise when electrickery is involved.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this interesting image from the Popular Mechanics Handbook for Women from 1924: -   Those of you whom are vintage vacuum cleaner spotters or fetishists will recognise the device in the illustration and for those of you that do not I can confidently...

In early 1951, Mullard introduced a handy steel container finished in 'Dimenso' - that's posh for silver hammer finish paint. The container was designed to hold 600 cards in six separate compartments.   This number of cards would test 750 different valve types.    The container featured rubber feet and was sized to be equivalent in length to the depth of a tester so it could sit alongside - provided enough room was left to allow the clamshell top to open!   And the price for this marvel of modern engineering in March 1951 was 45s - a snip!