Frankly, I’m a little surprised that this idea from 1930 didn’t get more traction. It probably worked about as well as any other indoor antenna, and it was conveniently out of the way and swept under the rug. The sole reference I’ve ever seen to the “Potter Rug Aerial” was this ad from the December 1930 issue of Radio Retailing.

The antenna was manufactured by the Potter Co. of 1946 Sheridan Road, North Chicago, Illinois. In addition to the antenna, they manufactured replacement condensers. They had common ones in stock, and promised to duplicate special units within 48 hours.

One reason that the rug aerial might not have caught on was the utter simplicity of the idea. Any piece of wire about the same length slipped under the rug would probably pull in the stations just about as well.

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