Shown here, from the June 1940 issue of Radio Retailing, is the ad for an unusual portable, the Setchell Carlson Model 66.

As the ad states, the unique feature is the lack of a “B” battery.  Instead, it ran on flashlight batteries, what we would today call D cells.  The set accomplished this by virtue of the fact that the power supply, like that in a car radio, used a vibrator to produce the high voltage.  Some pictures and discussion of the set can be found at this link.

You can read more about Setchell Carlson at our earlier post.