Eighty years ago today, the April 21, 1941, issue of Life magazine carried this ad from General Electric reminding readers such as this businessman and his efficient secretary that his desk would be an excellent spot for a radio, for keeping up with news and stock reports affecting his business.

Their suggestion was the model L-500, which sold for only $9.95 (according to this inflation calculator, $162.17 in 2021 dollars).  The  “All American Five” set had the then-standard tube lineup of  12SA7, 12B7, 12SQ7, 50L6GT, and 35Z5GT.  According to the ad, the set had excellent tone. We previously featured the L-500 at this link.

The ad also featured the portable model LB-502, a five tube ( 1R5 1T4 1S5 3S4 35Z3) camera-style portable that would run from either batteries (1.5 and 67.5 volts) or household current.  It carried a list price of $21.95, or almost $400 in today’s money.