1946 Portable Radio Batteries

1946AugRadioRetailerSeventy five years ago this month, the August 1946 issue of Radio Retailing carried this ad for Eveready batteries.  The wartime years were ones of shortages of many consumer products, and radio batteries were difficult or impossible to find.

Millions of portable radios had been manufactured since 1939, but a million of them were out of service, mostly because no batteries were available.  Summer was prime time for portables, and Eveready reminded dealers that if they put the batteries on display, they would sell themselves.