Hallicrafters S-76*

Manufactured from 1951 – 1954, Chicago Il.

Retail Price: $169.50 in 1951, $199.95 in 1953, $100 in 1998.

 

    

Hallicrafters is the most famous name in communications receivers. William Halligan acquired Silver-Marshall from a backruptcy proceeding in 1933, joined with Kendall Clough, the former chief engineer for Silver-Marshall, and designed the new line of Hallicrafters receivers. An ad for the first Hallicrafters receiver appeared in the April,1934 issue of Radio News.

 

When World War II came, the company changed over to war production. Large volumes of their receivers (over 50,000 SX-28s) and transmitters (over 18,000 HT4’s) were produced. After the war, Hallicrafters switched back to production of amateur (Ham) radios.

 

The late 40’s and the 50’s were troubled years for the company. A line of television sets and HiFi receivers were introduced then dropped when those markets turned out to be too competitive. Bill Halligan sold and repurchased the company several times. This radio, the S-76, was introduced in 1951 and became the first of a long line of radios using the same basic design.

 

Hallicrafters was acquired by Northrup in 1966, and began manufacturing defense elecronic systems. Sales reached $200 million in the late 60’s, but then declined sharply. In 1974, Wilcox Electric acquired Hallicrafters. The company was finally shut down in 1979, with sales in the final year totaling only $1.3 million.

 

William Halligan died in July of 1992 in Miami Beach, Florida at the age of 93.

 

* This radio is identical to the first radio given to me at age 10 by my father – JC