Design Stories: Exploring Everyday Things

“Where Could You Buy Me?”

Trusted retailers often had large displays of radios that allowed shoppers to stop by and test the appliance before taking it home, so it’s possible that Northern Electric radios were sold in this manner. However, a more likely avenue to sell these radios would have been mail-order catalogues. Like the store displays, these catalogues sold and advertised a variety of radio models by major manufacturers, including their own in-house lines, like Eaton’s Viking line (MacLennan, Windover, and Borck 2024e). It’s very likely that the Baby Champ radios, and many other Northern Electric appliances, were sold in the Eaton’s catalogue, given Northern Electric’s prominence as a Canadian manufacturer. Although direct examples detailing the popularity and sales figures of the Baby Champ 5110 Radio were not located in these catalogues, informed conclusions of its appeal can be drawn based on a range of other available resources. For example, in the 1957-1958 edition of the Eaton’s Catalogue (seen below), a large variety of radios were sold ranging from $30-$200 depending on the type and quality.

Mail order catalogues however, had one shortcoming: shoppers would have had no way to determine the quality of the product without being able to actually test the radio unless they understood the specifications provided in the catalogues. Because of this, they likely relied on two key factors when making purchasing decisions: price and aesthetics, both of which were shown quite well in catalogues. Based on conclusions drawn from other sources, the tabletop Baby Champ 5110 Radio was priced at around $25 (Green Hills Great Finds, n.d.) to $35 (Jacks Antique Radios 2022), placing it on the lower-to-mid-range spectrum in terms of affordability compared to other radios released at the same time (and considering the income of its target audience).

Click below to read more about what made the Baby Champ 5110 stand out visually compared to its competitors!

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