About This Radio

This particular radio was manufactured in Belleville, Ontario by the Stewart-Warner-Alemite Corp. in the Spring of 1937. of Canada. Stewart-Warner established its Canadian operations there to serve the domestic market and avoid import tariffs. Belleville became the company’s primary Canadian manufacturing centre for radios and related products in that era. It sold for $39.85 In today's dollars that is equivalent to $785.78.

Deluxe Trim Variation

This Stewart-Warner model 1451 has the upgraded trim with stainless steel bands surrounding the speaker section. These sets are generally believed by collectors to have been the more upscale cabinet variation. From surviving examples and period styling trends of 1936–1937, those bands were almost certainly intended to give the radio a more modern “streamlined” Art Deco appearance. During that period many manufacturers added chrome accents to premium sets to imitate luxury automobile styling.

Overview

The Stewart-Warner model 1451 is a fairly typical mid-1930s table radio, but with a few interesting twists depending on whether you’re looking at the U.S. or Canadian-built versions.

📻 Basic Information

Model: Stewart-Warner 1451 (chassis R-145)

Year: 1936–1937 model season (Radiomuseum)

Type: AC-powered superheterodyne table radio

Bands: Standard AM broadcast + two shortwave bands

Typical tube lineup: 5–6 tubes depending on version (e.g., 6A8, 6K7, 6Q7/6H6, 6F6, 5Z4)

This puts it squarely in the mid-range consumer class—not entry-level, but not a high-end console either.

🏭 Where it was manufactured

There were two distinct production origins:

🇺🇸 United States

Built by Stewart-Warner Corp., Chicago, Illinois

Chicago was the company’s primary manufacturing base for radios in the 1930s.

🇨🇦 Canada

A version was produced by Stewart-Warner-Alemite Corp. of Canada

These Canadian sets often had slightly different tube complements and sometimes minor circuit variations.

👉 This dual production is typical—many U.S. radio companies built Canadian-market versions to avoid tariffs and meet local electrical standards.

💰 Original selling price (1937)

Exact documented pricing for the model 1451 specifically is scarce, but we can place it quite accurately based on comparable Stewart-Warner sets and period pricing:

o  Mid-range 5–6 tube table radios in 1937 typically sold for about $25 to $50 USD

o  Stewart-Warner models of similar class (5-tube table sets) fall squarely in that range

Realistic estimate:

➡️ ~$30–$40 USD in 1937

That would be roughly:

$600–$900 CAD today (depending on inflation method)

This aligns with its feature set:

o  Shortwave capability (adds value)

o  Superheterodyne design

o  Mid-tier tube count

🧠 Technical & design context

o  Uses a standard 456 kHz IF superhet architecture, which was industry standard by the late 1930s

o  Equipped with an electrodynamic speaker (field coil type), typical before permanent magnet speakers became universal

o  Wood cabinet, usually Art Deco influenced in styling

🔎 How it fits in the 1937 lineup

The 1451 sits in the sweet spot of the market:

o  Above basic 4-tube “midget” sets

o  Below premium consoles and “craft-built” cabinets

o  Competitive with brands like RCA, Philco, and Zenith in the same price bracket

🧾 Bottom line

o  Manufactured: Chicago (USA) and Ontario (Canada)

o  Year: 1936–1937

o  Class: Mid-range tabletop radio

o  Original price: roughly $30–$40 USD in 1937