The Hippo
$175.00
The “Hippo” was a popular Philco model from its inception. With it’s first run as the 46-420 in 1946 it stayed in production for more than 3 years, advancing to models 48-460 and 49-900. They have obtained somewhat of a cult status among collectors.
The Hippo sold for $34.95 ($345.34 in today’s dollars) with the Ivory version going for $37.50 ($370.54).
The 48-460 uses 6 tubes and receives the AM band. It uses two IF filters and thus has better selectivity than its 1946 predecessor.
The Restoration
This radio looked worse on the outside than it turned out to be on the inside. While it was covered with paint spatter and some bird @#$% on the outside, the insides only needed a clean-up and the usual capacitor and power cord replacement to get it playing loud and strong.
This is the chassis right out of the case with only the electrolytic capacitors replaced and the dust blown off.
The case was given a sanding and cleaning to get the paint spatter off and any scratches smoothed out. It was then primed and the louvers painted ivory. After a drying period I masked the louvers and applied the blue paint. The entire cabinet was then “baked” to harden the paint.
The case was polished with some fine steel wool to smooth out some imperfections. Some scratch remover was then applied followed by several layers of wax.
I made a back cover for this radio since it (as is often the case) was missing. This radio has an internal loop antenna and does have some directional sensitivity, but due to the size of the loop and its 6 tubes it plays very well. It does have a long wire attachment lug in case the owner really wants to reach out for distant stations.
Retro Radios 