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RADIO RENTALS

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Founded in 1932 and initially located in Brighton, by the 1950's Radio Rentals had expanded to cover a lot of the United Kingdom and, despite its name, both rented and sold televisions. Whereas the majority of televisions provided by rental firms were from standard manufactures, Radio Rentals had their own television sets at least as far as the cabinet was concerned.

A brochure from 1957 lists 178 Radio Rentals outlets and it has been said that, at their peak, Radio Rentals had over 500 outlets

Post 1950's

Picture of model 307 [5K] Picture of model 307 [5K] Picture of model 394 [5K] Picture of model 307 [5K]
307 301 394 398
Unknown table model [6K] Picture of model 380 [6K] Picture of model 422
1955 Table Model 380 422
DATE MODEL STYLE CRT VALVES RF NOTES PRICE
Early 50s 307 C       Includes a radio.
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
1952 301 C 12-inch      
£84-8-0 £x-x-x
£x-x-x
303 T      
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
1955 Unknown T 14-inch      
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
Unknown T 17-inch  
£79-7-6 £x-x-x
£x-x-x
Unknown C 17-inch  
£98-2-6 £x-x-x
£x-x-x
1957 380 T 17   Also available with legs for additional cost.
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
1957 394 C 17-inch 17    
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
396 As model 394 but with additional V.H.F. F.M. radio.
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
1957 398 Consolette       Includes V.H.F. F.M. radio.
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
422 Table ?17-inch?      
£x-x-x £x-x-x
£x-x-x
Notes: 1) The 1952 models were still being advertised in mid-1953 but at a lower cost.
2) I am currently uncertain as to whether some models were rental-only,
    purchase only or were always available for rental and purchase.
3)In 1956, Radio Rentals supplied 9-, 12-, 14- and 17-inch receivers.

Brochures

Download 1957 Radio rentals colour brochure [19MB]
 
Thanks to 'See_Mos' on the Vintage Radio Forum for supplying this PDF

Advertisements

Click for larger view [290K] Click for larger view [290K]
Advert from November 1952
Link to larger view [290K]		 Advert from September 1953
Link to larger view [290K]
Click for larger view [290K] Click for larger view [290K] Click for larger view [290K]
Advert from January 1956
Link to larger view [290K]		 Advert from January 1956
Link to larger view [351K]		 Model 380
Extract from 1957 brochure.
Link to larger view [352K]
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All content © 2000-2025 Jon Evans unless stated otherwise. Added to the BVWS Website Archive in February 2026. E&OE.