With the CD logos and the atomic-styled "Sonic Servant" insignia you can literally hear dad call the kids on this thing for the picnic to watch the latest A-bomb tests at the local army test grounds.
I remember when these are all the rage in homes up into the early 1970's. Some sounded pretty good and some were just good enough to spy on what the kids / mom / dad was doing. Great for calling the kids to dinner or answering the doorbell from any room. Often the doorbell was electronic and played through all the speakers. Having the radio play in all rooms was kinda nice, being spied on wasn't.
Yes, those intercoms had that department store effect of many speakers distributed throughout the area playing the same content. You could keep the volume low but still hear the content clearly. Very pleasant effect.
The "649" date code on the output transformer indicates it was made in December of a year ending in 6. Since the CD markings were required between 1952 and 1963 it is 1956 so your Sonic Servant was probably built sometime in 1957.
I was finally able to decode that three-digit date code as meaning the week of that year ending in 6. So, 49th week of 1956 as you guessed would indeed have been manufactured for 1957.
Shango066, has many fans, we love to watch his videos, he puts a lot of work into them, and we really appreciate them and he makes us laugh and we like to hang out with him and have fun and learn important stuff here. Thank you Shango066, wish I could meet you some day, just to say, Hey, and Thank you!!. Trolls, go away, and never come back another day!!!!!
Gerry K - I reckon Shango would be a top guy in person to meet too & yes he sure has many fans that love him & his work he does in his videos. I would be certainly crushed if anything ever happened to his channel!
When I was a kid we had a whole house intercom. It was called Mother. Her holler could be heard throughout the entire house - and half way down the block.
WOW! My friend's house had this! (Ohio here) You could speak room to room without screaming! They also had whole house vacuum cleaner... just plug the hose in the wall and vacuum away Very 1960s!
Chris - Our community centre here still has them on the walls, specially in the dentist areas as I remember years ago they would have the local radio playing through them in the dental rooms. I think they have all been disconnected now. The building is very old too just like our hospital next door which I’ve been told is getting a huge upgrade soon as the government has granted to our community around 11 million dollars!
Yep, Nutone was the biggest seller. Ours was from 1975 or so. Seen some just like our master unit got for a couple hundred bucks on eBay (!). Have no idea why as it was junk from day one. Cheap switches and lots of drift on FM. These intercom manufacturers must have had a good sales force, because why the f did anyone need these things? We usually just yelled when we needed to talk across rooms.
Rob K - Yep I reckon they would’ve been useless in single storey homes as there was only one level & easier to just call out or yell to your kids etc. larger homes that were 2 or 3 storey including a basement maybe would’ve been more practical.
Indeed. We had a single story house with a basement. When we moved in, the intercom was already in. We kids used the hell out of it for a week, then the novelty of pushing the buttons to talk - they worked 50% of the time - wore off and we simply yelled up and down the stairs. Maybe if we used the “spy” function, we would have gotten more use out of it.
My Grandpa was a Journeyman Electrician and worked on most of the houses built in San Antonio in the 60s & 70s, including his own. He installed a bunch of Nutone intercoms like yours, and i do have some of the sales booklets & pamphlets from the early 60s on what was available. I didn't see your exact model, but from working on the one that was in their house, I'd say its a safe bet that yours is not "Instant on". My own house has some off-brand one that's 'made' by C&H Supply, Dallas. I pulled it out and did some basic repair on it about 10 years ago, but i want to get it working at peak performance now.
My Uncle's 1950s house in Long Island has one of the NuTone intercoms, very much like yours. His house also had an early radio controlled garage door opener. The remote control for it used a subminiature tube- it's the only device I ever saw with one.
Arcturus tube. These tubes were fairly popular in the late 1920's and up through the 1930's, they had a beautiful Arcturus blue glass bulb, they are now collector items, just because of the really nice blue glass bulb !! I did not know that they existed up to the point in time when the 50L6 was produced though, Real interesting !!!! John A Bellas -------- KC2UVN
0:27 The atom with 4 electrons is beryllium "Uniquely strong and light, beryllium is used to make cell phones, missiles and aircrafts. But workers who handle the metal need to watch out, as airborne beryllium ..."
Hard to believe that one time possibly millions of homes or buildings had these things in them. What a fire hazard at the very least. I was so entertained throughout this entire video. I never get tired of your content ever.
I actually had a smile on my face, beginning to end of this video. Talk about a piece of early 50's nostalgia :) Also, it proves there's never anything new under the sun. Even though the apparatus is built around old tube technology, it still offers a kind of functionality we find nowadays in home automation installations. I like the front bezel logo though; it reminds me of those old-style diners in America. An entertaining video of technological archeology :) I wonder if the sonic servant built into his house still functions... you'd wonder what those speakers would have transmitted and heard over the years... and maybe still do, instant-on guaranteed :)
In the 50's we would have been damn happy to have electric lights in our house! We were still on kerosene lamps and wood cook stove. We heated with coal that dad hauled for the whole neighborhood using his farm truck during the cold months.
Trolls - GO AWAY! As for the rest of us fans, we love these videos! Shango, thanks for these videos! They are very informative and educational. Your effort and work on these videos doesn't go unappreciated. Keep on keeping on :)
Technically speaking, Shango would most likely do a video on his Nutone intercom system while he is at home, making the contraction of "you are" in place of the pronoun "your" partially correct...sort of...or not.
Shango I would love to see that Nutone intercom system be repaired my house also has a NuTone Intercom system and it gets a lot of use in my house not only as an intercom but as a radio system. The main unit on mine is located in the basement because that's where it was installed. The last owner of my house ran a heating and cooling business and used it to check on his kids and stuff. Ever since I got my Nutone intercom system working again it's come in very handy for my mom who has Parkinson's because I can let her know via the speakers in the house I know where she is for the days she has fallen. I keep mine on the local CBS news station 90% of the time the other times it's on the local classic rock station here in the Detroit area.
Enjoyed the video really cool old nostalgic radio. It always amazes me when I see one of these beat up old radios still working. Modern electronics will sure not be working in 50 more years.
Don't forget that the unit stayed on so people coming to your house could contact you while the radio was off otherwise they had to beat on your door fun video and I remember the CD marks on the radio dial you tube has some videos on the old conel Rad stations at 640 am and 1240 am give them a listen to they are fun I grew up during the Cold War and remember the weekly air raid tests at school great video keep them coming 73s from Scott
Terrific (dry) humor as always. I only wish it was 70°F... only 6°F here!! 16:58 . . . "Did I just cremate it?" No. But those wearing headphones had their ear drums cremated!
My grandparents had a cheap 1990's hole house audio system (Am/FM/Cassette) that came preinstalled in their modular home that was put up in 1994. The remote speakers where in the ceiling but you could still switch them to listen.
Talking of the CD markings, Radiotvphononut did a vid on a little handheld transistor set the other day showing the Civil Defence markings. I'd not seen them before. Here in the U.K. wartime sets carried the Home Service and Forces dial markings
Steve Elvey - I saw that video of his the other day of the little pocket radio & I remember radiotvphononut saying something about the CD markings on it.
The CD markings are cold war era. We had the CONELRAD (CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation) system. The system was designed that when enemy bombers were detected and an air raid warning went out all radio stations except for those needed for the emergency shut down. For broadcasting, civil defense broadcasting moved to 640 and 1240 kilocycles on your standard radio receiver (FM and TV were to be off for the duration) and all other AM stations were off for the duration (anything on a frequency other than 640 or 1240 was to be considered unofficial). This was to prevent radio compasses from zoning in on Cities, but at the same time, with all broadcasting on 640 and 1240 with the stations changing every 30 seconds or so (on the same frequency) the radio compasses would just spin. Ballistic missile technology rendered the CONELRAD system useless and it was replaced.
The Nutone in the house is not instant on. Warm up goodness. You'll find the Nutone to be very well built circa 1958. AM/FM with tone control. Top hat silicon diode rectifier.
Interesting video. Someone restoring a mid-century house would probably love to have one of these. I remember seeing the NuTone intercom units as an "upscale" option in mobile homes in the early 70s.
Good ole Atomic Bomb Craze retro appliances. I have a few things from that era still that belonged to my grandmother, one is a 200 slot cigarette ashtray and and old chrome plated cake mixer for the "Kitchen of Tomorrow". We had the AM/FM Nutone one but it was upgraded to a solid state version at some point. IDK if the old one is still around here in storage or not.
This is very cool! I would love to have one. Want to sell it if you still have it? I remember in the late seventies going to a friend of my Dad's that had an intercom system in his house but I don't remember it having a radio, of course the novelty of the radio may have just worn off and they didn't use it, lol. Also I would bet it was solid state, the house wasn't that old and it in around 77' or 78' Very cool find! Love your videos!
A quick search on Arcturus tubes shows they were an American manufacturer making blue tubes up to the 30's. Interesting artifact of an era, this Sonic Servant! Yeah, good wall-hanger.
My house which was built in 1980, had an intercom, no radio (that model probably was much more) though..... There’s still some speakers (terminals?) left in the house but the majority of the system is gone....... it never made sense to me as a kid, it was barely used..... my parents decided to have it removed in the early 90s..... and slowly removed the speakers overtime as rooms needed painting etc.....
I have seen some crusty chassis's before, but this takes the cake. Must have been in a high humidity location. Just my opinion, but this would be a neat resurrection item - not the run of the mill radio or tv.
I recovered a similar (nutone) from an former tenant space in a commercial building, during a new build out (it was destined for the trash). It worked similar to a school PA .. installed it in my (past) house (main station in kitchen). It was entirely operated from the main station .. all call/announce, or push/slide a station switch to talk, release spring loaded sw to listen for reply (or as a “bug” mic) …
Neato keeno! Maybe should sell it on eBay as a collectible. The logo is classic 1950's futuristic. I know of others that prefer their Korean fuzzy. Great video!
Yes do the guitar effect. I've seen those in 4 or 5 houses including the one I live in. Always surprised how cheesy the switches are. Usually the main unit is at least half dead yet they sit there warming the transformer 24/7; although that's understandable when they are also the door bell. I'm gonna try wd40 on some extra annoying switches that are otherwise going in the garbage.
Ben Prevo - LOL, I’m so glad we didn’t have one in our house growing up! My mum would’ve blown the speaker to non existent with her loud voice! Hahahaha
Here’s my vote for a complete restoration of this really cool unit!. The model home in my 1958 tract had a set, and it’s class far outweighs its issues. Maybe you could send it to that other guy who stresses over every detail! I still wish i had one of these in my retro mid century modest tract home.its super sonic in my opinion!
Our neighborhood had Sonic Servant intercoms installed when the houses were built in 1958. Ours was FM (only ... what stations were available in 1958?) ; my neighbor still has her original AM (don't know if it works or not). Interestingly our FM model was not instant-on ... it DID need to warm up.
I accidentally cleaned all the controls and switches with chain lube because the can was just like the contact cleaner except for the color of the writing. Worked fine!
We had a mobile home with an AM/FM radio intercom system. Speakers in living room (main) and 2 bedrooms, and outside the door. It was transistorized. The reception was iffy.
Radio collectors who collect radios from the 20's and 30's will be familiar with Arcturus tubes which are collectible even if they don't work. They were made out of blue glass and had very interesting artwork on the boxes. By the 1950's they had probably been bought out by one of the big tube makers and were just a name that was put on the tube. vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2012/08/tube-box-art-part-8-arcturus.html
For those wondering, over time WD-40 eventually gums up. Badly. While I can't say for how it will treat electronics over time (although my Atari paddles are doing well after a few years of being WD-40 blasted) the gumming up it does on Typewriters as people have used it as a lubricant in them is legendarily terrible - it will sometimes gum up a machine so bad it won't work without VERY heavy cleaning and de-greasing. Just... for those wondering how WD-40 DOES behave over time, the short answer is poorly.
Wow guess what in my grandmother house it's the same Sonic servant unit and it's still working with a little humm. but someone had like a kill switch to it to shut the unit completely off including the tubes.
It was the shiznit back then. It was how you let your hillbilly relatives know that you were living in the future like The Jetsons while they still hollered and yelled like pre-historic cavemen.
That's cool. I once tried repairing a faulty apartment intercom system still in use. I had to call the manufacturer for schematics, who said no and insisted on sending a qualified repair team who understood how it worked. BUT, the owners of the building had worn out their welcome with the company and refused to send anyone over unless paid in advance. I said I can't fix this 50 year old technology without schematics. So the owners preferred spending 3 times as much to replace the whole system than pay the manufacturer. 5 years later, the building was torn down. Insane or what?
We had a house built in 04 that had a unit just like that. All digital and solid state, of course. You could also control the radio from and remote unit.
I live in a neighborhood with houses all built in the 1950s and many of them had these things in them. I repaired one with instant on for a friend and the tube heaters were still on when I pulled it from the wall, the tubes were cheesed tho.
I always wondered how these in house intercom systems worked. For the speaker output; I believe the two audio output transformers are for both the internal speaker and remote speakers and probably it is a 70v line output to eliminate signal loss and the remote speakers have their own 70v transformer to match the speaker impedance to allow 8 outputs or more; one speaker for each room. It would be interesting if these were made stereo but not sure how complicated the circuitry would be. My knowledge from working with 70v installations; they are usually mono to eliminate channel separation and can have speakers almost anywhere with full sound. My only guess for a stereo 70v line output is having two separate lines and amps; one for each channel.
hay shango066 thy wear popular hear in Florida in rich peoples houses. thy wear popular from the 60s to the early 2000s hear. you could play music to all or just select rooms, you could address all or select rooms with the inter com, and the front door would would ring all units and you could address them with the inter com. that unit is old as it has the civil defense marks on the dial. I have not seen one that old. the ones hear wear all transistorized unites.
All They Found Was A Boot - LOL The farting Sonic Servant. Just imagine if the power went out with guests in the same room as it.........Who do you point the finger at or blame?......Oh wait, it was the chick on the Sonic Servant. Hahahaha
Here is a photo of a restored Sonic Servant: glasssoundlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sonic-servant-intercom-002w-300x225.jpg It really would be cool if this thing could be restored. The atom logo screams 1950s! I like that this thing doubles as a karaoke machine. The only part that scares me is that this is a hot chassis design, and that phono jack is sticking out of the front!
0:30 This was as close as they could get to "Alexa, gimmi-a-blowjob." in the 1950s. Never saw an AM-only version before. Reminds me of visiting my friends in split-entry ranch houses, where you'd hear the Ray Conniff singers playing softly in every room.
Arcturus made those blue glass globe tubes, for the 20-30's radios, that everybody shells out big cash for on ebay. I think they were eventually bought out, and the name was used for a while by the parent company.
That thing is somehow cool. Amazing it still works...only needed some WD40...and yes, I would wish to have an AM Oldies station like that, even if it has commercials! I'm a radio DJ and I'm hosting the (probably) only 50s / 60s Rock 'n' Roll radio show in our area. Commercial stations just don't play this kind of music...and AM is all dead here in Germany. All AM transmitters were switched off and torn down a couple of years ago. Their next step is to kill FM in favor of this digital bullshit that sounds like crap and will cut out all the time when the signal is too weak.
Arcturus tubes , I have seen plenty of them working on old radios from 30's and 40's... must have been a major player back in the day, but never gave a thought of who manufactured them....I guess they were licensed under RCA made in New Jersey....
Second arcturus tube ive ever seen the other one was in 1998 on an old zenith long wave medium wave radio from 1933 along some toshiba shouldered tubes.
