Zenith Radio Model 5D011 Consoltone

Introduced in 1946, the Walnut Bakelite case radio originally sold for $ 26.95 or $478.52 today. Behind the Silver cloth lies the Permanent Magnet Dynamic (PDyn) Loudspeaker. The knob in the middle of the radio will be the tuning knob, which can tune the radio between 55 to 450 Kilohertz. This began with a tube radio, it has 5 tubes that control electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. This model also contains a Self Contained Loop Antenna. In addition, this model has different color variants which are the black model (5D011Y) and the white model (5D011W).

The Zenith Radio Company was originally founded as Chicago Radio Labs in 1918 by Ralph Matthews and Karl Hassel as a small producer of amateur radio equipment. The name "Zenith" came from ZN'th, a contraction of its founders' ham radio call sign, 9ZN. They were joined in 1921 by Eugene F. McDonald, and Zenith Radio Company was incorporated in 1923. The company soon became known for its high-quality radios and electronic innovations. Some of their highlights included the first portable radio in 1924, the first mass-produced AC radio in 1926, push-button tuning in 1927,and automobile radios in the 1930. Their first Zenith television set appeared in 1939, as well as they established one of the first FM stations in the country in 1940 (Chicago's WWZR, later called WEFM, now WUSN, named for Zenith executive Eugene F. McDonald).

By 1960 Zenith was among the two largest US television manufacturers that employed 11,000 employees in seven plants. By the 1970s and 1980s the company went through numerous anti-trust lawsuits. The company changed its name to Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1984 to reflect its interests in the computer market and CATV. However in the late 1980s they started losing customers and by 1990 Zenith sold a five-percent stake to the Korean company GoldStar (now LG Electronics) which they gained a controlling interest by 1995. In 1999 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with LG buying the remaining share of the company. Today, the company is a subsidiary of LG under the name of Zenith Electronics, LLC.