Description
AC/DC radios of the 1930's,1940's, and early 1950's which had no mains transformer were quite popular in the United States, but never very popular here in Australia.
Keep in mind that Australia's AC mains supply is DOUBLE that of the United States (220 volts Vs 240 volts), so the chance of being fatally electrocuted was less in the US than here.
Despite having a 240 volt AC mains supply here in Australia, transformerless AC/DC radios WERE manufactured in Australia and sold to the public.
Philips was a major manufacturer of AC/DC sets in Australia using their unique ''Loctal'' tubes, but other manufacturers such as AWA and STC also produced a number of AC/DC radios, but they were never as popular as their mains transformer radios (such as my 1948 AWA 525-M model).
Unlike Australia, It is estimated that hundreds of millions of AC/DC radios were sold in the United States between the early 1930s and even into the early 1970's !
NOTE: Sylvania Electric was an American company that invented the ''Loctal'' base, but loctal tubes were used more extensively in Europe especially by Philips of Holland in their AC/DC radios.