[Groundhog74]

Ok.....can't figure it out. What's the string for that's behind the escutcheons on Philco's with pushbuttons? It seems to wrap around the bottom of the buttons and then return across the top. Does it hold them in place or something?

[Ron Ramirez]

Can't say that I've ever seen anything like that...

[Groundhog74]

My 39-40 has it, my 39-25 has it. Maybe it's just a 1939 metal escutcheon thing? It's open on one end, goes across the top of the push buttons, loops around and returns across the bottom. I was just guessing that it kept the buttons from popping out if they got loose.

[Ron Ramirez]

Can you post a photo?

[Groundhog74]

Sorry, I know you don't like photos directly attached to the thread, but I do not have a photobucket (or other) account.

Look at the back of the pictured escutcheon, in the hole where the missing button is you can see the "string". It actually looks like it passes thru the other buttons somehow in this photo?? This is the first time I've seen this photo. Now I'm even more confused. I've seen this on more than one Philco escutcheon. Sometimes it is missing, sometimes it is broken. Just can't figure out what it's for and how it fits in or around the push buttons. Thanks

[Ron Ramirez]

Huh. I can't say that I recall ever seeing anything like this, but then again I generally don't collect 1939 Philco sets of this type. I do have a Canadian 39-330AT (similar to USA 39-30T) which only has six pushbuttons instead of eight, and it does not have any strings in its escutcheon.

Oh, and as I recall, the 1939 translucent wine pushbuttons were made wider on the inside with clips, so they could not fall or fly out from the front.

So I really have no idea why the string is present, or what purpose it served...