[Ron Ramirez]

Philco made many of their own cabinets, but also subcontracted to others.

One example - the 1932 version of the 71B (also 36B, 47B and export models 247 and 271). 43,450 were made at Philco's plant #4, where McVeigh Recreation Center is now located in the Kensington district of Philadelphia. The other 1,250 were made by Stratford Chair Company.

Example #2 - 1933 version of the 71B, along with the later 14B and 18B. All produced at Plant #4.

Hmmm...the more I dig into Furniture History, the more I find that nearly all of the Shuler cathedrals with inset front panels were made at Plant #4. This includes the 91B, 16B, 17B, 19B, 43B, 48B, 52B, and the first 89B - all made at Plant #4.

I can understand variations in dimensions and construction, especially as tooling wore out and was replaced that might not have been exactly the same as the first runs, but why the variations in toning of trim vs. no toning of trim? Well, that's a question we can't answer, since the men who made these cabinets are likely all gone.